A campus-wide survey of safety at the University of Kentucky ranges from perceptions of safety to stalking to reporting of sexual assaults. UK officials believe the Lexington school is among the first in the country to undertake a mandatory survey of these issues. UK President Eli Capilouto says the findings indicate many students remain reluctant to report sexual assaults. “Too many students, too many still believe that sexual assault is a shame and a scorn that they cannot share,” said Capilouto.
UK Center for Research on Violence Against Women Director Diane Follingstad says making information about what to do if assaulted more easily accessible on a web site could help.
The center director says this year’s results show the same hesitancy in reporting sexual assaults as in 1957. “Where alcohol and drugs are involved, things feel very murky to people as to what happened. People are ashamed, people fear retaliation. Those issues have gone on since time in memorial,” said Follingstad.
Follingstad says it’s hard to know what role an expectation of sex plays when an assault occurs. “We know the reasons for the sexual assault are either the incapacitation through substances, their physically forced, or there’s threats of force, or they’ve escaped from force. But, we don’t have the details about exactly what happened in that setting,” explained Follingstad
Follingstad says what stood out to her in the survey was the expectation of retaliation by other students in the case of sexual assault. This is the first report in a five-year initiative to assess student perceptions and experiences on violence and harassment.?
