According to federal campus safety data, nearly 100 colleges and universities reported at least 10 or more rapes on their main campus. These numbers may sound like sexual assault is a growing epidemic, but many researchers believe that the growing number are a good indicator that students are coming forward and reporting the attacks.
Sexual assault on campus is an ongoing controversy as politicians, and educators struggle with methods to reduce the rates. At any given time, it is believed that one-tenth to one-fifth of young women will experience sexual assault at some point during their college career.
The study emboldens activists who are trying to change campus culture to treat rapes less like a PR problem and more like civil rights, safety, and criminal problem. The change will be slow, but it will change.
According to the data, Brown and University of Connecticut had the highest reports of rape in 2014 with 43 respectively. Dartmouth came in third with 42 reports and Wesleyan University in fourth with 37. Stanford brought up the rear in tenth place with a total of 26 reported rapes.
Bear in mind that these are total numbers of rapes, these schools all vary greatly in size. For example, when the data is controlled for the student body size, Wesleyan jumps to second with 11.5 rapes per 1,000 students. Dartmouth drops to tenth at 6.7 per 1,000 students and Stanford, Brown and U-Conn drop off entirely. Keep in mind high numbers does not mean assaults occur more frequently, it could mean that victims are coming forward.
Those are staggeringly high numbers however it is important to keep in mind that sexual assault runs the gamut from unwanted grasping to rape. But it is possible to see how two drunken college students might take a particular situation too far. If your child is facing allegations of sexual assault or rape, then you may want to call a lawyer as soon as possible. As you can probably tell by the news, these cases have a tendency to take on a life of their own. It is critical that you begin preparing your child’s defense as soon as possible. The better prepared you are, the better your child can confront these charges.
