CU Has A Sexual Assault Problem: What Are They Doing to Address It?
In the past year, two students have beeen sexually assaulted at a frat house near the CU Boulder campus. Earlier this month, a student was sexually assaulted on campus during the week of move-in. These incidents occurring both on and off campus beg the question of if CU is doing enough to properly address sexual assault cases.
Trigger Warning: This article discusses sexual assault
By Sophia Khan
Last year, towards the end of October, two women alleged that they were sexually assaulted at an off-campus frat house. The first incident occurred on either October 23 or 24 at a frat house on 12th Street, and the second incident was reported at the same location the following weekend.
Around this time, CU released a statement addressing the assaults that stated:
“We are aware of recent allegations of sexual assault off-campus. In most cases, we cannot publicly share the details of specific cases due to privacy laws.
Sexual assault has devastating impacts on victims and survivors and our campus community as a whole. CU Boulder is deeply committed to continuously improving our prevention and education efforts and ensuring that our response resources meet the needs of our campus community. CU has dedicated resources for confidential support and advocacy, safety measures, and investigative response regardless of whether incidents occur on or off campus.
All allegations of sexual misconduct are reported to the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance (OIEC). Anyone who would like to share information or discuss addressing such conduct can contact OIEC at 303-492-2127 or cureport@colorado.edu. We also ask anyone with information on a crime to report it to the police. University community members seeking free and confidential support, trauma informed counseling, and victim advocacy can also reach out to our Office of Victim Assistance at 303-492-8855 or assist@colorado.edu.”
Less than a year later, on August 17, a female CU student reported a sexual assault at the Williamns Village North dorm. This residence hall houses around 500 students. The victim alleged that at approximately 10 p.m., the alleged assaulter knocked on her door, grabbed her by the neck and sexually assaulted her at her residence.
As of August 29th, KDVR reported that the police at the University of Colorado Boulder have not made any arrests in connection to the reported sexual assault. A detailed description of the suspect in question was also mentioned in a campus-wide CU safety alert sent out to students across campus.
On August 26, CU Boulder announced that it is launching a new initiative to better address campus sexual misconduct through a new sexual misconduct task force.
“The CU Boulder Sexual Misconduct Task Force will craft specific actions aimed at reducing the factors that create community risk and enhance protective factors to prevent harassment and violence. Action items will include evidence-based strategies to reduce prevalence of sexual misconduct in the campus community, such as improving practices in the campus community’s social and living environments and enhancing the connection students have to one another through their academic endeavors,” the announcement stated.
This task force will be made up of members from Student Affairs, Academic Affairs, the CU Boulder Police Department and Strategic Resources and Support.
Important dates to note are September 6, when last fall’s sexual misconduct campus survey results will be shared, and September 26, when a campus sexual misconduct town hall is scheduled to take place from 4 to 5:30 p.m. The town hall will be hosted by the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance (OIEC) and the Office of Victim Assistance (OVA) in UMC Room 235. A virtual option will also be available.
The actions that this task force takes will help students to better understand the steps CU is taking to address this incredibly serious issue.
It is important to note that although these three sexual assault cases became public, CU’s 2015 sexual misconduct survey carried out by OIEC reported that around 54% of assaults go unreported. This statistic can be explained by several factors, such as survivors being too scared to make a report, survivors not believing their assault was serious enough, or being assaulted by someone they knew.
For now, more victims may start to come forward once they are shown that CU is a safe campus with resources in place to protect them and give them the justice they deserve in any capacity they desire.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, please visit the link here to explore your options regarding medical care, reporting, support and other resources.
