Most Students Found Guilty of Sexual Assault Can Rest Assured Knowing There's A Good Chance They Won't Get Kicked Out Of School

Source: Time.com

In four years of college, more than a quarter of undergraduate women surveyed at Universities across the nation reported they had been sexually assaulted at least once during their collegiate career.
When the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault, also known as the Not Alone campaign released results of the largest nationwide University study of it's kind nobody was expecting these results, especially because more than three-fourths of victims aren't reporting their assault to campus authorities, or the police in general.

Any type of sexual conduct or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient such as, but not limited to, forced sexual intercourse, forcible sodomy, child molestation, incest, fondling, and attempted rape is how the United States Department of Justice has defined sexual assault. The reason students aren't coming forward about what happened to them is because they believe the assault wasn't "serious" enough to be reported since they don't truly know the definition of sexual assault, or they don't believe that their claims will be taken seriously by counselors on campus or authorities.
I had the privilege of interviewing Stephanie Rivero, the Assistant Coordinator of the Campus Advocates Respond & Educate (CARE) To Stop Violence at the University of Maryland (UMD) to gain her perspective on the best way to prevent on campus sexual assault.

Rivero highlights the role education plays in preventing sexual violence, as well as how students can positively impact a situation that may be evolving into sexual violence by being an effective and active bystander. Students are becoming more and more aware of these methods as news coverage has steadily increased as a result of student activism on campuses nationwide.

The Story of The Student Who Brought National Attention To The Ways Universities Are Mishandling Sexual Assault Cases

Source: NotAlone.gov

Emma Sulkowicz, a recent Columbia University graduate, was raped by a male fellow classmate the first day of her sophomore year. She didn't report the assault for months after the event because she claims that it was a very emotional and traumatic event, but once she discovered that two of her friends were assaulted by the same male perpetrator, she first reported the event to a woman working at the Office of Sexual Misconduct at the University.
A nationwide campus climate survey conducted by the CDC for the Not Alone campaign studied the consequences for sexual assault, which I compiled a pie chart with the results of what the CDC found: students can rest assured knowing that if they're found guilty of sexual assault, there's a good chance they won't be kicked out of school since less than one third of students face expulsion.
Sulkowicz discovered this statistic by experience. After reporting the event, Sulkowicz spent the next seven months leading up to her hearing being overwhelmed with the unprofessional, untrained, and lenient practices the University has employed to handle events of sexual misconduct. An interview with Sulkowicz conducted by Time Magazine allowed the student to publicly share every aspect of her experience.
When the student first reported her assault to the woman (whose name was not disclosed) at the Universities Office of Sexual Misconduct, Sulkowicz claims she took erroneous notes, didn't ask questions, and completely missed important details; these characteristics were mirrored in the statement presented by the investigator to the hearing panelists at the court hearing. Since the statements didn't make sense because Sulkowicz was never permitted to present her own statement, the case didn't make any sense.
The University also told the victims that they could not use information regarding the perpetrator being a serial offender in their hearings because the instances were being handled separately. Sulkowicz firmly believes that the multiple cases would have been taken seriously and handled differently had information regarding the serial offender had been presented in all of the cases involved.

How Emma Sulkowicz Earned The Name of "Mattress Girl"

Source: Business Insider

When the University dismissed all three of the victims cases against the serial perpetrator, Sulkowicz spent her senior year as a Visual Arts major turning her senior thesis into a performance art piece that blends campus activism and personal expression, which evolved into discovering the many different methods of how to carry her mattress around campus. She says it's best with four people: one person grabbing each corner of the twin-sized dorm mattress.
Her interview with Time revealed that she will carry the mattress around campus until the male student who she alleges raped her leaves the University, either on his own or by action taken by the University. The interview was filmed in the beginning of her senior year but unfortunately Sulkowicz has since graduated, and she carried the mattress with her across the stage when she received her diploma.
Although action was never taken against the perpetrator, Sulkowicz found the experience to be amazing. She said that as a part of her project, she cannot ask for help, but she can accept help if it is offered; her peers showed a lot of support, and some even organized groups to help her carry the mattress. Professors had shown their support for her as well, but she had taken measures to make sure she doesn't disrupt her peers from their classes by trying to arrive early and and sticking the mattress on the side of the classroom.
If Columbia University had well-trained professionals who are experts in responding, reporting and treating victims of sexual violence, Emma Sulkowicz wouldn't have dreaded leaving her dorm everyday in fear of being harassed by the male who raped her. This was a 3 year struggle that she has said will hang over her like a cloud for the rest of her life, and she's confident that she'll never forget how Columbia University administrators failed her.
However, this is no longer the case for the students at the University of Maryland (UMD); When I asked Rivero to share her professional opinion on whether or not Sulkowicz should have reported the event to the Office of Sexual Misconduct sooner, she provided an in-depth explanation on the hassle of the reporting process on a victim.

Although reporting may seem like a crucial component to putting an end to sexual assault and other types of domestic violence, the true key is education on preventative measures as well as simply having an expert in the field to talk to or getting help from a mental health professional. For Sulkowicz, this help isn't yet offered at Columbia and unfortunately you can't take back the years she spent as a struggling as a student victim, but it isn't too late to help other student victims.

Sexual Assault On College Campuses Finally Gets Well-Deserved Attention From The Government

Source: TheBodyPacifist.com

Intense focus on sexual assault by college activists, members of Congress, and the Obama Administration was a catalyst in 2014 to prompt multiple pieces of federal legislation, as well as a White House task force to protect students from sexual assault that addresses how Universities deal with campus rape.
But who should be punishing students found guilty of sexual assault, and how they should be punished, remains a gray area and since lawmakers have yet to step up and offer definitive guidance the United States is seeing trends such as less than one third of perpetrators of sexual assault found guilty facing expulsion from their school, as I mentioned prior. Meanwhile, dozens of college administrators, attorneys, experts, and consultants agree: Someone who rapes another student shouldn't get to stick around campus.
The study conducted by the CDC for the Not Alone campaign highlights that two programs have rigorous evidence of effectiveness for preventing sexual violence for preventing sexual violence. The first is called Safe Dates and the building-level intervention of Shifting Boundaries. Although both were developed with middle and high school students, they may provide useful models for the development of college prevention strategies.
Results of Safe Dates program revealed that 4 years after the program, students in the intervention group were significantly less likely to be victims or perpetrators of sexual violence involving a dating partner. Results from Shifting Boundaries indicated that the building-level intervention was effective in reducing perpetration and victimization of sexual harassment and peer sexual violence.
While those programs weren't tested amongst college students, the study did indicate steps that colleges can take now to better address sexual violence, these include:

• Using data to better understand sexual violence and student needs;
• Developing comprehensive prevention plans that include campus-wide policy, structural and societal norms components;
• Selecting prevention strategies based on best practices and available evidence;
• Evaluating strategies that are implemented; and
• Sharing lessons learned.

How The University of Maryland Is Taking Steps Towards Preventing Sexual Violence On Campus

UMD's CARE To Stop Violence initiative, as mentioned prior, has set out to respond to incidents of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, and sexual harassment effecting all genders of the University community as well as to educate the University community about sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, sexual harassment and bystander intervention by empowering members of the campus community to act to reduce such violence.
For those attending the University of Maryland who want to become more educated on sexual assault should stop by the CARE Office on the ground level University Health Center; Rivero emphasizes the many ways that students as well as faculty can gain knowledge on the subject matter.

Although sexual violence is a serious public health problem affecting the health and well being of millions of individuals each year in the United States and throughout the world, with notably high rates among college students. Sexual violence perpetration is a product of multiple, interacting levels of influence.
As Stephanie Rivero has shared, the key to preventing sexual assault is not only being educated and knowledgable on the subject, but also being an aware member of the community. This means not only being an active bystander, but an effective one.