Harvard Graduate Suing School, Says She Was Forced To Live In Same Building As Sexual Attacker
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (CBSNewYork/AP) — A 2015 graduate of Harvard is suing the school over allegations that it forced her to live in the same building as a student who sexually assaulted her.
Alyssa Leader filed the lawsuit Tuesday in federal court in Massachusetts. She claims school officials failed to act on her complaints.
The lawsuit says Leader told campus officials that a male student who lived in her dorm had been sexually abusive while they dated but that Harvard refused to move him to another hall. Leader says one official discouraged her from filing a formal complaint.
Harvard says it responds fairly to all allegations of sexual assault.
The Associated Press generally doesn't identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they come forward publicly, as Leader has done.
It is estimated that 20 to 25 percent of women in higher educational institutions are victims of attempted or completed sexual assault over the course of a college career, according to The National Sexual Violence Resource Center.
Among college women, the organization says 9 out of 10 victims of rape and sexual assault know their offender.
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