Danger on Campus

Sexual assaults are the most prevalent violent crimes committed on American college campuses. Rape and attempted rape can leave young women physically and emotionally harmed for years unless they receive proper aid. Yet colleges still fail to take some of the most basic steps that could help reduce this human toll.

A survey conducted for a clinical psychology journal last year among 6,000 students at 32 colleges revealed that one out of every six female students reported having been a victim of either rape or attempted rape during the preceding year. The assaults occurred in residence halls, fraternity houses, parking lots and libraries. Most often the assailants were young men whom the victims knew.

The Santa Monica Rape Treatment Center had a “sudden and dramatic increase in the number of victims seeking help who had been raped on college campuses” in the spring of 1987, according to Gail Abarbanel and Aileen Adams, the director and the lawyer for the center. They decided to put together a report on what colleges can do both to combat sexual assaults on campus and to help the victims. The booklet, which has been sent to every college president in the country, offers a program that can both make campuses a safe environment for learning and reduce the colleges’ liability risks.

And colleges are at financial risk. The Massachusetts Supreme Court upheld a $195,000 verdict for a freshman at Pine Manor College who was raped after being led at knifepoint from her dormitory room to an unlocked dining hall.

But it is the students who are at greater risk. And they often let assaults go unreported even though, or because, they see their assailant every day in class or in their dormitories. To combat that risk, the Rape Treatment Center booklet recommends these steps by colleges:

--Issue a clear, written policy statement defining rape, condemning it and outlining criminal penalties and disciplinary steps that can be taken against assailants. Chancellor Ira Michael Heyman of UC Berkeley issued such a statement last year after two campus rapes, and his action has added to the understanding of the issue on that campus.

--Make sure that college disciplinary codes include a statement of victims’ rights, like the right to be accompanied by a parent or counselor in a disciplinary hearing.

--Set up a process for an immediate hearing to determine whether the victim or the alleged assailant should be moved if they live in the same dormitory.

--Establish a program providing medical treatment and counseling for victims.

--Encourage victims to report attacks and provide statistics concerning attacks on campus. Many colleges are reluctant to acknowledge assaults, but everyone is safer if accurate information--not rumor--guides behavior.

--Increase security to prevent attacks. The colleges should avoid scheduling classes in otherwise deserted campus areas, install telephones linked to security stations in potentially dangerous areas, improve dormitory locks and offer escort services.

No matter how well protected and how enlightened a college thinks its students are, there is always more that can be done to prevent rape and to reduce its trauma. Working together, students and administrators can help reduce cases of rape by making it clear that rape is a crime--one that especially creates barriers to the trust that is so essential on a college campus.