College Campuses: Are they safe or a target for crime?
About 3 percent of college women experience an attempted or completed rape in a school year according to a study released today by the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Institute of Justice and the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
The data in the report, “The Sexual Victimization of College Women,” shows:
· 1.7% of college women are victims of attempted rape
· 1.7% of college women have been coerced to have sex
· 13% of college women are stalked from the beginning of the school year
“Most victims knew the person who sexually victimized them. For both completed and attempted rapes, about nine in 10 offenders were known to the victim,” reported Bonnie Fisher, one of the authors of the study. “Most often, a boyfriend, ex-boyfriend, classmate, friend, acquaintance, or coworker sexually victimized the women.”
According to Fisher and her colleagues who co-authored the report, Francis Cullen and Michael Turner, a college with 10,000 female students could have over 350 rapes a year. The report also shows where these assaults are happening:
· 60% of rapes that occurred on campus were in the victim’s residence
· 31% occurred in the other living quarters on campus
· 10% happened at a fraternity
Off-Campus victimization also occurs mostly in residences. Incidents also take place in bars, dance clubs, nightclubs and work settings.
Fisher also found that many victims do not characterize their attacks as a crime for a number of reasons including embarrassment, blaming themselves for their sexual assault, not clearly understanding the definition of rape and not wanting to define someone they know as a rapist.
Previous research has found that college women are at greater risk for rape or sexual assault than women in the general population or in a comparable age group. College campuses are not safe havens but have become hot spots for criminal activity.
These study results are based on a telephone survey consisting of:
· 4,446 college women randomly selected across the nation
· The women were attending a 2- or 4-year college or university
· It was limited to schools with at least 1,000 students
The National Institute of Justice and the Bureau of Justice Statistics are components of the Office of Justice programs. Other components of the Office of Justice include the Office for Victims of Crime, the Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
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