By Tess Sohngen, Senior Staff Writer
Sexual assault is the second-highest occurring crime on Miami's campus, behind burglary, but discrepancies in the numbers reported by students and the administration indicate a lack of clarity on the issue.
The numbers surrounding sexual assault are complex and inconsistent. Miami reported a total of 39 cases of sexual assault on campus from 2012 to 2014, but the 2015 Sexual Assault Campus Climate Survey indicates 334 undergraduates, 33.9 percent of Miami students who participated in the survey - 42.4 percent of females and 19.1 percent of males - reported being sexually assaulted while at the university.
The results from the survey indicate the number of sexual assaults undergraduates experienced from the time they started school at Miami to when they took the survey.
"The numbers aren't going to line up," said Jane
Goettsch, director of the Women's Center. "We've known for a long time that, in the actual incidences and the reported incidences, there's a huge gap."
The university's reports and the results of the climate survey are incomparable and unrepresentative of the actual campus climate around sexual assault. Each uses different definitions of sexual assault.
Miami's records show only the federally mandated reports made by student victim-survivors, and Miami does not record confidential reports made to Miami's counseling services. Miami's report does not include the number of sexual assaults that occurred off campus.
"Because we know that this is so underreported and because the geography is so specific … in order to make a more complete picture we have that student climate survey," said Becca Getson, Miami's sexual assault response coordinator and deputy Title IX coordinator.
The 2015 Sexual Assault Campus Climate Survey was an online survey sent to 11,000 randomly selected undergraduates. The survey received a 15 percent response rate, and the data from the survey is representative of only 10.7 percent of those who took the survey.
"It's hard to extrapolate further," said Getson.
The second sexual assault student climate survey is live now and aims to gain a higher response rate, so that its results are more representative of the student body.
"This year we're sending it out to every single student," said Getson. "Unless students take that survey, we won't be able to see that response, and we won't be able to see that climate."
The second student climate survey will include the regional campuses and graduate students, and Getson hopes that it will provide more information about sexual assault among different groups of students. She expects the number of reported sexual assaults to increase in the second survey.
"We, of course, all want to get to a day when there are no reports because there are no incidents, but until that day happens… if we could get more people to report what's happening to them, that's a good first step," said Goettsch.
Rebecca Clark, the president of Feminists Working on Real Democracy (F-Word), agreed that reporting difficulties contribute to the lack of knowledge regarding the actual prevalence of sexual assault on campus.
"I think the biggest problem is that those numbers only reflect cases that have been reported," Clark said. "The vast majority of rape and sexual assault goes unreported, so it happens much more frequently than the data shows."
On- and off-campus resources are available to students whether they report a sexual assault or not, and Goettsch said that Miami offers more opportunities for these support resources knowing that most incidents will go unreported.
"The reason victim-survivors don't come forward is as varied as the individual," said Getson. "If someone wants to get help but doesn't want anyone to know … there is a list of resources that they can go to."
The major resources for victims-survivors to make a confidential report include Student Counseling Services, Health Services and medical personnel, as well as off-campus advocacy groups like Women Helping Women.
The Women's Center offers added support to those affected and victimized by sexual assault by providing welcoming or "brave" spaces, listening to and believing students and making referrals to people and organizations like Student Counseling Services for extra help.
But the numbers are only part of the story. What the numbers don't show is the emotional burden survivors of sexual assault often carry.
"Whether the number is one in five or one in twenty, none of that is good because that means that's still an individual that is being victimized," said Getson. "Let's not talk about what one in five … let's talk about [the fact] that one is a person."
Goettsch acknowledges that change will be difficult.
"I think the reality is that these issues are going to be with us for some time to come," Goettsch said. "Culture is enormously difficult to change, and yet it is changeable."
Students have embraced the power of telling their stories of sexual assaults through speakouts hosted by F-Word, which allow survivors and supporters to come together to share their stories in a safe and confidential space. The most recent speakout took place Monday evening before Take Back the Night, where students and staff marched through the rain to raise awareness for sexual assault and the rape culture on campus.
"We want to give survivors the opportunity to share their experiences in a safe, supportive, and confidential environment. For many, this can provide healing," said Clark.
Internal changes to support survivors are also underway. Goettsch said that she and Getson are working on creating a guide for professors and administrators to create more survivor-friendly language and prevent dialogue that may trigger a survivor's memory of his or her sexual assault.
Goettsch said that it can be easy for students to assume no one cares or pays attention to sexual assault when students don't see visible action addressing sexual assault on campus.
"Faculty and staff play an important role, but students do, too. It's happening mostly to students, and students are mostly doing it," said Goettsch. "So with our support, guidance, and resources, students also have to figure out how to take more than baby steps to change culture."
"Telling stories can also be helpful," said Getson. "What is that story we're not telling through just numbers?"