Sexual assaults on college campuses happen far too often, but a closer look at the numbers at the University of Minnesota reveal that nearly 1 in 4 female students have been a victim of sexual assault.
Research conducted by the Association of American Universities uncovered that 23.5 percent of female undergraduates at the U of M’s main campus have been a victim of sexual assault “by physical force, threats of physical force or incapacitation.” That number is higher than the national average, which sits at 23.0 percent.
Katie Eichele, director of a sexual assault advocacy and education center at the U of M, said the issue of sexual assault has been ignored for decades.
“If we had 1 in 4 women having mono at this rate, we would have a public health epidemic,” said Eichele. “This is a phenomenally high number and the fact that it’s been consistent since the ’80s tells us as a society, we’ve been ignoring the problem.”
Sexual Assault Study
Researchers polled 150,000 undergraduate and graduate students at 27 different universities. About 8,000 students from the U of M took part in the study. Other findings from the survey include:
- 5.2 percent of men at the University of Minnesota have been a victim of sexual assault, lower than the survey average of 5.5 percent.
- Overall, 11.3 percent of all respondents said they had been a victim of nonconsenual sexual assault.
- 20 percent of respondents said they felt that it was “extremely likely”the alleged perpetrator would retaliate against them in response to a report of sexual assault.
- Females were less likely than males to believe their report would be taken seriously.
The University of Minnesota recently unveiled a new consent policy, which among other things states that a person under the influence of drugs or alcohol is incapable of giving consent. Eichelre said the new policy is a step in the right direction, but numbers are still far too high, and women need to believe their concerns won’t fall on deaf ears.
“The reality is the results are very consistent in that about 20 to 25 percent of college women are saying ‘yes, I’ve been sexually assaulted.'”
Related source: MPR News
