NEWSFLASH: Campus Sexual Assault Complaints Are on the Rise

[niyad]

NEWSFLASH: Campus Sexual Assault Complaints Are on the Rise



Reports of sexual violence on college campuses are on the rise, according to new data compiled by the Department of Education.



In a letter to Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) released by her office Tuesday, the Department’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR), which oversees the enforcement of Title IX, details a surge in Title IX-related sexual assault complaints, from nine in 2009 to 102 in 2014. Additionally, The Clery Act-mandated annual campus crime statistics report a near doubling of “forcible sexual offenses,” from 3,264 complaints in 2009 to 6,016 in 2013. The OCR found the typical duration of campus sexual assault investigations jumped as well, from 379 days in 2009 to 1,469 days in 2014, a growth the OCR attributes to the “substantial increase” in sexual violence complaints.

As dispiriting as the numbers may be, the OCR remains optimistic, suggesting the data indicate an increased awareness of sexual assault nationwide. The organization also pointed to its participation in programs such as the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault and NotAlone.gov as evidence of its commitment to resolving the campus rape crisis, but say it needs more money from Congress to continue.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), who with Boxer pushed the Department of Education to bring greater transparency to their efforts to combat sexual assault on college campuses, insists more can be done. “These figures still don’t reflect even conservative estimates of the actual incidence of sexual assault and rape on campuses, and still the Department of Education lacks the resources to promptly investigate the few complaints against schools that are filed,” says Gillibrand.

“This data is the latest example of why we need to flip the incentives so that schools properly address the problem of sexual assault on their campuses, and make sure the Department of Education has the funding it needs to enforce the laws, review complaints and help prevent campus sexual assault.”

http://msmagazine.com/blog/2015/05/08/newsflash-campus-sexual-assault-complaints-are-on-the-rise/

[Donald Ian Rankin]

1. There are two possible reasons that statistic might be rising.

It could either be a result of more assaults - which would obviously be bad - or of a higher proportion of assaults being reported - which would be good. Or some combination of the two, of course.

[niyad]

2. I do believe that was mentioned in the article.

[Recursion]

7. Unfortunately the subject is a morass of problematic numbers

We all know the rate of sexual assault on campus is too high, but we don't really know what it is, or whether it's higher than among similarly-aged women not in college (I could make an argument either way).

The numbers "one in five" and "one in four" get thrown around a lot, and probably gives us some sense of the order of magnitude. But the "one in four" is from a CDC study that included unwanted kiss attempts and verbal abuse of a sexual nature, while it did not include men being coerced or pressured into having sex with a woman (but did include men being coerced into any sexual activity with another man). I feel more confident about the "one in five" number which is based on DOJ victim reporting surveys, though it sampled a single class over a single year and then multiplied by five since most college students spend five years on campus nowadays. That's not awful methodology but it's probably not what we should lead with. But we just don't have many other numbers because universities make such a point of sweeping problems under the rug to keep their Title IX numbers good.

[uppityperson]

3. I also wonder if they are taking all genders into account now as well as everyone reporting more.

[Recursion]

6. Yes, title IX mandates that. Male-on-male sexual assault still remains woefully underreported though

Particularly in the context of fraternities.

And I don't know if as a society we quite know what to do with female-on-male "acquaintance" sexual assault (in college a woman pressured me into having sex when I didn't want to... where do you go with that? It's not clear to me...)

Title IX also mandates that university discipline systems respond to sexual assault allegations internally. So, when people ask "why is a faculty panel hearing a rape case?" the answer is because Title IX requires them to.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

4. kick. take violence against women seriously.

So sick of trivialization.

[Liberal_in_LA]

5. double kick

[niyad]

8. kick for needed visibility