The University of Hawai’i recently released the results of a student survey on sexual harassment and gender-based violence. The university states that it is the first survey of its kind of a university system that includes both four-year and two-year campuses.
More than 6,300 students responded to the 125-question survey. The survey asked questions in four areas: prevalence of sexual harassment and gender-based violence, student assessment of the university’s response, student perceptions of campus safety and student awareness of policies, processes and programs.
The results of the survey showed that 85.3 percent of all respondents said that they felt the likelihood of them experiencing sexual harassment was little or not at all. But 19 percent of students who were in a serious relationship with a partner reported that they had been a victim of domestic violence. More than 6 percent reported nonconsensual sexual contact.
All campuses on the University of Hawai’i System are reviewing the results and deciding what steps to take to make their campus safer. The data will be used as a baseline to see if progress has been made when the next scheduled survey is administered in 2019.