A look at how one university responds to cases on campus
About one in five undergraduate women reports sexual assault or rape at college, according to the White House, and 60 percent of sexual assaults remain unreported.
To combat these statistics, this university — through its departments, on- and off-campus student groups and faculty organizations — and several universities nationally are working to create a safer environment and a more focused approach to confronting sexual assault and violence. This university created a sexual misconduct policy, along with an Office of Sexual Misconduct and Relationship Violence, a Title IX investigator and director, and revamped the investigation process to bring the issue to light this past year.
On-campus resources, such as Campus Advocates Respond and Educate to Stop Violence, this university’s confidential outlet for sexual violence survivors, reach out to students directly to offer help. CARE to Stop Violence recorded its highest number of new clients last year, and also provides students with tips to keep one another safe and prevent crimes from happening in the first place. Peer educators from the group give presentations to promote bystander intervention, encouraging students who witness potentially dangerous interactions to come forward to help.
And University Police are also heavily involved in the movement — officers will continue to work to combat victimization, learning how to properly respond to sexual assault cases reported on the campus and how to approach victims when they receive a call.
But the dangers of sexual assault do not end with university policy. While survivors of sexual assault are able to receive women’s health examinations at the University Health Center, they might not be able to find all the help and answers they need on this campus, presenting more of a challenge.
With the sexual assault and violence movement in mind, the aftermath of the announcement this month of former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice’s indefinite suspension sparked a new conversation surrounding domestic violence and alarming statistics.
Both nationally and on this campus, organizations offer outlets to confront these issues and prevent them from happening again.
By Darcy Costello
[ READ MORE: Under issue’s U.S. spotlight, U of Md. tightens sexual misconduct policies ]
By Ellie Silverman
[ READ MORE: For sexual assault survivors, not all help is available on the campus ]
By Rokia Hassanein
[ READ MORE: University of Maryland officials respond to Ray Rice incident, others ]
By Morgan Eichensehr
[ READ MORE: Peer educators teach students how to prevent sexual assault ]
By Grace Toohey
[ READ MORE: Police chief: UMPD officers ‘will not allow a victim to be victimized twice’ ]
