20 acquaintance rapes reported since September

At least 20 women at the University were raped by acquaintances this academic year, according to Victim Support Services Director Ruth Wells. Other security officials and administrators declined to give specific rape statistics, but representatives of Students Together Against Aquaintance Rape and the Women's Center said that they are aware of even more than the 20 reported incidents. But none of those reported cases show up on University Police records as "forcible rapes" during the last three years, according to state crime statistics released this year. Women's Center Director Elena DiLapi said that as many rapes were reported to her office in the first semester of this year as were reported to her office during all of last year. Officials involved in security and women's issues attribute the rise in incidents to an increase in reporting. Nationwide an average of less than 10 percent of rapes and attempted rapes are reported. Student Health Educator Susan Villari said Monday that more than 10 percent of the women at the University who are victims of sexual assaults are seeking out support resources. College junior Anne Siegle, one of the co-founders of STAAR said Monday that at practically all of the almost 60 workshops STAAR has conducted this year, someone has come up to the peer educator after the presentation to ask about resources for themselves or for a friend who has been the victim of a sexual assault. "That is a ridiculously low number considering that one in every four women is the victim of rape or attempted rape," Siegle said yesterday. "That just doesn't cut it." In a population the size of the University, according to these figures, an estimated 3750 women will be the victims of an attempted sexual assault within their lifetimes. Siegle emphasized however that not all of these statistics are the result of incidents that happen to women at the University. Many, she said, happened to women in high school. Last year, DiLapi said that 12 incidents of acquaintance rape were reported to her office. That was an increase of more than 50 percent over the reports during the 1987-1988 academic year. As reports of acquaintance rapes to University support services seem to increase, officials and students involved in security and women's issues are calling on top administrators to take a more vocal stance against sexual assault. They said this month that improved campus security for women and an environment where women feel comfortable reporting sex crimes are only possible if officials acknowledge the problem and take action to prevent further crimes. DiLapi said this month that at a STAAR program held for administrators and faculty, only four men -- none of whom were from the highest level of administration -- were present. And what she says is a lack of acknowledgment of crimes against women results in a dearth of resources for prevention, DiLapi said. She added that her office would like to do more outreach and education, but workers are forced to concentrate their efforts on crisis intervention. "If I am constantly putting out fires, how am I going to do fire prevention?" DiLapi asked. DiLapi said that as many rapes were reported to her office in the first semester of this year as were reported to her office last year. Officials attributed the increased number to a greater number of reports, not an increased number of acquaintance rape incidents. And while women's advocates say the administration must take a more vocal role in preventing crime against women, they also commend support service officials for providing resources that are vital to preventing and coping with crime against women. · According to officials and students involved in security and women's issues, women often face insensitivity or harrassment when they try to prevent or recover from being the victims of crime. And they say that because women more often fall victim to certain kinds of harrassment, rape and sexual assault, they face greater security risks than men. Student Health Educator Villari said this week that although her office does not compile figures on crimes against women her "gut feeling is that women get victimized more." "We can assume that violence is happening all the time," Women's Center Director DiLapi said. "On party nights it may be happening at a higher rate." Officials report that the number of crimes against women on and around campus is similar to the national average. And studies show that women are the overwhelming victims of sex-related crimes. A study sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health conducted on 32 college campuses found that one in every four women were victims of rape or attempted rapes. Additionally, college-age women are at a greater risk, studies say. The NIMH study said that the average age of both rape victims and perpetrators is 18-and-one-half years old. Additionally, college-age students are at a particular risk for crime in general, and because of denial, Ivy League students may be at a greater risk. "There is some feeling that 'Ivy League students don't rape' or 'Ivy League students don't get raped,' Siegle said. "That's a big myth to dispell." · Despite increased awareness and reporting of sex crimes, a stigma still exists around those who survive a sexual assault, officials say. "People look at a rape survivor as someone who is dysfunctional -- and that is ridiculous," Siegle said. And the results of insensitivity can be devastating for a survivor, officials say. "When it's a crime against the person, particulary a sex-related crime, because of how society views or does not view these crimes, women are more traumatized," Wells said. Wells and Villari said women's recovery after a sexual assault is sometimes hindered by the mixed reactions from friends and family. "One person can throw off 100 people saying they are supportive of you," Villari said. University Police spokesperson Sylvia Canada said this month that women are also more often the victims of "harrassment by communication" which includes crank phone calls or letters. These crimes can also be reported as use of terroristic threats. University Police had 99 reports of harrassment by communication last year on-campus. The police also received 11 reports of terroristic threats on-campus last year and 27 reports of general harrassment. · Several resources are available at the University and in the surrounding community for people who are the victims of crime. Support systems to aid victims of crime in general were set up in the 1970s and '80s. Resources for women in particular were set up in response to six rapes on or around campus during one week in 1973. The Women's Center provides counseling, information, advocacy, and referral services for women. In addition to many other services, they currently offer a support group for victims of acquaintance rape. University Police Victim Support Services provides similar services and is specially equipped to guide women crime victims through the judicial process if they decide to press charges against the perpetrator. Students Together Against Acquaintance Rape, which is a little more than a year old, was founded to raise awareness, teach prevention techniques and provide education, support, and advocacy in the University community about acquaintance rape.

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