Research for Practice 

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

National Institute of Justice

Sexual Assault on Campus: What Colleges and 

Universities Are Doing About It

DEC. 05

www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij 
U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

810 Seventh Street N.W.

Washington, DC 20531

Alberto R. Gonzales

Attorney General

Regina B. Schofield 

Assistant Attorney General

Glenn R. Schmitt

Acting Director, National Institute of Justice

This and other publications and products

of the National Institute of Justice can be

found at:

National Institute of Justice

www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij

Office of Justice Programs

Partnerships for Safer Communities

www.ojp.usdoj.gov
DEC. 05

This Research for Practice

is based on the authors’

congressionally mandated

report, Campus Sexual

Assault: How America’s

Institutions of Higher 

Education Respond,

submitted to the National

Institute of Justice,

October 2002, 

available online at

www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/

nij/grants/196676.pdf.

Sexual Assault on Campus: 

What Colleges and Universities 

Are Doing About It

Findings and conclusions of the research reported here are those of the

authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the

U.S. Department of Justice.

The research discussed in this publication was conducted under National

Institute of Justice grant number 99–WA–VX–0008.

NCJ 205521
R ESEARCH FOR PRACTICE / DEC. 05

ABOUT THIS REPORT

Sexual assault on the Nation’s

college campuses has been

receiving more attention lately. Schools are not the safe

havens they once appeared

to be; college women are at

higher risk for sexual assault

than their non­college­bound

peers.1 Congress has enacted

several laws requiring schools

to disclose their security procedures, report crime data,

and ensure victims’ rights. In

1999, it asked the National

Institute of Justice to study

school compliance with Federal law. The resulting research report provides a

comprehensive benchmark of

sexual assault policy on the

Nation’s campuses. This Research for Practice presents

key findings from the report.

What did the

researchers find?

Sexual assault is widely considered to be the most 

underreported violent crime 

in America. Most sexual

assaults on campus are committed by an acquaintance of

the victim, which explains, in

part, why these crimes are

underreported. Reporting procedures were a special concern of the study. Individual

and institutional barriers to

reporting were identified.

Schools are complying with

Federal law unevenly. Overall,

4­year and historically black

institutions are doing better

than other schools. Most

schools comply with the

requirement to report crime

data, but only about a third do

so in a way fully consistent

with Federal laws. Anonymous reporting, which

encourages victims to come

forward, is an option at just

half of the Nation’s schools.

Schools also provide basic

resources unevenly. Fewer

than half the schools studied

inform students how to file

criminal charges.

These findings show that

schools need guidance. The

researchers identify promising

practices, recommend development of model policies and

guidelines, and suggest areas

for more research.2

ii
SEXUAL ASSAULT ON CAMPUS

Heather M. Karjane, Bonnie S. Fisher, and Francis T. Cullen

Sexual Assault on Campus:

What Colleges and Universities

Are Doing About It

Campus crime in general and basic rights.3 The Clery Act,

sexual assault in particular the most notable of these

have been receiving more laws, mandates an annual

attention than in the past, and security report from each

concern has been expressed Federally funded school (see

at the highest levels of gov­ “Recent Federal Laws on

ernment. On the Federal Campus Crime”).

level, Congress responded by

enacting several laws requir­ In 1999, Congress asked the

ing institutions of higher edu­ National Institute of Justice to

cation to notify students find out what policies and

about crime on campus, pub­ procedures schools use to

licize their prevention and prevent and respond to reresponse policies, maintain ports of sexual assault.4 The

open crime logs, and ensure resulting study revealed that

sexual assault victims their schools are making strides

About the Authors

Heather M. Karjane,

Ph.D., is coordinator for

gender issues at the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Administrative Office

of the Trial Court. Bonnie

S. Fisher, Ph.D., and 

Francis T. Cullen, Ph.D.,

are faculty in the Division

of Criminal Justice at the

University of Cincinnati.

The Police Executive

Research Forum 

conducted some of 

the field research.

RECENT FEDERAL L CAMPUS CRIME

Starting in 1990, Congress acted to ensure that institutions of higher edupus and to provide students and their parents accurate information about

campus crime. The major Federal laws pertaining to this study are:

Student Right­to­Know and Campus Security Act of 1990 (the “Clery

Act”*) (20 U.S.C. § 1092).

that schools annually disclose information about crime, including specific

sexual crime categories, in and around campus.

This amendment

to the 1990 act requires that schools develop prevention policies and provide certain assurances to victims. The law was amended again in 1998

to expand requirements, including the crime categories that must be

reported.

*The act was renamed in 1998 the "Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and

Campus Crime Statistics Act" in honor of a student who was sexually assaulted and murdered

on her campus in 1986.

AWS ON

cation have strategies to prevent and respond to sexual assault on camThis law, Title II of Public Law 101–542, requires

Campus Sexual Assault Victims’ Bill of Rights of 1992.

1
R ESEARCH FOR PRACTICE / DEC. 05

in some areas but must continue efforts to increase

student safety and accountability. After summarizing what

is known about the nature

and extent of sexual assault

on campus, the researchers

highlighted findings regarding

response policies and procedures; reporting options; barriers and facilitators; reporter

training and prevention programming; victim resources;

and investigation, adjudication, and campus sanctions.

The study’s baseline information can be used to measure

progress in how institutions

of higher education respond

to sexual assault.

The scope of the 

problem 

Administrators want their

campuses to be safe havens

for students as they pursue

their education and mature

intellectually and socially. But

institutions of higher education are by no means crimefree; women students face a high risk for sexual assault.

Just under 3 percent of all

college women become victims of rape (either completed or attempted) in a given

9­month academic year. On

first glance, the risk seems

low, but the percentage

translates into the disturbing

figure of 35 such crimes for

every 1,000 women students.

For a campus with 10,000

women students, the number

could reach 350. If the percentage is projected to a full

calendar year, the proportion

rises to nearly 5 percent of

college women. When projected over a now­typical 

5­year college career, one in

five young women experiences rape during college.

5

Counter to widespread

stranger­rape myths, in the

vast majority of these

crimes—between 80 and 90

percent—victim and assailant

know each other.

6 In fact, the

more intimate the relationship, the more likely it is for a rape to be completed rather

than attempted.

7 Half of all

student victims do not label

the incident “rape.”

8 This is

particularly true when no

weapon was used, no sign of

physical injury is evident, and

alcohol was involved—factors

commonly associated with

campus acquaintance rape.

9

Given the extent of nonstranger rape on campus, it is

no surprise that the majority

of victimized women do not

define their experience as a

rape.

These reasons help explain

wh

y campus sexual assault is

2
SEXUAL ASSAULT ON CAMPUS

not well reported. Less than 5 percent of completed and

attempted rapes of college

students are brought to the

attention of campus authorities and/or law enforcement.10

Failure to recognize and

report the crime not only may

result in underestimating the

extent of the problem, but

also may affect whether victims seek medical care and

other professional help. Thus, a special concern of the

study was what schools are

doing to encourage victims to

come forward.

Federal law and the

schools’ response 

Institutions of higher education vary widely in how well

they comply with Clery Act

mandates and respond to

sexual victimization. Overall, a large proportion of the

schools studied—close to 80

percent—submit the annual

security report required by

the Act to the U.S. Department of Education; more

than two­thirds include their

crime statistics in the report.

Yet, according to a General

Accounting Office study,

schools find it difficult to

consistently interpret and

apply the Federal reporting

requirements, such as deciding which incidents to cite in

the annual report, classifying

crimes, and the like.11

For definitions and explanation of

terminology such as “acquaintance rape,” see Karjane et al.,

Campus Sexual Assault: How

America’s Institutions of Higher

Education Respond, Oct. 2002,

NCJ 196676: 2–3; for an analysis

of how colleges and universities

define sexual assault, see chap­

ter 3.

Definitions, even of such

terms as “campus” and “student,” are often a challenge

and contribute to inconsistency in calculating the

number of reported sexual

assaults. Only 37 percent of

the schools studied report

their statistics in the required

manner; for example, most

schools failed to distinguish

forcible and nonforcible sex

offenses in their reports as

required by the Clery Act.

The issues and 

the findings 

Congress specified the issues to be investigated

(see “Study Design”). Key

areas of concern were

whether schools have a

written sexual assault response policy; whether and

how they define sexual misconduct; who on campus

is trained to respond to

reports of sexual assault;

how students can report

sexual victimization; what

3
2p3

1p

R ESEARCH FOR PRACTICE / DEC. 05

STUDY DESIGNa

In 1999, Congress mandated investigation of nine issues concerning how colleges and universities are responding to campus sexual assault. Most of these issues are discussed in this

Research for Practice.b

the United States and Puerto Rico that receive student financial aid from the Federal Government and therefore must comply with the Clery Act. Almost 2,500 schools were in the sample,

Results were reported by school type. The policy analysis was derived from almost two­thirds

of the dataset of results from 4­year and 2­year public institutions and 4­year private nonprofit

schools.

The researchers used three methods to study how schools are complying:

❋ Content analysis of the written sexual assault policies of the schools. 

❋ 

❋ Using 29 criteria, onsite examination of 8 schools found to use promising practices in

addressing sexual assault on campus.

The eight schools with promising practices were:

❋ 

❋ Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania.

❋ Lewis & Clark College, Portland, Oregon.

❋ Metropolitan Community College, Omaha, Nebraska.

❋ 

❋ University of California at Los Angeles.

❋ University of California at Santa Cruz.

❋ 

Response rates varied by type of institution. Overall, 1,015 schools sent their policies, and 1,001

Campus 

chapter 2.

b. A list of the nine issues mandated for study can be found at ibid.: 12–13.

To collect the mandated information, the researchers studied a random sample of schools in

including all Historically Black Colleges and Universities and all Tribal Colleges and Universities. Schools were classified using the U.S. Department of Education’s classification system.

A survey of campus administrators that asked about the issues mandated for study.

Central Washington University, Ellensburg, Washington.

Oklahoma State University, Stillwater.

West Virginia State College, Institute, West Virginia.

campus administrators participated in the survey.

Notes

a. A complete description of the study methodology is at Karjane, H.M., B.S. Fisher, and F.T. Cullen,

Sexual Assault: How America’s Institutions of Higher Education Respond, final report to NIJ, Oct. 2002, NCJ 196676:

4
SEXUAL ASSAULT ON CAMPUS

resources are available to victims; and what investigation

and adjudication procedures

are followed once a report is

made. Researchers also examined policies that encourage or discourage reporting and some promising

practices (see “Promising

Practices” on page 12).

Definitions of 

sexual assault

Although the Clery Act

instructs schools to use the

FBI’s Uniform Crime Report

crime classification system as

the basis for their annual statistics, schools may also

define forms of “sexual misconduct” in their student

code of conduct. Clear

behavioral definitions—

including definitions of consent and scenarios with

nonstrangers—can help victims decide whether what

happened to them should be

reported to campus or law

enforcement authorities. This

strategy, used at schools with

promising practices, directly

challenges stranger­rape

myths that disguise the problem and provide a false sense

of safety.

Congress asked about the

prevalence and publication

of school and State

definitions of sexual assault.

The researchers found: ❋ States have their own criminal codes; thus, definitions

of acts that constitute sexual assault vary.

❋ Like State definitions,

school definitions vary

widely.

❋

A slight majority of the

schools studied mentioned

acquaintance rape in their

sexual assault response

policy.

Sexual assault

response policy A formal policy that addresses sexual assault on campus

is a statement of the school’s

commitment to recognizing

and dealing with the problem. To meet the intent of

the Federal laws, the policy

should be widely and easily

accessible to students.

Congress asked whether

the schools have and disseminate a sexual assault

response policy. The researchers found: ❋ Traditional 4­year public and

private nonprofit schools—

which educate the majority

of students—are the most

likely to have a written sexual assault response policy.

5
R ESEARCH FOR PRACTICE / DEC. 05

❋ About half the schools

studied spell out specific

policy goals; for example,

not tolerating sexual offenses on campus or pursuing disciplinary action

against perpetrators. This

is more common in 4­year

institutions and Historically

Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

Who is trained to

respond? 

Students who are sexually

assaulted are most likely

to tell their friends first.12

Research shows that social

support from friends—and

other “first responders”—

can help the victim recognize

what happened as a violation

of the school’s sexual misconduct policy and potentially

a crime and encourage the

victim to report it to the

authorities.13 For this reason 

it makes sense for schools

to train students and staff in

what to do if someone discloses that she or he has

been sexually assaulted.

Congress wanted information

about who is trained to respond to sexual assault and

how much training is offered.

The researchers found:

❋ Overall, only about 4 in 10

schools offer any sexual

assault training. What training is available is usually

for resident advisers and

student security officers,

not the general student 

population.

❋ Of the schools that provide

training, about half train

their faculty and staff in the

school’s response policies

and procedures.

❋ Fewer than two in five

schools train campus security personnel, even though

formal complaints are likely

to be reported to campus

security. The majority of 4­

year public institutions and

HBCUs require this training.

How do students

report an assault? 

If students know what to

do in the event of a sexual

assault (for example, whom

to notify) and what steps

the school will take, they are

more likely to feel reassured

and report to authorities. The

probability of reporting is also

linked to concerns about confidentiality. Victims may be

embarrassed or fear reprisal;

and victims who may have

been drinking before the

assault might fear sanctions

6
SEXUAL ASSAULT ON CAMPUS

for violating campus policy on

alcohol use. Confidential

reporting can be essential in

these instances. Some victims prefer anonymous

reporting, which allows the

crime to be “counted,” while

letting the victim decide

whether to file an official

report.

Congress asked what on­ and

off­campus reporting options

are available to victims and

what procedures the schools

follow after an assault. The

researchers found:

❋ Although 84 percent of the

schools studied offer confidential reporting, only 46

percent offer anonymous

reporting.

❋ Contact procedures are

specified in the sexual

assault response policies 

of almost three in four

schools, with campus or

local police the most frequently named contact. 

❋ Even though almost half of

schools with a contact procedure listed a phone number, less than half provide

service after business

hours.

❋ Information about filing

criminal charges and campus reports is included in

the policies of less than

half the schools, although,

following the pattern, the

figures for 4­year institutions are higher.

Prevention efforts and

resources for victims

Services for victims are

essential, but prevention is

also key. Many 4­year colleges and universities offer 

a variety of educational 

programs geared to prevention, including rape awareness and self defense. Many

schools also offer a combination of on­ and off­campus

services.

Congress asked what resources are available for

victim safety, support, and

health. The researchers

found:

❋ About 6 in 10 schools offer

safety­related educational

programs. Of the programs

offered by these schools,

6 in 10 address sexual

assault.

❋ Of the schools that offer

general educational programs, less than one­third

include acquaintance rape

prevention in the program.

Even in 4­year public

schools, less than half

do so.

7
R ESEARCH FOR PRACTICE / DEC. 05

❋ Only about one­fourth of

schools provide residence

hall staff with safety training, have security staff on

duty in the residences, or

require overnight guests

to register.

❋ For students who have

been sexually assaulted,

mental health crisis counseling is the most widely

available service.

What discourages

victims from reporting? 

The small proportion of sexual assault victims who report

the offense to authorities

attests to the existence of

multiple reporting barriers.

When schools adopt sexual

assault response policies,

their goal is to protect victims

and the general student population by holding the perpetrator accountable while also

protecting the rights of the

accused. But any policy that

compromises or restricts

the victim’s ability to make

informed choices about how

to proceed may deter reporting. At the individual level,

some victims do not initially

recognize the assault as a

crime, or they have concerns

about their confidentiality.

Others may not want to participate in adjudication because they want to avoid

public disclosure; they are

not certain they can prove

a crime occurred or that the

perpetrator will be punished.

Nonstranger rapists are rarely

convicted of their crimes.14

Congress asked what policies and practices may prevent reporting or obstruct

justice. The researchers

found:

❋ Campus policies on drug

and alcohol use have been

adopted at three­fourths

of the schools studied.

At more than half of these

schools, administrators

say these policies inhibit

reporting.

❋ A majority of campus

administrators believe that

requiring victims to participate in adjudication discourages reporting; about

one­third of schools still

have such a policy.

❋ Campuses may unintentionally condone victimblaming by overemphasizing

the victim’s responsibility

to avoid sexual assault

without balancing messages

8
SEXUAL ASSAULT ON CAMPUS

stressing the perpetrator’s

responsibility for committing a crime and strategies

bystanders can use to

intervene.

❋ A trauma response, which

may involve high levels of

psychological distress,

some of it triggered by

shame and self­blame,

inhibits reporting.

❋ The desire to avoid the

perceived—and real—

stigma of having been

victimized also inhibits

reporting.

What promotes 

reporting? 

Because barriers to reporting

exist at many levels, a single

policy or approach, such as

allowing confidential reporting, is inadequate. The optimum approach to encourage

reporting would be to combine a number of strategies,

including making campus

staff more responsive to

reports of sexual assault and

offering prevention education

for the general student population as well as for specific

groups.

Congress asked what policies aid in encouraging

reporting. The researchers

found:

❋ Services for victims, written law enforcement

response protocols, coordination between campus

and community, new student orientations, and

campuswide publicity

about past crimes are seen

by administrators as facilitating reporting.

❋ Administrators at almost

90 percent of the schools

studied believe that prevention programs targeting athletes and students in the

Greek system encourage

reporting. Only about one in

five schools offers such programs, however, although

over half of 4­year public

schools have them.

❋ As noted earlier, most administrators believe that a

policy allowing confidential

and anonymous reporting

encourages both victims

and other students to

report assaults.

❋ Most administrators consider sexual assault peer

educators to be conducive

to reporting, but only about

one in five schools offers

this type of program. Again,

9
R ESEARCH FOR PRACTICE / DEC. 05

4­year public institutions

and HBCUs are more likely

to have such programs.

Although campus administrators believe these policies

encourage reporting, few

have adopted them.

Investigating and 

punishing victimizers

In responding to and adjudicating reports of sexual assault, schools need to balance

the victim’s need for justice

with the rights of the accused. Bringing victimizers

to justice is made more complex by the dual jurisdiction

of campus administration

and law enforcement. Sexual

assault may be a violation of

the school’s sexual misconduct policy, with the accused

brought before a disciplinary

board or other body to determine his or her responsibility

in violating the student code

of conduct, but it is also a

crime and therefore within

the jurisdiction of the criminal

justice system to determine

guilt.

Congress asked what procedures schools have adopted

for investigating sexual

assault and disciplining and

punishing perpetrators. The

researchers found:

❋ Most reports of sexual

assault on campus are

dealt with through binding

administrative actions, such

as no­contact orders.

❋ An information­gathering

or investigative process is

used at only one­fourth of

schools overall, only onefourth of 4­year private nonprofit schools, and less

than half of 4­year public

schools.

❋ Due process for the accused is guaranteed in

fewer than 40 percent of

schools that have disciplinary procedures.

❋ In about 80 percent of

schools, the body that

decides whether the student code of conduct has

been violated is the disciplinary board. In just over half

the schools, this body also

decides what sanction will

be imposed.

❋ The most common penalty

is expulsion, imposed by

84 percent of the schools.

Many schools suspend

offenders or place them on

probation. Offenders may

10
SEXUAL ASSAULT ON CAMPUS

also be censured, required

to make restitution, or lose

privileges.

❋ Only about half the schools

keep the complainant apprised of the progress of

the case; they are far more

likely to notify the accused.

❋ Use of protocols for coordinating the responses of

campus and local law enforcement agencies were

found to be a promising

practice, but only about

one in four schools have

them, most of these 4­year

public institutions and

HBCUs.

Do schools need to

do more? 

The study confirmed that

there is much confusion

among schools about what

the Clery Act requires. The

fact that only 37 percent fully

comply in reporting crime

statistics indicates a need for

guidance. The researchers

recommend development of

a policy that includes explicit

and behavioral definitions of

consent, sexual offenses,

and other terminology and 

practices.

Many schools either do not

have a sexual assault

response policy or could not

provide it for the study. The

larger, 4­year institutions and

HBCUs tend to have policies,

often available on their Web

sites, but these vary in clarity

and thoroughness. This suggests a model policy could be

useful to the schools as a

template in developing their

own.

More could be done to increase reporting. Practices

that are perceived by college

administrators to discourage

or encourage reporting need

to be examined empirically. 

Because underreporting may

be linked to the victim’s inability to recognize sexual

victimization as a violation of

the school’s student code

of conduct and, further, as

a crime, more research is

needed into such issues as

the perpetuation of strangerrape myths, the relationship

of the victim to the assailant,

use of alcohol before the

assault, and other contributory factors.

11
R ESEARCH FOR PRACTICE / DEC. 05

PROMISING PRACTICES

The researchers identified promising practices at eight schools (see "Study Design") in the areas of

Some examples are included here.a

myths, common circumstances under which the crime occurs, rapist characteristics, prevention

strategies, rape trauma responses and the healing process, and campus policies and support

i.e., through student orientation, curriculum infusion, resource center trainings, campus events,

Much larger University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), conducts a weekly saturation campaign of

flier dissemination all over campus. 

Several schools have peer educators and advocates who present programs that feature scenarios

followed by facilitated discussion. Some campuses gear prevention and intervention programs to

all­male groups, such as male athletes, fraternity members, and male members of ROTC. These

individual and collective responsibility for helping to prevent these crimes, and the attitudes men

b

Sexual assault policy 

should:

❋ Clearly define all forms of sexual misconduct, including operational and behavioral definitions of

what acts constitute consent and what acts constitute a sexual assault.

❋ Discuss the prevalence of nonstranger sexual assault.

❋ Describe circumstances in which sexual assault most commonly occurs.

❋ Advise what to do if the student or someone she/he knows is sexually assaulted.

❋ 

Continued on page 13

prevention, sexual assault policy, reporting, investigation, adjudication, and victim support services.

Prevention

A campus sexual assault education program should include comprehensive education about rape

services. To reach the entire student body, these messages should be disseminated in many forms,

and public information materials. For example, Lafayette College’s sexual misconduct policy is

communicated to students where they live as well as where they learn, in a kind of “road show.”

prevention programs stress male culpability for committing the vast majority of sex crimes, men’s

may hold that foster the crimes. For example, UCSC supports a “Mentors in Violence Prevention”

program that emphasizes the bystander’s role in violence prevention, in part by using a “playbook”

of strategies men can use to interrupt their peers when they believe they may be edging toward

criminal behavior.

A school’s sexual assault policy should be a reader­friendly, easily accessible, and widely distributed statement of the school’s definitions and expectations regarding sexual conduct. The policy

List resources available on campus and in the local community.

12
SEXUAL ASSAULT ON CAMPUS

❋ Identify a specific person or office to contact when a sexual assault occurs (preferably available

24/7) and when and where to file a complaint.

❋ Strongly encourage victims to report the incident to campus authorities and to the local criminal

justice system.

❋ Provide for and list available reporting options, including a confidential option and preferably

including an anonymous option.

❋ 

❋ Provide an official statement prohibiting retaliation against individuals who report rape or sexual

❋ Provide an official statement noting the separate actions available to the victim, i.e., reporting;

investigating the report; informal administrative actions, such as issuing a no­contact order; 

formal adjudication on campus; and criminal prosecution.

All eight schools allow anonymous, confidential, and third­party reporting. Highly recommended

are reporting and response policies that allow the victim to participate in decisionmaking, to exert

some control over the pace of the process, and to be in charge of making decisions as she/he

response protocols ensure a coordinated, consistent, victim­centered response.c

For example, Oklahoma State University counsels student victims that reporting an incident, choosrate steps. Reporting the incident does not obligate the victim to prosecute, but does allow

gathering of information. The student chooses whether to move to the next step in the process and

is advised of the consequences of each action, what to expect, and how confidentiality will be

maintained. 

Protocols to ensure confidentiality for the victim and the accused during the investigation are

essential. Also important are protocols for shared collection and use of information to eliminate the

need for the victim to retell the experience multiple times.

One of the most promising practices is providing victims access to a trained, certified Sexual

Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE). SANE practitioners provide appropriate treatment and forensic

d

PROMISING PRACTICES (cont.)

Continued on page 14

State the school’s sanctions for violating the sexual misconduct policy.

assault and specifying the school’s disciplinary actions for retaliation attempts.

Reporting

moves through the campus adjudication and/or the local law enforcement system. Written

ing to prosecute, adjudicating a complaint through the University, and filing a civil action are sepaInvestigation

examination. Their documentation of evidence can corroborate a victim’s account.

13
R ESEARCH FOR PRACTICE / DEC. 05

Many schools offer a range of adjudication options, from informal administrative actions that do

not require a formal complaint to a formal adjudication board hearing. Proceedings should follow

an established, documented, and consistent format that balances the rights of the complainant

e

The most promising practice in this area is the formation of partnerships between the school and

the community to provide student victims access to a comprehensive, coordinated network of

Campus Sexual Assault: How

final report to the National Institute of Justice, Oct. 2002, NCJ 196676.

Harvard

Educational Review 65(2)(1995): 163–174; also see Karjane et al., Campus Sexual Assault: 128.

Karjane et al., Campus Sexual Assault: 133–134.

OVC Bulletin,

Journal of Forensic Nursing 1(1)(2005): 28–34, 19.

e. For more about adjudication protocols and practices, see Karjane et al., Campus Sexual Assault: chapter 6 and 135–136.

PROMISING PRACTICES (cont.)

Adjudication

and the accused. Sexual misconduct adjudication boards are not criminal proceedings; their purpose is to establish whether the accused is responsible for violating the school’s policy, not to

determine the accused’s guilt or innocence.

Victim support services  

service providers—medical, psychological, advocacy, legal, and safety. More research is needed

to help schools determine which practices are best for their campus and students.

Notes  

a. A comprehensive review of promising practices is in Karjane, H., B. Fisher, and F.T. Cullen, 

America’s Institutions of Higher Education Respond,

b. See Katz, J., ”Reconstructing Masculinity in the Locker Room: The Mentors in Violence Prevention Project,“ 

c. See

d. For more information about SANEs, see Littel, K., “Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Programs: Improving the

Community Response to Sexual Assault Victims,”  Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of

Crime, 2001, available online at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/publications/bulletins/sane_4_2001/welcome.html. Also see Sommers,

M.S., B.S. Fisher, and H.M. Karjane, “Using Colposcopy in the Rape Exam: Health Care, Forensic, and Criminal Justice Issues,”

14
SEXUAL ASSAULT ON CAMPUS

Notes 

1. This finding about risk for college

students versus nonstudents is

derived from the National College

Women Sexual Victimization

(NCWSV) survey, reported in Fisher,

B.S., F.T. Cullen, and M.G. Turner,

“Extent and Nature of the Sexual

Victimization of College Women: A

National­Level Analysis,” final report

to the National Institute of Justice,

Dec. 1999, NCJ 179977: 1–2. The

finding is inconsistent with findings

from the Bureau of Justice Statistics’

National Crime Victimization Surveys

(NCVS), which found little to no difference in risk for “rape/sexual

assault” between college students

and nonstudents—see Hart, T.C.,

Violent Victimization of College Students, Bureau of Justice Statistics

Special Report, Washington, DC:

U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau

of Justice Statistics, Dec. 2003, NCJ

196143; and Baum, K., and P. Klaus,

Violent Victimization of College

Students, 1995–2002, Washington,

DC: U.S. Department of Justice,

Bureau of Justice Statistics, Jan.

2005, NCJ 206836. The authors

believe the discrepancy derives from

very different survey methodologies.

See Fisher, F.S., F.T. Cullen, and M.G.

Turner, The Sexual Victimization of

College Women, NIJ Research

Report, Washington, DC: U.S.

Department of Justice, National

Institute of Justice and Bureau of

Justice Statistics, Dec. 2000,

NCJ 182369: 3, 11–14.

2. See Karjane, H.M., B.S. Fisher,

and F.T. Cullen, Campus Sexual

Assault: How America’s Institutions

of Higher Education Respond, final

report to the National Institute of

Justice, Oct. 2002, NCJ 196676:

137–142.

3. These laws affect all institutions

of higher education that receive student financial aid from the Federal

Government.

4. The study was mandated as part

of the 1998 amendments to the

Higher Education Act of 1965, Public

Law 105–244.

5. Fisher et al., The Sexual Victimization of College Women: 10–11.

6. See ibid.: 17; also see Koss, M.,

C. Gidycz, and N. Wisniewski, ”The

Scope of Rape: Incidence and Prevalence of Sexual Aggression and Victimization in a National Sample of

Higher Education Students,“ Journal

of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

55(2)(1987): 162–170.

7. Fisher et al., “Extent and Nature of

the Sexual Victimization of College

Women”: 89–90; 123–124.

8. Fisher, B.S., L.E. Daigle, F.T.

Cullen, and M.G. Turner, “Acknowledging Sexual Victimization as Rape:

Results From a National­Level Study,”

Justice Quarterly 20(3)(2000):

401–440. A study 13 years earlier

reported that 3 in 4 women (73 percent) who had an experience that

met Ohio penal code criteria for rape

did not label the incident “rape.” See

Koss et al., “The Scope of Rape”:

162–170.

9. See Bondurant, B., “University

Women’s Acknowledgment of Rape:

Individual, Situational, and Social Factors,” Violence Against Women

7(3)(2001): 294–314.

10. Fisher et al., The Sexual Victimization of College Women: 23.

15
R ESEARCH FOR PRACTICE / DEC. 05

11. Campus Crime: Difficulties Meeting Federal Reporting Requirements,

Washington, DC: General Accounting

Office, 1997.

12. Fisher, B.S., L.E. Daigle, F.T.

Cullen, and M.G. Turner, ”Reporting

Sexual Victimization to the Police and

Others: Results from a National­level

Study of College Women,“ Criminal

Justice and Behavior: An International Journal 30(1)(2003): 6–38.

13. Kahn, A., and V. Andreoli Mathie,

“Understanding the Unacknowledged Rape Victim,” in Sexuality,

Society and Feminism, ed. C. Travis

and J. White, Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2000:

337–403; Neville, H., and A. Pugh,

“General and Culture­Specific Factors Influencing African American

Women’s Reporting Patterns and

Perceived Social Support Following

Sexual Assault,” Violence Against

Women 3(4)(1997): 361–381.

14. See Spohn, C., and D. Holleran,

”Prosecuting Sexual Assault: A Comparison of Charging Decisions in

Sexual Assault Cases Involving

Strangers, Acquaintances, and Intimate Partners,“ Justice Quarterly

18(3)(2001): 651–688.

Additional reading 

Extent, Nature, and Consequences of Intimate Partner

Violence: Findings From the

National Violence Against

Women Survey, by P. Tjaden

and N. Thoennes, Washington, DC: National Institute of

Justice and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

2000, NCJ 181867, available

at www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/

nij/181867.pdf. 

The Sexual Victimization of

College Women, by B.S.

Fisher, F.T. Cullen, and M.G.

Turner, Washington, DC:

U.S. Department of Justice,

National Institute of Justice

and Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2000, NCJ 182369, 

available at www.ncjrs.org/

pdffiles1/nij/182369.pdf.

Violent Victimization of College Students, by T.C. Hart,

Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of

Justice Statistics, 2003,

NCJ 196143, available at

www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/

pdf/vvcs00.pdf.

Security on Campus, Inc., a

nonprofit organization whose

mission is safer campuses,

maintains information about

the Clery Act and other campus security issues. See

www.securityoncampus.org.

16
The National Institute of Justice is the

research, development, and evaluation

agency of the U.S. Department of Justice.

NIJ’s mission is to advance scientific research,

development, and evaluation to enhance

the administration of justice and public safety.

NIJ is a component of the Office of Justice

Programs, which also includes the Bureau

of Justice Assistance, the Bureau of Justice

Statistics, the Office of Juvenile Justice

and Delinquency Prevention, and the

Office for Victims of Crime.