The Ohio University Police Department has 26 officers, and only one of them is female - meaning women make up about 4 percent of the force. About 51 percent of OU's Athens campus student body was female during Fall Quarter 2007. In contrast, women make up 11 percent of the police force at Miami University, 20 percent at the University of Toledo and 29 percent at Kent State University.
OUPD has to change.
This is not merely a matter of equal representation or affirmative action or something else warm and fuzzy and politically correct. This is about having officers in place that may better be able to handle sexual assault cases. In 2005, according to the 2008 Clery Report, 17 forcible sexual assaults were reported among OU students. In 2006, four were reported. In 2007, that number was 12. The results are not yet in for 2008, but the numbers are likely similar - and study after study has shown that across America, reported sexual assaults are a mere fraction of what actually takes place.
How many were never reported at OU because a student was uncomfortable and ashamed of discussing it with a male officer, we can never know. But it is not just speculating to assume that a young woman who has undergone a horrific, traumatizing rape might recoil from recounting the story to a man. This isn't sexism: This is about creating an environment in which rape victims feel comfortable to come forward.
Hopefully, OUPD will recognize this need and work to fill it. Sexual assault is a serious concern. We should do our best to encourage women to report it when it occurs, and having more female officers would be a good place to begin.
4 Opinion
Lack of women in OU police force may stop girls from reporting rape
