Sex (Assault) Ed
The words “I have been sexually assaulted” are coming out of students’ mouths more often. Why more college kids stepped out of the shadows.
4.29.2015
It’s a normal day at Columbia University and a navy, twin-sized bed makes its way across the quad. Since September, senior Emma Sulkowicz has carried her own dorm mattress on her shoulders, taking it with her across campus everywhere she goes. Part thesis, part protest, she refuses to stop lugging around her mattress until her rapist is expelled and removed from campus.
Sulcowicz’s mattress serves as a visual reminder that many victims of sexual assault know too well: her rapist remains free to attend the school without consequences for his actions while she must carry the burden, and memories, of her attack with her.
But what’s sad is that her case is an exception, not the norm. Most sexual assault cases disappear into filing cabinets or paper shredders, only to remain unknown by everyone but the offender and the victim. Most cases do not receive national attention or spur debate on reforming sexual assault investigation processes.
No, a majority of sexual assaults remain unreported. The Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN) says it’s sixty–eight percent to be exact. And of those that are reported, very few are actually investigated, with even fewer of the offenders receiving any repercussions for their actions. “As each new school year comes, as far as numbers go, we never know who is going to come forward,” says Syracuse University Department of Public Safety Detective James Hill.
The belief is that the more attention sexual assault receives, the more people will come forward to report it. And with all the focus the media has given to sexual assault recently, these numbers should have skyrocketed. And they did.
According to an America Tonight analysis of the Clery Reports of America’s top 25 universities, the number of reported sex offenses increased from an average of 12.5 in 2011 to 20.1 in 2013 – a 61 percent increase. Brown jumped from seven reports to 21; Carnegie Mellon from five to 16; and Columbia from four to 22. Out of the 25 top schools only four had a decrease in the number of sexual assault reports.
“Nationally, this percentage seems a little high,” says Hill. “But I can only speak for SU. And within the past couple years we have seen a slight increase in sexual assault reports.”
All American colleges and universities that receive federal funding must publish their crime statistics annually, something that became required with the passing of the 1990 Clery Act. At many schools, the number of reported "forcible sex offenses" has been long stuck in the single digits. With more and more students at colleges coming forward, the White House has issued investigations at 106 colleges due to concerns about whether the schools violated Title IX in their handling of sexual violence cases. Talk about waving a red flag.
So when asked what has caused more people to come out of the shadows, all fingers were pointed to the interest the issue has recently received. Within the past two years, Sulcowicz and her mattress, Jackie and her discredited Rolling Stone story, and an anonymous Harvard op-ed letter brought sexual assault to the medias attention; dozens of schools have had victims-turned-activists file complaints on their university’s handling of their cases and start campus-wide movements in an attempt to spark change; and the White House published its first-ever report on campus assault, identified its list of colleges under investigation, and released a celebrity-filled PSA campaign, “1 is 2 Many.”
“Sexual assault is a topic in which not everyone knows the language,” says Emily Schell, a junior at Brown University and the founder of the sexual assault prevention group Stand Up! “The media has allowed sexual assault to enter the conversation and become more normal to talk about.”
As a result, students will be more likely to understand the crime, recognize their rights and know the process for reporting. And they're less likely to feel ashamed. “What’s happening is more universities are providing better education and more resources,” SU Title IX Coordinator Cynthia Curtin says. “With both of these people feel safer reporting it.”
Whether its their comfort with their knowledge on the issue or their confidence to no longer hide, sexual assault is something that needs to be reported more often. After all, the only number that is scarier than 100 when it comes to sexual assault is zero.
Tweet: Reports of college sexual assault are on the rise. Here’s why. LINK