Survey Finds Sexual Assaults on College Campuses Are Rarely Reported to the Proper Authorities

A new survey conducted by Vector Solutions, a company that produces sexual violence risk-management training materials for higher educational institutions, finds that students continue to commit and experience sexual- and gender-based harms on campus at unacceptable rates and that the most vulnerable students are reporting higher rates of victimization than their peers. The survey also found that students rarely report campus sexual assaults to campus authorities or police. But sexual assault victims are likely to report the incidents to their friends.

Overall, 14 percent of all college students surveyed reported that they had been victims of sexual assault. Of these, only 6 percent notify campus or local police authorities. Some 7 percent reported the assault to a campus administrator and only 3 percent went to an on-campus crisis center for sexual assault victims. But 86 percent of the student victims said they reported the assault to a friend and nearly half notified a family member.

The survey also found that more than three quarters of college students said they would intervene if they witnessed a situation where they thought a sexual assault was going to occur. Almost all respondents said they would respect the actions of another student bystander who tried to intervene to prevent a sexual assault.

The full report, The State of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Higher Education, may be downloaded here.