Sexual Assault and Bullying: The Struggles for Power Within Them Sexual assault and bullying are social ills that have taken place for quite some time, regardless of society and culture. When one considers these phenomena, there are actually quite a few similarities between them. In both instances, there are victims and those who are aggressors. There are also disturbing patterns of both of these behaviors, which can become chronic -- both for the victims and the perpetrators of these acts. When one gets to the root causes of these activities, oftentimes they are about power and the wanton exercise of power over those with less power. This similarity is the most eminent between them, and is the key to both identifying and even preventing such behavior.

The prevalence of sexual assault on college campus, and its many manifestations, reinforces the viewpoint that power is the crux of such behavior. The incidence of sexual assault on college campuses has risen in the last couple of years, as has the notoriety surrounding such activity due to some prominent examples. The report of the alleged gang rape that published in Rolling Stone may have contained a fair amount of embellishments and inaccuracies (Somaiya, 2015). Still, it illustrates the point that on college campuses in which fraternity and sorority activity is a major part of social life, there is a fair amount of autonomy and power that attends young men in these settings. Those attending fraternity functions have to contend with the fact that frequently, these men have numeric advantages in social situations, and follow a bond that oftentimes exists well beyond graduation. These factors equate to power, as does the social standing of these groups on campus -- especially those that have lengthy and decorated histories at particular educational institutions.

Bullying is also frequently about the manifestation of power. Although bullying and sexual abuse can take place anywhere, it is notable that some of the quintessential examples of these actions take place in school settings. The power relationships that are present in sexual assault are also present in bullying in terms of aggressors and victims. However, one of the critical facets of bullying is that oftentimes, bullies are actually the ones that have deep rooted problems and who are in need of help (Margot, 2013). This is a critical aspect of bullying related to power, especially when it is applied to examples of sexual assault. Still, the reason that people bully others -- at least in the case of classic classroom or academic environment bullying -- is because they have some manifestation of unhappiness in their own lives. Research indicates that many bullies have dissatisfying home lives which may involve poverty, sexual abuse, psychological issues, and situations in which they in turn are bullied (Margot, 2013). Therefore, they become bullies because extorting or agonizing someone who has less power than them -- such as students who are smaller, poorer, poorer dressed, etc. -- is one of the only ways that they can exert, or even revel, in the intoxication of power.

The power of the notion that bullies themselves are actually victims does not appear to have immediate parallels in the realm of sexual assault. Sexual assault may be a manifestation of power, but rarely is that exercise of power the sole means by which the perpetrator can experience power. There are numerous examples in which people accused of sexual assault have social power in a number of disparate manifestations. College students who are in prominent fraternities and who are accused or convicted of sexual assault have access to social eminence in other ways. The same notion applies to the sexual assault charges levied against prominent celebrity figures. Bill Cosby, for example, had access to social power in terms of his fame and fortune (Roig-Franzia et al.). One can make the same argument about Mike Tyson, who also served time on sexual assault charges (Muscatine). Thus, the victimization of the aggressor that is evident in bullying does not directly correlate to the victimization of the aggressor in sexual assault. One can possibly categorize this difference as the intoxication of power found in sexual assault versus the perception that bullying is the sole access to power for individuals who otherwise lack it.

At this point it is prudent to detail some of the intricacies of sexual assault, which is itself a somewhat broad category under which a number of offenses are stratified. Perhaps the most notorious manifestation of sexual assault is rape, in which...

Rape can be both oral or involve conventional coitus, and anal. Anal sexual assault generally falls into the category of sodomy. However, sexual assault is also expanded to include the forced entry of objects into all of the identified categories. There is generally an aspect of pleasure involved in sexual assault, which is some means of gratifying the sexual desires of the aggressors. It is essential to realize that sexual assault is not verbal. Verbal precursors of sexual assault are generally categorized as sexual harassment. In instances of sexual assault, the aggressor is exerts his or her power to gratify his or her sexual ambitions.
The critical difference between the definitions of sexual assault and bullying is that there is a verbal, and even psychological component of bullying, that is not reciprocated in sexual assault. The very term assault implies physical action. Bullying can be every bit as much verbal as physical; there are even instances in which no physical activity occurs and which people exclusively bully verbally. It is difficult to discern which aspect of bullying is more noxious -- the verbal or the physical. In some instances, it is even possible for verbal bullying to directly relate to physical bullying. Verbal bullying can be as simple as calling someone names, or as aggressive as issuing threats to that person. The key facet about the balance between verbal and physical bullying is that ultimately, they are both exertions of power. One may desire to reinforce one's verbal bullying with physical bullying, i.e. making a threat and then delivering it -- which only compounds the power displayed and exercised by the bully

It is critical to realize that although there is nothing verbal about sexual assault, the same aforementioned paradigm can actually to it. The verbal interaction of sexual assault is simply referred to by another term, harassment. Moreover, a verbal component of harassment may involve coercion. Coercion accompanies sexual assault in instances in which there are severe imbalances in the degree of power between the aggressor and the victim. For instance, it is not uncommon for adults to coerce children into sexual acts, which are actually forms of sexual assault. Additionally, an employer may coerce one of his or her employees into sexual conduct which forms the basis for sexual assault. Such an occurrence happened when a minor celebrity figure who was a rapper by the name of Michael "Mystikal" Tyler was convicted on charges related to sexual assault (Billboard, 2002). In this particular instance he determined that one of his stylists had stolen money from him. He coerced her into engaging in sexual activities and was eventually sentenced to prison on charges relating to sexual assault.

This particular example resonates for the discussion in this document about the correlation between sexual assault, bullying and power in a number of salient ways. Firstly, it clearly shows that power was at the crux of this instance of sexual assault. Tyler had power in a several ways. Not only did he employ his victim and have the employer employee construct of power, he was also a celebrity figure due to his occupation as a rapper. Additionally, the musician had a degree of financial backing which helped to give him social power over his victim (and which one can argue is the cause of this particular case, since the victim was initially robbing Tyler). Moreover, this case also illustrates the fact that Tyler first coerced his victim prior to sexually assaulting her, as the fact that he recorded these acts indicates (Billboard, 2015). The fact that he wanted to record this assault helps to outline another crucial factor of the power involved in sexual assault. That power is inherently related to pleasure. Perhaps the musician wanted to record this experience to blackmail the victim in the future. More likely, he wanted to review his illicit conduct to vicariously relive what -- to him -- may have been a pleasurable experience. The point is that his instance of sexual assault was predicate on his power and considered something not wholly negative by him -- which is frequently the case in instances of sexual assault. The aggressors assert their power for their own pleasure.

This degree of pleasure in the assertion of power is not as frequently, nor nearly as highly, prevalent in instances of bullying. It is not uncommon for people to record sexual exploits and conduct aligned with sexual assault. It…