WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 (UPI) — Nearly a quarter of undergraduate college females said they have been sexually assaulted at some point since enrollment, a study on campus sexual violence indicates.
The research, performed by the Association of American Universities, queried about 150,000 students at more than two dozen universities across the country.
The survey said of all student respondents, nearly 12 percent responded they had experienced “nonconsensual sexual contact by physical force, threats of physical force or incapacitation since they enrolled.”
For undergraduate females, that number rose to 23.1 percent.
“Members of the Association of American Universities are working to combat sexual assault and misconduct on their campuses,” the AAU said in releasing its survey Monday. “As an association of research universities, AAU decided in 2014 that the best way to help its members address this issue was to develop and implement a scientific survey to better understand the attitudes and experiences of their students with respect to sexual assault and sexual misconduct.”
The study also found that among those who were assaulted, 5 percent reported the incident to authorities.
“AAU undertook this initiative to assist our universities in their ongoing efforts to address sexual
assault and sexual misconduct on campus,” Hunter Rawlings, the president of AAU, said. “Our
universities are working to ensure their campuses are safe places for students. The primary goal
of the survey is to help them better understand the experiences and attitudes of their students
with respect to this challenge.”
AAU worked with research firm Westat to implement the survey, which was conducted between April and May and involved 26 AAU-sanctioned universities and one non-member university.
“The leaders of our universities are deeply concerned about the impact of these issues on their
students,” Rawlings added.
The survey queried students at universities across the United States, including the University of Florida, Texas A&M University, the University of Southern California, Harvard and Yale.
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