More on Sexual Assault Awareness Week
Just to answer those nagging questions, I wanted to post the FAQs that people are pondering about the University not having a sexual assault policy. No, I am not a raging femme-Nazi, but I do think that this is one of those no-brainer bonehead things the University should've done a long time ago. Anyway, check out the facts:
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Common Sense says there was only one rape at the University in 2004. Does the University really need a policy if it only applies to one person every year?
Common Sense only reports crimes that are reported to the police and those crimes that occur on University property or in areas contiguous to University property. Fewer than 1 in 20 campus rapes or attempted rapes are reported to the police. This is because the vast majority of rape on college campuses is acquaintance rape and generally is unreported (see next question). Furthermore, most rape happens in the home of the victim or a close friend and student apartments, because they do not constitute University property, are not included in the Common Sense statistics. In fact, sexual assault does happen at the University of Chicago, in much greater numbers than Common Sense would have you believe.
2. Shouldn’t the police handle it? It’s not the University’s job.
Sexual assault is a felony and a serious crime. However, because of the way in which law enforcement handles sexual assault and the fact that most rape is acquaintance rape, most rape goes unreported. According to a report prepared by the majority staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1993, fewer than 1 in 20 completed or attempted campus rapes are reported. Survivors may find it extremely difficult to report a boyfriend, classmate, husband, girlfriend, partner, sibling or parent to the police. Because of this, it is important that the University have a mechanism to handle sexual assault that occurs within the University. Whether or not a survivor chooses to file a police report, they still deserve to feel and be safe, particularly on campus, in classes, in dormitories, and as a part of the University community. Finally, even when a rape is reported to the police, it might not be prosecuted by the criminal justice system. In particular, acquaintance rape is rarely prosecuted, and a University policy would provide a nonlegal mechanism through which survivors could attempt to reclaim their safety and control over their lives even if the criminal justice system chose not to prosecute their case. Many other universities, including Stanford, Harvard, Caltech, U. Penn, UC Berkeley, and Princeton have explicit sexual assault policies.
3. Why should I care?
It’s easy to think that sexual assault happens elsewhere or that all rapists jump out from bushes or attack their victims in abandoned alleys. In reality, most rape is acquaintance rape and most rape happens in the home of a victim or a friend or relative. According to a study in 2000, 34% of completed rapes and 45% of attempted rapes take place on campus. That means that at the U of C, with 4000 undergraduate students, there are, on average, four or five rapes every week for the entire school year. It is well accepted that 1 in 4 college women is a survivor of rape of attempted rape . Chances are you know more than four women. Chances are high that you or a close friend or family member has been or will be a rape survivor. It is important to understand what sexual assault is, how you can take care of yourself if it happens to you, and how to help a friend who has been assaulted. You probably also want your friends and family to have access to sexual assault resources and clear explanations of actions that they can take within the University for their own safety.
4. This seems like a women’s issue.
It is true that the majority of sexual assault survivors are women. However, men constitute almost 10% of rape victims, that is more than 30,000 male rape victims per year in the United States. Sexual assault is not a gender-specific crime. Men, women, and transgendered people may be survivors of or perpetrators of sexual assault. Heterosexual, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people may be survivors of or perpetrators of sexual assault. Sexual assault affects all communities and people of all ages, backgrounds, ethnicities, and experiences.
5. Don’t we already have a sexual harassment policy?
We do have a sexual harassment policy; most universities established them in the early 1980s, and the U of C adopted its policy in 1990. Sexual harassment is prohibited by federal laws, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendment of 1972, and the Civil Rights Act of 1991. However, a sexual harassment policy is not enough. According to Illinois law, sexual harassment, sexual abuse, and sexual assault constitute three separate crimes, and the latter two are extremely serious (misdemeanor and felony, respectively). It is essential that University policy distinguish among these three offenses. Furthermore, sexual harassment is predominately “[dealt] with informally”, which is frequently not the appropriate manner in which to handle sexual assault. Finally, the characterization of sexual assault as a “direct form of sexual harassment” trivializes both crimes. Sexual assault is a violent crime and much more serious than sexual harassment. However, sexual harassment is itself a direct action.
6. What about false accusations?
Many people are concerned that increasing the ease with which survivors can come forward and file a complaint would also increase the number of false accusations made. This belief is completely inaccurate. In particular, sexual assault is currently the most underreported of all crimes (see number 2) and, according to the US Department of Justice, no crime is less likely to be falsely reported than sexual assault. This is in part because our society imposes a huge stigma against sexual assault survivors. Furthermore, having explicit definitions of sexual assault/abuse/harassment and of consent would benefit someone who was falsely accused of rape, unlikely as it is. Furthermore, we are also asking the University to explicitly detail the rights of the accused, as well as the complainant, in disciplinary proceedings.
7. What’s the policy now?
The University of Chicago currently does not have any explicit policy statement about sexual assault on campus. Sexual assault is handed by the Dean of Students in the division of the accused. The University does have a sexual harassment policy (see number 5) but this is not sufficient. Many other universities, including Stanford, Harvard, Caltech, U. Penn, UC Berkeley, and Princeton, have explicit sexual assault policies that are distinct from their sexual harassment policies.
8. What have you already done?
We’ve met with a number of different administrators (see number 11). We wrote up a letter detailing our complaints; nineteen student organizations, including the University Student Government, endorsed the letter. We also obtained more than 700 signatures on a petition demanding a comprehensive sexual assault policy; these signatures came from undergraduates, graduates, faculty, parents and other members of the University community. On the resource front, we successfully spearheaded the effort to put together a comprehensive website about sexual violence (sexualviolence.uchicago.edu) that is intended to provide information about what sexual violence is, what forms it takes, the various avenues and resources available to a survivor, for example. We also worked with the College Programing Office to improve the way that sexual assault is discussed during Orientation Week and to improve the training of O-leaders.
9. What is sexual assault/harassment/abuse?
According to Illinois State Law, sexual harassment is unwanted sexual attention, usually verbal. Once there is physical contact, the offense becomes sexual abuse, defined as an unwanted act of sexual conduct by use/threat of force, including groping, unwanted touching, and anything leading up to penetration. Once there is penetration, the offense is sexual assault, defined as sexual penetration of the vagina, anus, or mouth by the use or threat of force, even slight. Penetration can be digital (with fingers), with an object, or with an organ (penis, tongue). Rape is the more informal term for sexual assault, but in the state of Illinois, the two mean the same.
10. What do you want the University to do?
We insist on an official University Policy on Sexual Assault to include the following:
• A Zero Tolerance Statement
• Clear definitions of sexual abuse, sexual assault, and sexual harassment
• A statement that sexual assault is not gender-specific
• Clear instructions for how a survivor can seek help, report the crime, and take action
• Explicit descriptions of how the University responds to sexual assault
• Explicit descriptions of disciplinary action available within the university, including the rights of the survivor and the accused
• Descriptions of prevention and educational programs within the University
11. With whom are you working?
We’ve been meeting regularly with Martina Munsters; she is working on a proposal to put together a committee to begin talking about having a sexual assault policy. We’ve also met with Bill Michel and Susan Art. We’ve also met with Aneesah Ali, the Affirmative Action Coordinator. Copies of our petition have been sent to Don Randel, Steve Klass, Richard Sallers, Aneesah Ali, Martha Roth, Belinda Cortez-Vasquez, and Susan Art.
12. Is any of this actually going to do anything?
We hope so. According to a study by the Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, a vast majority of rape service agencies believe that public education about rape, and expanded counseling and advocacy services for rape victims would be effective in increasing the willingness of victims to report rapes to the police. We hope that expanding knowledge about rape on this campus, and improving options for survivors will be an effective means to help survivors through the process and, eventually, reduce rape at the university.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Common Sense says there was only one rape at the University in 2004. Does the University really need a policy if it only applies to one person every year?
Common Sense only reports crimes that are reported to the police and those crimes that occur on University property or in areas contiguous to University property. Fewer than 1 in 20 campus rapes or attempted rapes are reported to the police. This is because the vast majority of rape on college campuses is acquaintance rape and generally is unreported (see next question). Furthermore, most rape happens in the home of the victim or a close friend and student apartments, because they do not constitute University property, are not included in the Common Sense statistics. In fact, sexual assault does happen at the University of Chicago, in much greater numbers than Common Sense would have you believe.
2. Shouldn’t the police handle it? It’s not the University’s job.
Sexual assault is a felony and a serious crime. However, because of the way in which law enforcement handles sexual assault and the fact that most rape is acquaintance rape, most rape goes unreported. According to a report prepared by the majority staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1993, fewer than 1 in 20 completed or attempted campus rapes are reported. Survivors may find it extremely difficult to report a boyfriend, classmate, husband, girlfriend, partner, sibling or parent to the police. Because of this, it is important that the University have a mechanism to handle sexual assault that occurs within the University. Whether or not a survivor chooses to file a police report, they still deserve to feel and be safe, particularly on campus, in classes, in dormitories, and as a part of the University community. Finally, even when a rape is reported to the police, it might not be prosecuted by the criminal justice system. In particular, acquaintance rape is rarely prosecuted, and a University policy would provide a nonlegal mechanism through which survivors could attempt to reclaim their safety and control over their lives even if the criminal justice system chose not to prosecute their case. Many other universities, including Stanford, Harvard, Caltech, U. Penn, UC Berkeley, and Princeton have explicit sexual assault policies.
3. Why should I care?
It’s easy to think that sexual assault happens elsewhere or that all rapists jump out from bushes or attack their victims in abandoned alleys. In reality, most rape is acquaintance rape and most rape happens in the home of a victim or a friend or relative. According to a study in 2000, 34% of completed rapes and 45% of attempted rapes take place on campus. That means that at the U of C, with 4000 undergraduate students, there are, on average, four or five rapes every week for the entire school year. It is well accepted that 1 in 4 college women is a survivor of rape of attempted rape . Chances are you know more than four women. Chances are high that you or a close friend or family member has been or will be a rape survivor. It is important to understand what sexual assault is, how you can take care of yourself if it happens to you, and how to help a friend who has been assaulted. You probably also want your friends and family to have access to sexual assault resources and clear explanations of actions that they can take within the University for their own safety.
4. This seems like a women’s issue.
It is true that the majority of sexual assault survivors are women. However, men constitute almost 10% of rape victims, that is more than 30,000 male rape victims per year in the United States. Sexual assault is not a gender-specific crime. Men, women, and transgendered people may be survivors of or perpetrators of sexual assault. Heterosexual, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people may be survivors of or perpetrators of sexual assault. Sexual assault affects all communities and people of all ages, backgrounds, ethnicities, and experiences.
5. Don’t we already have a sexual harassment policy?
We do have a sexual harassment policy; most universities established them in the early 1980s, and the U of C adopted its policy in 1990. Sexual harassment is prohibited by federal laws, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendment of 1972, and the Civil Rights Act of 1991. However, a sexual harassment policy is not enough. According to Illinois law, sexual harassment, sexual abuse, and sexual assault constitute three separate crimes, and the latter two are extremely serious (misdemeanor and felony, respectively). It is essential that University policy distinguish among these three offenses. Furthermore, sexual harassment is predominately “[dealt] with informally”, which is frequently not the appropriate manner in which to handle sexual assault. Finally, the characterization of sexual assault as a “direct form of sexual harassment” trivializes both crimes. Sexual assault is a violent crime and much more serious than sexual harassment. However, sexual harassment is itself a direct action.
6. What about false accusations?
Many people are concerned that increasing the ease with which survivors can come forward and file a complaint would also increase the number of false accusations made. This belief is completely inaccurate. In particular, sexual assault is currently the most underreported of all crimes (see number 2) and, according to the US Department of Justice, no crime is less likely to be falsely reported than sexual assault. This is in part because our society imposes a huge stigma against sexual assault survivors. Furthermore, having explicit definitions of sexual assault/abuse/harassment and of consent would benefit someone who was falsely accused of rape, unlikely as it is. Furthermore, we are also asking the University to explicitly detail the rights of the accused, as well as the complainant, in disciplinary proceedings.
7. What’s the policy now?
The University of Chicago currently does not have any explicit policy statement about sexual assault on campus. Sexual assault is handed by the Dean of Students in the division of the accused. The University does have a sexual harassment policy (see number 5) but this is not sufficient. Many other universities, including Stanford, Harvard, Caltech, U. Penn, UC Berkeley, and Princeton, have explicit sexual assault policies that are distinct from their sexual harassment policies.
8. What have you already done?
We’ve met with a number of different administrators (see number 11). We wrote up a letter detailing our complaints; nineteen student organizations, including the University Student Government, endorsed the letter. We also obtained more than 700 signatures on a petition demanding a comprehensive sexual assault policy; these signatures came from undergraduates, graduates, faculty, parents and other members of the University community. On the resource front, we successfully spearheaded the effort to put together a comprehensive website about sexual violence (sexualviolence.uchicago.edu) that is intended to provide information about what sexual violence is, what forms it takes, the various avenues and resources available to a survivor, for example. We also worked with the College Programing Office to improve the way that sexual assault is discussed during Orientation Week and to improve the training of O-leaders.
9. What is sexual assault/harassment/abuse?
According to Illinois State Law, sexual harassment is unwanted sexual attention, usually verbal. Once there is physical contact, the offense becomes sexual abuse, defined as an unwanted act of sexual conduct by use/threat of force, including groping, unwanted touching, and anything leading up to penetration. Once there is penetration, the offense is sexual assault, defined as sexual penetration of the vagina, anus, or mouth by the use or threat of force, even slight. Penetration can be digital (with fingers), with an object, or with an organ (penis, tongue). Rape is the more informal term for sexual assault, but in the state of Illinois, the two mean the same.
10. What do you want the University to do?
We insist on an official University Policy on Sexual Assault to include the following:
• A Zero Tolerance Statement
• Clear definitions of sexual abuse, sexual assault, and sexual harassment
• A statement that sexual assault is not gender-specific
• Clear instructions for how a survivor can seek help, report the crime, and take action
• Explicit descriptions of how the University responds to sexual assault
• Explicit descriptions of disciplinary action available within the university, including the rights of the survivor and the accused
• Descriptions of prevention and educational programs within the University
11. With whom are you working?
We’ve been meeting regularly with Martina Munsters; she is working on a proposal to put together a committee to begin talking about having a sexual assault policy. We’ve also met with Bill Michel and Susan Art. We’ve also met with Aneesah Ali, the Affirmative Action Coordinator. Copies of our petition have been sent to Don Randel, Steve Klass, Richard Sallers, Aneesah Ali, Martha Roth, Belinda Cortez-Vasquez, and Susan Art.
12. Is any of this actually going to do anything?
We hope so. According to a study by the Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, a vast majority of rape service agencies believe that public education about rape, and expanded counseling and advocacy services for rape victims would be effective in increasing the willingness of victims to report rapes to the police. We hope that expanding knowledge about rape on this campus, and improving options for survivors will be an effective means to help survivors through the process and, eventually, reduce rape at the university.
posted by *Jo* @ 4:13 PM
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