<p>Now I've been saying for years that students are more likely to experience crime on campus rather than in an unsafe neighborhood surrounding it, but what I've been reading and seeing lately is more than a little unnerving. I don't believe my alma mater is that much worse than other places (though the President does say that in recent surveys, in some areas it is worse than its peers).</p>
<p>It is a very serious issue. I would clarify that your first link is recent and the second link is from a while back. I just want to be clear that the destruction of the class project was not related to President Falk’s message. </p>
<p>I don’t know if this survey broke down events as they related to alcohol consumption but it wouldn’t surprise me if there is a link.</p>
<p>mini, you always seem to have access to such good information.</p>
<p>Do you have any information about the extent to which sexual assaults on campus are related to excessive use of alcohol? </p>
<p>I have the impression that there is a close relationship, but only from anecdotal evidence. I was wondering whether there are any real data out there on the extent to which the two problems are – or are not – linked.</p>
<p>The evidence is in the form of associative relationships. The data that exist suggests that campuses with higher rates of binge drinking have higher rates of sexual assaults. However, data on sexual assaults is really hard to come by. Perhaps only 3-5% of sexual assaults on females and rapes are ever reported (we know that from comparing interviews with women, and the actual reported rates). And it may be the case that campuses with higher reporting have it because there is a push to reduce sexual assault - so that while you might think the situation is worse, it might actually be better. </p>
<p>The 4% of females rape rate in the previous year at Williams is definitely on the high side.</p>
<p>(As I’ve noted before, for technical reasons, the rate of binge drinking reported here is likely an underestimate. The 44% figure is actually more like 52%, give or take.)</p>
<p>What I fear, which is what the rape assault advocates are saying, is that it is not so much about binge drinking as about the normalization of (criminal) predatory behavior.</p>
<p>mini, when we have discussed this before, I seem to recall that there was a certain amount of disagreement about how some sexual assault statistics are arrived at. I seem to recall that some of the quoted stats were the result of people OTHER than the participants labeling incidents as “assaults” when the supposed victim did not consider it to be so.</p>
<p>For example, researchers might label a sexual encounter “assault” if the female said she had been drinking, even though the female herself said she consented, the assumption being that no female who has been drinking can “consent.” Researchres might also label as “assault” what many women would consider simply an unwanted pass, and shrug off.</p>
<p>On the other hand, it seemed likely that a large number of incidents that virtually anyone would consider to be assault go unreported.</p>
<p>Although it’s fairly obvious that too much drinking leads to a lot of unintended (and likely unprotected) sex, sexual assault is a different and even more serious problem. If it’s increasing, there’s a need to know why.</p>
<p>Good questions, Consol, and since my expertise is in alcohol/drugs and not sexual assault, and since I know the laws differ in different states, even consent will be defined differently. In the Williams survey (which was used at a bunch of NESCAC schools), apparently they simply asked something of the order of, “In the past academic year, did you experience unwanted sexual penetration without consent?” (which is a fairly good definition of rape, I would think). The 4% rate is considered high by most standards.</p>
<p>Why is intoxication and its sometimes resulting in bad decisions a basis for presumed victim status for a female, yet the the same level of male intoxication offers no such protection? </p>
<p>I eagerly await a sane answer. And I’ve been waiting a long time.</p>
<p>Toblin - in the Williams survey, the very same question was asked of males, with a 0.3% positive response rate.</p>
<p>But, if you want to know about legal protections, isn’t the question you ask one you should be asking of your legislators? It’s a big country, and I’m sure there are female predators, just not that many of them.</p>
<p>I’m always surprised this gets less attention than it does. Men get raped, particularly in bullying environments with alcohol, more than is generally known. Has a full study of male on male sexual assualt on campuses been done? I haven’t heard of one.</p>
<p>DOJ reported in 2000 that approximately 3% of American men experience rape/sexual assault in their lifetimes. Recently, there have been several cases of male-on-male sexual assault on college campuses that made the media (the last one I remember was at Drake - and it was at a fraternity). The majority (from what I read) are committed by men who had least claim to be heterosexual. No full study of which I’m aware (but again, this isn’t my field.)</p>