The University of Texas released its sexual assault student survey results in an effort for officials to transparently address the issue of sexual misconduct on campus.
The UT System-wide rape rate among female students was 10 percent while individual campus results varied.
“The findings of this study shine a brighter light on sexual assault and misconduct that effects UT students and gives us a deeper understanding of how to address these problems,” UT System Chancellor William H. McRaven, who spearheaded the study, said.
The individual campus rape statistics among female students are listed below.
- UT Austin: 15 percent
- UT Dallas: 9 percent
- UT San Antonio: 9 percent
- UT Permian Basin 8 percent
- UT Arlington: 8 percent
- UT El Paso: 8 percent
- UT RGV: 7 percent
- UT Tyler: 6 percent
The study defined rape as “having oral sex with someone, making someone perform oral sex, or penetrating someone’s vagina or anus with penis, fingers or other objects without their consent, by use of verbal pressure, taking advantage of them when they’re incapacitated, threatening to harm or using force.”
The survey also gave insights into the nature of sexual assault, sexual violence and harassment. It showed that 44 percent of sexual assault victims knew their attacker closely, and more than half of all incidents occurred off campus.
Nearly 70 percent of sexual assault victims were under the influence of alcohol or drugs while alcohol and drug usage rates were even higher among perpetrators.
More than 70 percent of victims believed their school would take them seriously if they made a report but reporting rates were low. At UT Austin, six percent of victims of interpersonal violence reported the incident to university officials.
“This survey reveals a problem in our university, as well as society, that has existed in the shadows for too long,” UT-Austin President Greg Fenves told students in a statement. “Sexual misconduct will not be tolerated.”
UT officials claim the survey is “the nation’s most comprehensive study on sexual assaults ever conducted in higher education,” reports The Dallas Morning News.
The $1.7 million multi-year study being conducted by UT Austin’s Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault will collect a series of quantitative and qualitative data and survey some students repeatedly to get a sense of progress over time.
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