All Entries in the "Sexual Assault/Harassment" Category
Six Women File Sexual Assault Lawsuit Against the University of Tennessee
The women allege that the university fosters an environment that allows sexual assaults by student athletes and that the legal adjudication process is biased against victims of sexual assault.
University Releases Video It Later Calls “Inappropriate and Sexist”
Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada, released a video aimed a reducing energy costs on campus by encouraging the campus community to dress warmly. Many women on campus were not amused.
University of California Faculty Required to Take New Online Course on Sexual Misconduct Reporting
At the beginning of the year new rules were implemented on the reporting of sexual assault and harassment. Faculty and staff supervisors will be required to take a new online course to make sure they are knowledgeable about the new policies.
New Justice Department Survey of Campus Sexual Assault
The study found that 10.3 percent of all women had been sexually assaulted during the 2014-15 school year. Slightly more than 4 percent reported that they had been raped. During the entire course of their time at college, 21 percent of all women undergraduates reported that they had been sexually assaulted.
Peer Advocates: West Virginia University Offers For-Credit Class in Sexual Assault Counseling
So far, 51 student Peer Advocates have completed a three-credit course that trained them in medical, legal, and judicial counseling and in response protocols when a sexual assault has occurred or has been alleged. They are now available to counsel other students.
In Media Reports of Celebrity Domestic Violence, Racism Is Prevalent
A new study by Joanna Pepin, a doctoral student in sociology at the University of Maryland, finds that when a Black man was accused of domestic violence, media reports were more likely to include criminal information than when a White man was accused of domestic violence.
Study Finds Significant Rise in Incidents of Rape on Days When a University’s Football Team Plays
The data shows that the number of reported rapes increase by 28 percent on days when the university’s football team has a game. When the university football team plays at home, the number of rapes increase by 41 percent.
Oregon State Will Not Admit Transfer Students Who Violated Student Conduct Codes at Their Previous Institution
All undergraduate and graduate students seeking to transfer to Oregon State University are required to disclose if they are ineligible to enroll at a higher educational institution due to violations of that institution’s student conduct codes.
Study Finds That Many High School Students Choose Not to Intervene in Dating or Sexual Aggression
Research conducted at the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire found that 90 percent of high school students reported that they had an opportunity to intervene in dating or sexual aggression. But only two thirds of these students chose to intervene in these situations.
Michigan State University Developing a Bystander Intervention Network to Reduce Sexual Assaults
Using money from a state grant, the university will offer training for employees of local bars and taxi drivers that will provide them with the tools and skills necessary to intervene when they suspect that a sexual assault may occur.
University of Kansas Establishes a New Sexual Assault Prevention and Education Center
The new center will employ a director and two educators who will provide violence awareness and risk reduction programming related to sexual assault, relationship violence, stalking and bystander intervention.
Can Television Impact College Students’ Sexual Misconduct Behavior?
Researchers at the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University have published a paper that shows that college students who watch particular crime shows on television gain a better understanding of sexual consent.
Three Women Former Coaches File a Federal Lawsuit Against the University of Minnesota-Duluth
The former coaches of the women’s ice hockey, basketball, and softball teams allege that they were subjected to a hostile work environment and fired due to their gender and sexual orientation. The university vows to “aggressively defend” itself against the allegations.
University of Virginia Signs Resolution Agreement on Preventing Sexual Violence and Harassment
The U.S. Department of Education maintained that the university failed “to promptly and equitably respond to certain complaints of sexual violence” and that “the university failed to take sufficient steps to eliminate a hostile environment and prevent its recurrence.”
Survey Finds That 23 Percent of Undergraduate Women Are Subjected to Unwanted Sexual Contact
A major new study on sexual assault on 27 college campuses was recently published by the Association of American Universities. The report found that 23 percent of undergraduate women students said that they had been victims of sexual contact involving physical force or incapacitation since entering college.
Initiative to Combat “Revenge Porn” Finds a New Home at the University of Miami School of Law
The mission of Cyber Civil Rights Initiative is to provide resources and advocacy for victims of online harassment. The CCRI has provided support to thousands of victims, brought global attention to this issue, and advocated for legislation that would criminalize revenge porn.
Study Says That Sexual Objectification Increases College Women’s Vulnerability to Sexual Assault
A new study by researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln finds that women who are repeatedly ogled by men become hyper-conscious of their appearance and sex appeal, contributing to low assertiveness in sexual situations.
Survey Finds That College Women Who Were Raped Often Blame Themselves
Sapana D. Donde, a Dean’s Post-Doctoral Fellow in Neuroscience and Mental Health in the School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin, found that more than 60 percent of college women who had been raped assigned at least some of the blame to themselves.
U.S. Justice Department Debuts New Website on Campus Sexual Assault
The Center for Changing Our Campus Culture offers a wide variety of information on sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking on campus. It provides a wealth of information for law enforcement, victim service providers, students, parents and other key stakeholders to use to improve campus safety.
Spelman College “Discontinues” the Cosby Endowed Professorship
In the 1980s, the highly rated women’s college in Atlanta received a $20 million gift from Bill and Camille Cosby. Now the college has ended a professor named for the Cosbys and returned “related funds” to a foundation created by Camille Cosby.
Women’s Study Scholar Says City Nuisance Laws May Discourage Battered Women From Calling Police
Gretchen Arnold, an assistant professor of women’s and gender studies at Saint Louis University, is conducting research on nuisance laws which can call for fines for individuals who frequently make what are deemed unnecessary 911 calls to emergency services.
Two Women Graduate Students File Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against UCLA
The women claim that a male history professor had made suggestive comments and pressed against them in a sexual manner. According to the lawsuit, when the women complained to university officials, their concerns were not properly addressed
Penn State Begins to Implement Bystander Intervention Training Program
The 75 faculty and staff from 19 Penn State campuses who completed the training can now take their new knowledge and skills back to their particular campus and conduct bystander intervention training for staff and students aimed at reducing sexual assault on campus.
University of Chicago Has Released Data From Its 2015 Spring Sexual Misconduct Survey
Just under 10 percent of undergraduate women respondents reported that they were the victims of unwanted sexual penetration. More than 35 percent of undergraduate women said they were victims of unwanted touching or fondling.
Women Students and Faculty Threaten to Sue the Maricopa Community College District
Based in Tempe, Arizona, and serving the Phoenix metropolitan area, the Maricopa Community College District is the largest in the United States. A group of former and current students and faculty have made allegations of sexual harassment.
Oregon State University to Open a New Center to Support Victims of Sexual Violence
While the center is primarily for students, OSU faculty and staff survivors can also receive support, stabilization and referral from the center. Additionally, the center will provide resources such as books, movies, articles, and other media with information about sexual violence.
Women Faculty at One Unit of the UCLA Medical School Faced a Climate of Hostility for a Decade
An internal investigation found that women faculty members in the Alzheimer’s disease research center at the UCLA medical school faced “a climate of conflict, tension, hostility, and mistrust” and were treated in an “unprofessional, demeaning manner.”
Flyers Threatening a Women’s Studies Lecturer With Rape Found on the University of Akron Campus
According to the Facebook page of the women’s studies program at the university, the faculty member was threatened with rape and her personal information and home address were included on the flyers.
Study Finds Men and Women Victims Use Sexual Assault Hotlines for Different Purposes
A new study by researchers at the University of Georgia finds that women victims of sexual assault were more likely to be seeking advice on accessing specific resources while men simply wanted to tell their story to the hotline counselor.
New Data on Sexual Assaults on College Campuses
The widely used statistic that one of every five women is sexually assaulted while attending college, has received widespread criticism due to the narrow focus of the data. A new survey uses a much larger data set.
Pennsylvania State University Adopts 18 Measures to Fight Sexual Assault and Harassment
Eric Barron, president of Pennsylvania State University, has endorsed all 18 recommendations set forth by the Task Force on Sexual Assault and Harassment.
Federal Lawsuit Seeks Admissions Data by Gender at U.S. Service Academies
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Veterans Legal Services Clinic at Yale Law School have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Defense on behalf of the Service Women’s Action Network.
University of Kansas Study Finds That Universities May Be Underreporting Sexual Assaults
The data shows that during the audits of university crime statistics, reported sexual assaults rose 44 percent. But the research found that once the audits were over, the number of reported sexual assaults declined to the previous level.
Study Finds That an Assertiveness Training Program for Teenage Girls May Reduce Sexual Assaults
A new study led by Lorelei Simpson Rowe, a psychologist at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, finds that teenage girls who took a virtual reality assertiveness training program were less likely to become victims of sexual assault.
Report Finds That Women In Science Face Widespread Gender Bias
A new report by researchers at the University of California’s Hastings College of Law finds that More than 90 percent of women scientists stated that they had been subjected to some form of gender bias. More than a third said they were victims of sexual harassment.
