ISLAMABAD: A September 2015 survey conducted by one of the most reputed United States institutions, ‘Association of American Universities (AAU)’, in 27 leading US universities, including Harvard University, reflects that almost one out of four female students faces sexual assault and misconduct at campuses.
The AAU had released the overall results of a survey that asked students at 27 US universities about their experiences with sexual assault and sexual misconduct, drawing responses from more than 150,000 students. According to the survey, 23.1 percent of female undergraduates at an array of prominent universities said this year they were victims of sexual assault and misconduct, echoing findings elsewhere, according to one of the largest studies ever of college sexual violence.
Sexual harassment, assault or misconduct is a problem across the world and prevails in all communities with different intensities.
Pakistan also faces similar problems but intensity of the problem is unknown because of absence of approach and non-existence of mechanism of conducting such surveys and researches. Molestation of child and even male students in different schools and seminaries in Pakistan is frequently reported but again exact level and intensity of the problem is unknown because indifference of the successive governments towards the issue. Not only this, no concrete steps were ever taken by any government to address the grave problem. Keeping aside the terribly high rate of non-consensual sex assaults and misconducts at campuses of US universities reported in this AAU survey, it is appreciable that there is concern on this count and measures are being taken to identify the intensity of the crime and to fix the problem.
According to the AAU, the primary goal of the Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Sexual Misconduct was to provide participating institutions of higher education with information to inform policies to prevent and respond to sexual assault and misconduct. The survey was designed to assess the incidence, prevalence and characteristics of incidents of sexual assault and misconduct. It also assessed the overall climate of the campus with respect to perceptions of risk, knowledge of resources available to victims and perceived reactions to an incident of sexual assault or misconduct.
Overall, 11.7 percent of student respondents across 27 universities reported experiencing non-consensual sexual contact by physical force, threats of physical force, or incapacitation since they enrolled at their university. The incidence of sexual assault and sexual misconduct due to physical force, threats of physical force, or incapacitation among female undergraduate student respondents was 23.1 percent, including 10.8 percent who experienced penetration. Overall rates of reporting to campus officials and law enforcement or others were low, ranging from five percent to 28 percent, depending on the specific type of behaviour.
According to AAU survey, the most common reason for not reporting incidents of sexual assault and sexual misconduct was that it was not considered serious enough. Other reasons included because they were “embarrassed, ashamed or that it would be too emotionally difficult,” and because they “did not think anything would be done about it.” More than six in 10 student respondents (63.3 percent) believe that a report of sexual assault or sexual misconduct would be taken seriously by campus officials.
Participating US universities in this survey were; Brown University; California Institute of Technology; Case Western Reserve University; Columbia University; Cornell University; Harvard University; Iowa State University; Michigan State University; The Ohio State University; Purdue University; Texas A&M University; The University of Arizona; University of Florida; University of Michigan; University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; University of Missouri-Columbia; The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; University of Oregon; University of Pennsylvania; University of Pittsburgh; University of Southern California; The University of Texas at Austin; University of Virginia; The University of Wisconsin-Madison; Washington University in St. Louis; Yale University and Dartmouth College.
The survey report provides selected results for five questions: How extensive is non-consensual sexual contact? How extensive are sexual harassment, stalking and intimate partner violence? Who are the victims? To whom do students report or talk about the incidents? What is the campus climate around sexual assault and sexual misconduct?
This study is one of the first to provide an empirical assessment of these questions across a wide range of IHEs in the US. According to the AAU, prior studies of campus sexual assault and misconduct have been implemented for a small number of IHEs or for a US national sample of students with relatively small samples for any particular IHE. “To date, comparisons across surveys have been problematic because of different methodologies and different definitions. The AAU study is one of the first to implement a uniform methodology across multiple IHEs and to produce statistically reliable estimates for each IHE. It was designed to provide separate estimates for incidents involving two types of sexual contact (penetration and sexual touching) and four tactics (physical force, drugs and alcohol, coercion, absence of affirmative consent), as well as behaviours such as sexual harassment, stalking, and intimate partner violence. Providing this level of detail allows campus administrators to tailor policies by these very different types of sexual assault and misconduct,” the AAU states.
According to the executive summary of the survey report, “The average rates of non-consensual sexual contact by physical force or incapacitation across all 27 IHEs are as high or slightly higher than those revealed in prior surveys. Rates of sexual assault and misconduct are highest among undergraduate females and those identifying as transgender, genderqueer, non-conforming, questioning, and as something not listed on the survey (TGQN).”
It adds, “The risk of the most serious types of non-consensual sexual contact, due to physical force or incapacitation, decline from freshman to senior year. This decline is not as evident for other types of non-consensual sexual contact. Non-consensual sexual contact involving drugs and alcohol constitute a significant percentage of the incidents.”
The executive summary further reveals that a relatively small percentage (e.g., 28% or less) of even the most serious incidents are reported to an organisation or agency (e.g., Title IX office; law enforcement). More than 50 percent of the victims of even the most serious incidents (e.g., forced penetration) say they do not report the event because they do not consider it “serious enough.”
A significant percentage of students say they did not report because they were “…embarrassed, ashamed or that it would be too emotionally difficult” or “...did not think anything would be done about it.”
According to the AAU survey report, “Significantly more than half of the victims of non-consensual sexual contact who reported the incident to an agency or organisation said their experience with the agency or organisation was very good or excellent along several criteria.”
The survey report adds, “When asked what might happen when a student reports an incident of sexual assault or misconduct to a university official, about half say that it is very or extremely likely that the university will conduct a fair investigation. The percentage is lower for those groups that are most likely to report victimisation (i.e., females and those identifying as TGQN). Similar percentages are evident for opinions about other types of reactions by the university (e.g., officials would take the report seriously; protect the safety of the student; take action against the offender).”
According to the survey, “A relatively small percentage of students believe it is very or extremely likely they will experience sexual assault or misconduct. A larger percentage of students believe that sexual assault and misconduct is very or extremely problematic for the IHE. A little less than half of the students have witnessed a drunk person heading for a sexual encounter. Among those who reported being a witness, most did not try to intervene.” It further adds, “About a quarter of the students generally believe they are knowledgeable about the resources available related to sexual assault and misconduct.”