Members of Miami University Sexual Assault Task Group met Wednesday afternoon to discuss the implementation of sexual assault prevention strategies discussed in their report released in December 2006.
The group estimates that more than 300 sexual assaults occur each year at Miami, and their goal is to lower that number in the coming months and years.
The Sexual Assault Task Group was formed last spring in order to develop a strategic plan for addressing sexual assault at Miami. The group is comprised of student representatives along with members of various departments, services and programs on campus and in the Oxford community, totaling around 20 members.
The group's goals include positively changing sexual violence attitudes, increasing sexual assault knowledge, reducing the incidence of assault and increasing the reporting of sexual assaults among others.
The group issued a final report to Assistant to the President for Institutional Diversity and Associate Provost Michael Stevenson outlining their plans Dec. 8, 2006. The report identified a range of institutional, social and structural problems that pertain to sexual assault and its detrimental aftereffects.
"The university cares deeply about this issue and we were finally able to put to paper ideas that people have been talking about for awhile now," said Jane Goettsch, director of the Women's Center, co-chair of the Sexual Assault Task Group and one of the authors of the report. Specific solutions, both short and long term, were recommended by the group.
During Wednesday's meeting, members prioritized the group's agenda and tried to determine which tasks might begin to be accomplished this semester.
Beginning later this month, a team of leaders within Miami's sexual assault services and programs will begin to meet monthly and oversee the recommended goals. Some of these goals include assisting offices to develop sexual assault response procedures, and developing a group of certified sexual assault trainers.
The group also recommended that sexual assault resources be consolidated. This recommendation takes form in an overview publication to be given to all incoming first-years and a new Miami University sexual assault Web site. The site will be made easily available from a variety of existing Web pages. Although there is not yet a specific date when these resources will be made available, the group hopes that they will be made available within oneto six months.
Among the many long-term goals to be implemented as soon as resources can be allocated, another aim is to create a new, full-time position at Miami to coordinate all sexual assault efforts.
Richard Nault, vice president of student affairs, said during the current semester he will begin to look for at least a part-time sexual assault prevention coordinator.
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"The Report of the Sexual Assault Task Group" identifies the perpetration of gender stereotypes and the use of alcohol as two of the many social factors that may contribute to incidences of sexual assault.
According to the report, gender stereotypes of male dominance and aggression are sometimes enforced by all-male organizations, such as fraternities and male sports teams, while females are expected to be submissive and appear sexually attractive.
"It's not fair to blame groups of men, but it's not unexpected when similar groups of people get together, male or female, that ideas and stereotypes are not challenged," Goettsch said.
According to Goettsch, these stereotypes divide men and women as opposites, creating a harmful separation and an imbalance of expectations.
The report also states that a university setting like Miami's, which traditionally encourages the consumption of alcohol as the norm, leaves students significantly more vulnerable to sexual assault. In most instances of sexual assault, one or both individuals involved have consumed alcohol.
Director of Health Education Karen Murray also contributed to the report. She notes that although many students dislike Miami's required alcohol education, such as AlcoholEdu, it is imperative to acknowledge the connection between alcohol and sexual assault.
"One of my main concerns is the disconnect between the role of alcohol and sexual assault," Murray said.
According to Goettsch, the role of alcohol is undeniably linked to sexual assault, however the appropriate time to discuss its role is in the stages of preventing sexual abuse. She said discussing alcohol's role in an assault after it has already happened serves no important purpose and deepens the shame and blaming that a victim may feel.
The report identifies Miami's problem areas in preventing and responding to sexual assault as mainly structural. Within the task group's report, it is pointed out that Miami's current efforts are primarily reactive instead of proactive and are structurally decentralized and confusing to students as well as the community.
Specific concerns include issues such as students who do not know what programs or services are available to them or where to find them, lost connections with the Butler County Rape Crisis Program, and current information that is hard to find or unappealing.
Nault acknowledged the need to streamline the university's efforts pertaining to sexual assault.
"We need to do a better job with protocol, have better literature and coordinate our efforts when a sexual assault report is made," Nault said.
According to Goettsch, students, community members and the university must take part in working to eliminate sexual assault. She identifies sexual assault as a community issue that everybody must take some responsibility for.
"Educate yourself about the risk factors," Goettsch said. "Educate yourself about what messages in student culture create those risk factors."
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