|
 |
Education Dive
Sexual violence persists on elite research campuses, report finds
Results from a new national survey of college students were largely unchanged from 2015, the last time the data was collected.
Jeremy Bauer-Wolf
Oct. 17, 2019
An increasingly popular tool among colleges and universities is the
campus climate survey — a method for administrators to take the pulse
of their student bodies. These studies might gauge, for instance,
whether they are indulging in dangerous habits, such as binge drinking
or illicit substances, or if minority students feel comfortable
day-to-day.
Such surveys also often reveal the frequency with which students report
being sexually assaulted, though officials have been criticized for not
acting on this information, or not publicizing their statistics. Sexual
assault prevention activists have lamented this lack of transparency,
saying university leaders are more worried about their institutions'
reputations taking a hit than they are about addressing sexual
misconduct.
Similar concerns abound with the release of an extensive report on
campus sexual violence from the Association of American Universities
(AAU), which represents research universities across the country. The
survey, published this week, shows roughly one in four undergraduate
women at 33 of the most prominent research institutions nationwide have
been sexually touched or penetrated without their consent while
attending college.
All of the participating universities have or intend to release their
individual results publicly, a reversal from 2015, when the association
last published a similar report. Outcry from advocates pushed
universities to share the data.
"Although we've made progress, there is much work to do," Mary Sue
Coleman, the association's president, wrote in the report. "Our
institutions within AAU and other colleges and universities must
continue to educate students about how to report sexual assault and
misconduct."
A total of 181,752 students — including those who identify as male or
female as well as transgender and gender-nonconforming students —
across the institutions answered questions about whether they had
experienced sexual violence and their perceptions of how administrators
responded to these issues. The association contracted with Westat, a
social science research firm, for both the 2015 survey and follow-up
released this week.
The 2015 report and this year's survey confirm an oft-cited but
controversial talking point that one-in-four undergraduate women are
sexually assaulted during their time on campus. This statistic has been
criticized for potentially overstating the problem of sexual violence.
About 13% of students overall had sexual contact without their
permission, according to this year's report. Advocates praised the
survey for highlighting gender-nonconforming students. More than 20% of
undergraduate students with an alternative gender identity said they
had experienced sexual violence.
More students, compared to the 2015 study, are starting to understand
the definition of sexual assault, but many do not report their
encounters. Almost 70% of the female undergraduates indicated that
being sexually penetrated without permission was "not serious enough"
to report, or another similar reason, because they had not been injured.
|
|
|
|
