Sexual assault on college campuses is an extremely serious crime, but is it taken seriously enough?
The Sundance Film Festival is currently premiering a film called “The Hunting Ground,” which discloses the stories of young women who were sexually assaulted on their college campuses.
Not only does the film reveal the stories of these women, but it also exposes the corrupt ways that many universities handle cases of sexual assault. Often, they simply sweep these stories under the rug and let the perpetrators go free. The reasons why a university chooses to handle cases of sexual assault in such a horrifying manner can be financial, for the sake of reputation and protecting the name of the university, or even to keep a star athlete on the field.
There has been a lot of talk circulating campus on whether or not DU handles cases of sexual assault properly, and, although the administration works hard to provide survivors of sexual assault with the tools and the help that they need and deserve, the resources themselves are in need of proper funding and support if they are to truly help our students.
The problem lies in organizations at DU such CAPE, the Center for Advocacy Prevention and Empowerment. CAPE is an excellent helpline that truly cares about the students’ well-being, but it is low in staff members due to low funding.
This begs the question: why isn’t DU putting more money into such an important resource? According to Sergeant Johnston of Campus Safety, there were 14 cases of reported sexual offenses at DU this past year and 20 the previous year, the majority of them being rape. Because of significant numbers, it would strongly benefit DU to put more money into programs such as CAPE.
In addition to the lack of program funding, many students are becoming skeptical about DU’s policies and procedure when it comes to sexual assault. A common notion is that DU does not do enough to support the survivor of the crime and take action against his/her abuser. Additionally, students often fear that if they come forward with a sexual assault allegation, and action is in fact taken against their abuser, they will be harassed by fellow students and possibly even blamed for the crime.
In the fall of 2013, DU underwent an investigation regarding the possible mishandling of a particular sexual assault case, and since then, the school has been taking measures to improve the way they treat these cases.
Their work, however, truly began in 2011, when the Office of Civil Rights and Regulatory Agency issued a Dear Colleague Letter to DU’s Office of Equal Opportunity.
For those who may not know, a Dear Colleague Letter informs institutions on how to handle cases of sexual assault in the most appropriate and supportive way. Since the letter, along with the investigation, the Office of Equal Opportunity has been working hard to better the way that DU handles these cases.
For example, in July of 2012, DU switched from a Student Conduct Review Board to more precise fact-finding and investigative work. This has helped eliminate duplicate information that can be further victimize the survivor.
Administrators now go through additional training, as well as consultations with experts, to better equip them with the tools needed to handle cases of sexual assault. Interim measures are taken, along with equitable process so that each individual involved in the crime can have their voice heard.
“We do more than just investigative work; we outline resources for the students,” said Kathryne Grove, The Director of Equal Opportunity and Title IX Coordinator for the university.
Grove explained that students can log onto the Equal Opportunity website to gain access to these resources and look at policy statements, procedures, and information on Title IX.
“A student who has gone through sexual assault may not always feel comfortable coming to administration, and this is why we have all of this information on our website,” said Grove.
In the last few years, DU has been making changes, but are they enough? Do students feel as though they can put their trust in the University? Although the Office of Equal Opportunity truly does have the students’ best interest in mind and is striving for a better system, more changes need to be implemented.
If DU’s structure of handling cases of sexual assault is to be perfected, then the optimization of our resources and funding needs to happen. We have the tools, so let’s use them properly.
