First Posted: 3/25/2015
The most common violent crime on many college campuses today is sexual assault.
The scope of the problem can include everything from stalking to unwanted advances to rape — often at the hands of an acquaintance.
One in five undergraduate women — and 6 percent of undergraduate men — will be a victim of rape or an attempted rape in their lifetime, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
It would seem, given the highest rate of sexual assault is against women ages 16 to 24, that college campuses would be acutely aware of the need for awareness as a prevention and aggressive prosecution as a deterrent.
For too many, it ends at the basics of awareness. There will be the annual rallies, the week of speakers and the posters plastered across campus. That’s not to mock the efforts; but it cannot be the only outreach, because it is not sufficient. It’s important that schools instill a sense of safety and recognize their responsibility to thoroughly support any man or woman who reports a sexual assault.
That’s something that appears to be sadly lacking in the system today.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, which mandates institutions of higher education accurately report incidents of sexual assault under Title IX of the federal code, is looking into whether as many as 100 schools didn’t bother doing that. This follows a U.S. Senate study that found more than 40 percent of schools surveyed did not report investigating so much as a single sexual assault report.
That defies both the statistics and belief.
The updated list includes the University of Akron, Denison University in Granville, and Wittenberg University in Springfield.
When the list was first released in May, it included The Ohio State University. The office reached an agreement with OSU in September to conclude the investigation after the university took steps to strengthen its commit to prevent sexual assault and sexual harassment.
As part of the agreement, Ohio State agreed to revise certain policies consistent with the law; review the handling of sexual harassment/violence complaints and reports since the 2011-12 academic year and continue to provide and expand mandatory sexual assault and harassment training to all members of the university community. Ohio State will also establish a campus focus group to provide input on strategies for ensuring that students understand their rights under Title IX, how to report possible violations, and Ohio State’s obligation to promptly and equitably respond to Title IX complaints. Ohio State will take action to ensure students and staff members are aware of Title IX’s prohibition against sexual assault and sexual harassment, including how to recognize it when it occurs, and how to report incidents; and provide timely and effective interim relief for complainants, including academic adjustments, housing changes, counseling, and health and mental services, as necessary, and document this relief in investigative files.
This agreement covers all 63,000 students at the six Ohio State campuses, including the one in Lima.
That so many schools are under investigation illustrates a few of the significant obstacles that must be overcome.
For one, too many sexual assaults go unreported. Women sometimes fear being made to relive the event or hearing the ridiculously misogynist cries that they were “asking for it” because of dress, sobriety or even past encounters. Others worry about getting an acquaintance in trouble — since an estimated 90 percent of sexual assaults involve a person known to the victim — or blame themselves.
Another concern is that there are still colleges that inadequately handle the crime: leaving the investigation to campus security, failing to report the matter to outside authorities or treating punishment as an academic matter instead of something for the court system.
There are still too many people and institutions that believe some sort of resolution comes from turning a blind eye to the problem.
Ignoring the reality of sexual assault doesn’t mean it isn’t real.
And it won’t make it go away.
