Sexual assault on campuses are happening more often and not much is done about it.
According to the FBI, one out of four women and one in 12 men will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime. One of three women will face a threatened assault.
Acquaintance rape constitutes 60 percent of sexual assault for the general population and 84 percent for college students. This means that the victim knows the person who is sexually assaulting him/her. You would think that these crimes would go reported.
But the scary aspect of these crimes are that fewer than 10 percent are actually reported.
According the Clery Report, UH had 10 reported sexual assault offenses in 2008. These offenses occurred either on campus or in residential facilities.
In a report done by the National Institute of Justice, sexual assault is widely considered to be the most under-reported violent crime in America.
“Just under 3 percent of all college women become victims of rape (either completed or attempted) in a given 9 month academic year. On first glance, the risk seems low, but the percentage translates into the disturbing figure of 35 such crimes for every 1,000 women students. For a campus with 10,000 women students, the number could reach 350. If the percentage is projected to a full calendar year, the proportion rises to nearly 5 percent of college women. When projected over a now typical 5 year college career, one in five young women experiences rape during college.”
The NIJ also reported that the vast majority of these crimes – between 80 and 90 percent – the victim and assailant know each other.
“The more intimate the relationship, the more likely it is for a rape to be completed rather than attempted. Half of all student victims do not label the incident “rape.” This is particularly true when no weapon was used, no sign of physical injury is evident, and alcohol was involved – factors commonly associated with campus acquaintance rape. Given the extent of non-stranger rape on campus, it is no surprise that the majority of victimized women do not define their experience as a rape.”
This is one of the reasons why campus sexual assault is not well reported. Victims do not realize that they have been raped and it is not brought to the attention of campus authorities and/or law enforcement.
How can we combat the fact that our campuses are not as safe as we think?
The Clery report was put into effect when Jeanne Clery was brutally raped and murdered in 1986 at Leigh University. The Clery Act requires all colleges and universities that participate in federal financial aid programs to keep their and disclose information about crime on and near their respective campuses. This is one way we can help with the safety of students on campuses.
But sexual assaults are still going to happen and that is just the reality of the situation. We can have all the correct preparations and plans but nothing will ever combat the crime of sexual assault. It’s frightening to think that our campuses are not as safe as we think.
