New Study Uncovers Startling New Statistics About College Campus Sex Assaults
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- There's new startling statistics about sex assaults on college campuses.
In one of the largest studies of its kind, more than a fourth of undergraduate women say they've been sexually assaulted by force.
How safe do you think your daughter is when she heads off to college? Well, probably not as safe as you might think.
According to a recent survey done on 27 campuses across the country, including one here in our area, one in four female students reports being a victim of a sexual assault.
The college years are supposed to be among the happiest times for young adults.
But the Association of American Universities found in a survey of more than 150,000 students that sexual assaults are a big problem.
"I believe we need to provide skills to young adults, male and female, to know how to intervene and engage in by-standing," says Alison Hall of Pittsburgh Action Against Rape. "And it's a hard thing to know when or not to intervene."
The University of Pittsburgh was one of the 27 schools included in the survey, but the results of the study aren't unique to large urban schools.
This year alone, Indiana University of Pennsylvania has had four reported sexual assaults, and Westminister College has announced an investigation into a reported assault this past weekend.
Schools say they are providing awareness classes during orientation, but should it go further?
"I think we have a lot of people on campus that don't believe that 'no' is a legitimate answer when it comes to sex, or they believe that no means convince me," says one Pitt student.
Many schools are now putting an emphasis on "bystander" education. Teaching students it's not okay to stand by and watch or let an assault go without speaking out.
"If you have one bystander who speaks up, most of the people in the group are going to agree with that bystander," says Hall.
And that is what the new awareness classes are designed to stress.
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