Survey: 48% of female undergrad respondents said they were sexually assaulted during time at Duke

Colleges and Universities A-Z Duke University
1

Following a couple of virtual info sessions, D22 was looking to learn more about about Duke University and came across this article:

Survey: 48% of female undergrad respondents said they were sexually assaulted during time at Duke - The Chronicle (dukechronicle.com)

This article floored me. What do you make of it? Are sexual assaults (including rapes - see below) so rampant at Duke and at other colleges (Duke’s VP for student affairs mentioned that he didn’t think Duke was out of line from its peers)?

Some details to aid the discussion:

  • The “confidential, web-based” survey was conducted in March-May 2018. It was sent to every undergraduate and graduate student at Duke who was older than 18 years, and 6,782 responded—resulting in a response rate of 40 percent.
  • The survey defined sexual assault as “any unwanted, nonconsensual sexual contact,” including rape and sexual battery, but excluding coerced sexual contact and sexual harassment.
  • 17 percent of undergraduate women responded that they had been raped during their time at Duke.
2

From some graphs in the report, about incidents at Duke:

Percentage reporting sexual harassment:

56%     Women Undergraduate
24%     Men Undergraduate

Percentage reporting sexual assault:

48%     Women Undergraduate
11%     Women Graduate & Professional
14%     Men Undergraduate
 4%     Men Graduate & Professional

Percentage reporting sexual battery:

30%     Women Undergraduate
 8%     Women Graduate & Professional
10%     Men Undergraduate
 3%     Men Graduate and Professional

Percentage reporting rape:

17%     Women Undergraduate
 3%     Women Graduate & Professional
 3%     Men Undergraduate
 1%     Men Graduate & Professional

Drug/Alcohol Use

61%     Women Undergraduate Victims
58%     Men Undergraduate Victims
54%     Perpetrators against Women Undergraduates
54%     Perpetrators against Men Undergraduates

Tactics used against Women Undergraduates

59%     Touched or Grabbed
18%     Threatened Harm or Used Force
23%     Incapacitated During Incident

Perpetrator Reported as

60%     Affiliated with Duke by Women Undergraduates
20%     Not Affiliated with Duke by Women Undergraduates
71%     Affiliated with Duke by Men Undergraduates
 9%     Not Affiliated with Duke by Men Undergraduates

Also, note the graph on page 33 of the report showing incidents by month and female undergraduate student class year. Largest number of incidents by far was for freshwomen in September, but sophomores in September also reported a high number of incidents.

3

The survey also included asking students about experiences before enrolling at Duke. For graduate and professional students, this typically includes experiences at their undergraduate schools. This suggests that the issues are not unique to Duke, but Duke undergraduates report somewhat higher percentages since enrolling at Duke than Duke graduate and professional reported for before enrolling at Duke.

Sexual Assault:

40%     Women Graduate & Professional BEFORE enrolling at Duke
48%     Women Undergraduates SINCE enrolling at Duke

12%     Men Graduate & Professional BEFORE enrolling at Duke
14%     Men Undergraduates SINCE enrolling at Duke

Sexual Battery:

29%     Women Graduate & Professional BEFORE enrolling at Duke
30%     Women Undergraduates SINCE enrolling at Duke

 3%     Men Graduate & Professional BEFORE enrolling at Duke
10%     Men Undergraduates SINCE enrolling at Duke

Rape:

11%     Women Graduate & Professional BEFORE enrolling at Duke
17%     Women Undergraduates SINCE enrolling at Duke

 3%     Men Graduate & Professional BEFORE enrolling at Duke
 3%     Men Undergraduates SINCE enrolling at Duke
4

I think the answer is in the details and how one defines “unwanted, nonconsensual sexual contact”. The details said 59% of respondents reported being “touched or grabbed”. That seems potentially broad. Touched or grabbed to what extent? In what manner?

Does that mean the time my male friend put his arm around my waist and hugged me awkwardly close and unexpectedly from behind without my consent and implied he wanted to be more than friends qualifies or not? To me at the time it was just an incredibly awkward moment given I had a boyfriend and he was dating my friend and I had zero interest.

5

Fair point - my wife mentioned the same when we discussed the article with D22 at dinner.