On college campuses throughout the country, countless women are presented with the dilemma of whether or not to report unwanted sexual advances, sexual assault and rape.
At Ohio University, nine sexual assaults were reported during 2009, according to the 2010 Clery Report. In previous years, the number of reported assaults has been similar — nine in 2008 and 12 in 2007.
Statistics from the Center for Public Integrity show, however, that approximately 95 percent of sexual assaults on U.S. college campuses are not reported.
“Students who have been assaulted are often not believed, even among their friends,” said Patty Stokes, assistant professor of women’s and gender studies. “So they think, ‘Why would someone else believe it?’”
Stokes said that although people might not always believe the complainant, false reports of rape are very rare. The American Prosecutors Research Institute found that 2 percent to 8 percent of rape reports turn out to be false.
The fear of not being believed keeps many students from reporting sexual assaults. College campuses create an atmosphere where people might be wary of reporting assault, said Hannah Sampson, a sophomore studying psychology.
“I don’t think it’s OU, specifically,” Samson said. “Being in college or other big communities of young people where people are learning about themselves and feeling uncertain can lead to that (unwillingness).”
According to Bureau of Justice statistics, 80 percent of sexual assaults occur among acquaintances — something that used to be known as “date rape,” but is now generally referred to as “acquaintance rape.”
“To a certain extent, the term “date rape” gives the wrong idea,” psychology professor Christine Gidycz said. “It’s not necessarily occurring on dates.
“It occurs among people who know each other — maybe at a party or a dorm room — not always between people on a date or people who are closely involved. It may be someone you just met,” she said.
Gidycz, who has conducted research on sexual assault at OU for the past 25 years, said that many victims do not report sexual assault because of society’s
beliefs regarding acquaintance rape.
“They deviate from what society considers to be ‘real rape,’” Gidycz said. “So the victim fears that they might be blamed or not believed, and there is often less evidence in those situations.”
People might not consider acquaintance rape a true offense because society suggests that if there is not a violent attack, it isn’t rape, Stokes said.
This misunderstanding of what constitutes rape can create doubts in the victims’ minds about whether what they experienced needs to be reported.
A study done in Gidycz’s Laboratory for the Study and Prevention of Sexual Assault found that only 26 percent of women surveyed who were victims of sexual assault according to the legal definition considered themselves victims.
“People may not conceptualize it as rape,” Gidycz said. “There is often less force than what is involved in stranger rape, and if you’re not conceptualizing it as rape, then you are not likely to report it.”
To promote a better understanding of when sexual assault occurs, Gidycz suggests that colleges focus on educating students.
“Colleges need to do more education about what constitutes rape and do more education about what rape typically involves on campuses, then encourage people to report acquaintance rape,” Gidycz said.
In addition to misunderstanding what constitutes rape, students are deterred from reporting sexual assault by personal fears. Victims worry that their reputation could be tarnished or fear judicial retributions if alcohol was involved, Stokes said.
“There’s a fear of being brought up in alcohol charges. A fear of being brought to judiciaries or court and being convicted on alcohol charges. … You would see a different kind of reporting if there wasn’t any fear of alcohol charges,” Stokes said.
The difficulty of proving rape in a judicial atmosphere also serves as a deterrent for the report of sexual assault.
“People are often deterred in advance by seeing the process as hard to prevail in,” Stokes said.
Another study conducted in Gidycz’s Laboratory for the Study and Prevention of Sexual Assault surveyed 430 undergraduate women between fall 2008 and fall 2010, finding that during one academic quarter, 3.7 percent experienced unwanted sexual contact, 2.8 percent experienced unwanted sexual coercion, 2.8 percent experienced attempted rape and 4.9 percent experienced rape.
Although sexual assault continues to be a threat for college students, Gidycz believes OU has taken steps to prevent it.
For instance, Dean of Students Ryan Lombardi has worked to create sanctions for perpetrators, a sexual assault task force composed of university employees is in effect, and the Campus Involvement Center has a poster campaign targeting sexual assault.
The Survivor Advocacy Program on campus also gives students a chance to confidentially discuss sexual assault, which Gidycz believes will increase the likelihood of assault being reported.
Confidential services for victims and survivors of sexual assault, domestic/dating violence and stalking.
GET HELP
The Survivor Advocacy Program:
Confidential services for victims and survivors of sexual assault, domestic/dating violence and stalking.
Call: 740-597-SAFE (7233)
Email: survivor.advocacy@ohiou.edu
Visit the McKee House: 44 University Terrace
Mon. through Fri., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
bm257008@ohiou.edu
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