According to a new study conducted by the University of Texas System, 10 percent of female undergraduate students and 4 percent of male undergrads said they were raped while enrolled at one of 13 UT institutions involved in the research. (A 14th in the network was left out of the study because its student-body pool was cited as being too small to allow for anonymity.)
The Cultivating Learning and Safe Environments (CLASE) report was conducted by UT Austin’s Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault as part of a multiyear study on the issues it surveys.
Glamour notes that of the approximately 221,300 students enrolled in UT schools at the time, more 28,000 students volunteered to be surveyed. That means only 12.65 percent of the student body discussed their experiences, and it’s difficult to say whether the numbers are reflective of the remaining 87.35 percent of students. (According to RAINN, one out of every six women, or about 16.67 percent, has been the victim of a completed or attempted rape; the UT numbers are below those given by RAINN, which doesn’t offer separate stats on attempted rapes.)
The study was broken into two parts, corresponding to the UT’s eight academic institutions and five of its six health institutions. At the academic schools, “15 percent of undergraduate female students and 10 percent of male undergraduate students said they experienced sexist gender harassment by a faculty or staff member. At health institutions, 19 percent of female students and 15 percent of male students reported sexist gender harassment.” Moreover, both classifications of schools report that “the majority of victims of unwanted sexual contact and their perpetrators used alcohol and drugs at the time of victimization. In addition, the majority of victims of unwanted sexual contact had either a close relationship or were acquaintances with the perpetrator.”
The study also notes that “84 percent of unwanted sexual contact incidents occurred off campus at academic institutions. At health institutions, 97 percent of unwanted sexual contact incidents occurred off campus.” (RAINN notes that 55 percent of assaults often take place at or near a victim’s home, and 8 percent occur on school property.) The UT study also points out that the majority of students feel safe while on campus: At the university’s academic institutions, 76 percent of victims and 80 percent of nonvictims do, while figures at the school’s health institutions tally even higher, to 89 and 92 percent respectively. (According to RAINN, approximately two of every three sexual assaults go unreported, and only about 20 percent of female students report their assaults; the study does not immediately note how many of the students who say they were harassed or assaulted told someone about being violated.)
Given the fact that a relatively small number of students were involved in the voluntary survey, it’s entirely possible that these numbers don’t present the full scope of experiences at the UT System. The school notes that “additional research will be conducted, including an in-depth empirical investigation at all UT institutions and the four-year longitudinal study at UT Austin,” also involving the school’s 1,300 freshmen. And continuing the conversation regarding campus assault is deeply important, especially in light of the fact that during Senate confirmation hearings, the current secretary of education, Betsy DeVos, declined to comment on her views about sexual assault on campus.
There is, however, one politician who is openly dedicated to combating what he calls a “civil rights issue of our time”: former Vice President Joe Biden, who has urged the Trump administration to take the issue of campus sexual assault as seriously as it needs to be. Given, however, the current president’s problematic history with sexual misconduct, it’s understandable that students are less than optimistic about how diligently the administration will enforce the laws that aim to protect them from assault and harassment.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, you can seek help by calling the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-HOPE (4673).
For more resources on sexual assault, visit RAINN, End Rape on Campus, Know Your IX, and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.
Related: A Student Is Suing Columbia University After Alleging She Was Raped in Her Dorm — Twice
