Sexual assaults an underreported reality in college

By Johanna Mitchell

Editor's note: All students' names have been changed due to the sensitive nature of this story.

Eighteen-year-old Tessa Rodgers remembers she had been doing homework in her dorm room on a Sunday night when she got a text message from a male friend. He said he wanted to hang out, so she got in her car and drove to his off-campus house.

She recalls sitting down on his couch to watch the movie he had promised, and the startling realization that the movie was the last thing on his mind. He reached over and fondled her breasts over her shirt, and she said, "Stop." Instead, he unzipped his pants to expose himself and climbed on top of her. She pushed him off and ran out the door.

In a matter of minutes, Tessa, like so many college women nationwide, had become a sexual assault statistic.

In 2005, the National Institute of Justice published the results of a survey of college women stating that 2.8 percent had experienced either a completed (1.7 percent) or an attempted (1.1 percent) rape within a nine-month time frame.

According to this statistic, roughly 73 of the approximately 2,600 female students that make up Santa Clara's student body are victims of completed or attempted rape each academic year.

Yet, only five official reports of rape or sexual assault were recorded during the 2006-07 academic year, said Vice Provost for Student Life Jeanne Rosenberger. An additional five have been reported since classes began in September, she said -- including two sexual assaults reported within the last month.

University protocol mandates that all official reports are included in this tally, even if the alleged offender is not found guilty of sexual assault or misconduct, said Matthew Duncan, associate dean in the Office of Student Life.

However, Duncan said he recognizes that the total number of incidents occurring on and around campus is likely higher than his office's records. Nationally, fewer than five percent of completed and attempted rapes are reported to law enforcement officials, according to the 2000 National College Women Sexual Victimization Study by the U.S. Department of Justice.

"It is happening all the time here, and you would never guess it," said Tessa, now a junior. "I knew something was wrong because my body reacted. I was in 'fight-or-flight.' If I hadn't gotten out of there, he probably would have raped me."

According to the university's Student Conduct Code, an act of sexual assault or sexual misconduct includes, but is not limited to, "sexual intercourse, sodomy, or sexual penetration with an inanimate object, the touching of a person's intimate parts (defined as genitalia, groin, breast or buttocks, or clothing covering them), or compelling a person to touch his or her own, or another person's intimate parts without consent."

Sexual assault occurs when the act is intentional and is committed by physical force, violence, threat, or intimidation, by taking advantage of or causing another's inability to consent through drugs or alcohol, or by ignoring the other person's objections.

After her experience, Tessa joined the peer education group Every Two Minutes, which coordinates events and campaigns and speaks to campus groups about issues of sexual assault and rape.

Every Two Minutes and its male counterpart, One in Four, were established two years ago as part of a $186,000 grant from the Department of Justice to promote awareness of sexual assault issues on college campuses and reduce violent crimes towards women.

Both organizations emphasize the idea that when it comes to consent, the absence of a "no" is not the same as the presence of a "yes."

Consent is a critical factor in determining whether a student has violated section seven of the Student Conduct Code, which forbids "non-consensual physical contact of a sexual nature such as sexual misconduct, sexual assault and rape."

The university's Student Handbook describes consent as "mutually understandable words or actions that demonstrate voluntary agreement to engage in mutually agreed-upon sexual activity." Non-action, the document says, does not constitute consent, and neither does coerced or forced consent.

"You grow up learning that 'no' means 'no' and you expect that everyone was taught the same, but with some boys I've met, this is not always the case," said Hanna O'Brien, a 2006 graduate who was sexually assaulted during her sophomore year at Santa Clara.

When her attacker, a friend and resident of her residence hall, pinned her down on her bed and attempted to force her pants down, Hanna found herself kicking her way to freedom and considers herself lucky that he was too intoxicated to pursue her.

According to the Student Conduct Code, victims who were under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of a sexual assault or rape incident are exempt from disciplinary action for such use. The perpetrator, however, can be penalized for that offense under some circumstances.

Alcohol use by the perpetrator, victim or both was involved in at least 50 percent of sexual assault cases reported on college campuses, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. In one 1994 study, alcohol use was involved in as many as 97 percent of college reported sexual assaults.

A long night at a Santa Clara bar led to a scary situation for senior Melissa Somero, who got more than she bargained for when she decided to stay the night at a male friend's fraternity house in August.

She remembers falling asleep in his bed and then waking suddenly as he joined her. He fondled her breasts and forced her hand on his genitals. When he tried to push her head below the sheets, she fled. She said she confronted her friend about the incident later, and he labeled it a "misunderstanding."

Four out of five students interviewed chose not to report their respective sexual assaults to university officials, and each cited a friendship with their attacker as the primary reason.

According to a 2005 study of violent crime by the National Institute of Justice, about 70 percent of female rape or sexual assault victims stated the offender was an intimate partner, relative, friend or other acquaintance.

"It's not the guy jumping out of the bushes, it's the guy who's your best friend," said Tessa, who reported her attacker to the Office of Student Life three weeks after the incident occurred.

Events that occurred shortly after the incident were what ultimately led Tessa to file a report. She recalls being taunted by her attacker's friends and being called inappropriate names. At one point, fruit was thrown at her car.

"I felt in danger walking around campus," said Tessa.

Melissa said one of her friends formally reported being raped and was ostracized by her peers after her attacker was expelled from the university two years ago.

"People blamed her, not him, which is the sickening thing," said Melissa, who added that the harassment rose to levels such that the female student withdrew from the university.

Though Rosenberger says expulsion from the university has been rare during her time at Santa Clara, the reasons for expelling those few students were "disproportionately for sexual assault."

Victims choose whether the disciplinary hearing is held by one university judicial officer or the Sexual Misconduct Board, which was established in fall 2006. The board is comprised of two university staff members and one student, each trained in sexual assault issues.

Students who choose to participate in the judicial process can expect to follow the protocol outlined in the Student Handbook, including filing an official report, undergoing a hearing and participating in the appeal process, if necessary.

The prior sexual history of either party is not admissible as evidence by the other party, and only first-hand witnesses are allowed to testify. A temporary restraining order is also set in place, under which students are not allowed to contact each other in any way, even through mutual friends.

During the entire process, victims are given the option to change their housing situation and can be provided with a sexual assault advocate, a faculty or staff member who is trained in issues of sexual assault and can speak on behalf of the student in university court proceedings. All university-offered resources, as well as the reporting process, are voluntary.

"If someone has been assaulted, the last thing we want to do is give them less choice," said Rosenberger. "It all needs to be the student's choice."

The process is really a "one size fits one" situation, said Rosenberger, depending on the severity of the accusations and whether the victim chooses to participate in a criminal investigation through the Santa Clara police as well.

In some cases, university administrators deem it necessary to contact the police department without the victim's cooperation, especially when they believe the perpetrator to be capable of victimizing another person.

Within a month of her August attack, Melissa learned that the man who assaulted her had previously sexually assaulted two other women, including her best friend.

"What concerned me the most was that they truly didn't know they did anything wrong," said Tessa. "Someone said to me, 'You've ruined his life,' and I said, 'No, he ruined his life.' I did what was right. I couldn't have lived knowing he could have done that to someone else, or worse."

Tessa considers herself lucky; speaking out for her rights is something that has always come naturally to her. She views her work with Every Two Minutes as a way to inspire other women.

Contact Johanna Mitchell at (408) 554-4546 or jjmitchell@scu.edu.