80% of campus sex assaults go unreported

A new report by the U.S. Justice Department is outlining statistics on campus sexual assault. This comes at a time of renewed attention to the issue after Rolling Stone magazine backs away from its report on an alleged gang rape at the University of Virginia. It’s also a topic ABC 17 News has been following in depth at the University of Missouri.

The report says 80% of female college students that are rape and sexual assault victims are not reporting incidents to police. It also says college students are less likely to report incidents that those of the same age not in school.

Many MU students cited shame, fear and others not believing rape victims as reasons people may not be reporting.

The report cites many of these reasons:

– Students believe it was a personal matter

– 1 in 5 said they feared reprisal

– They didn’t believe police could do anything to help

– 12% say the incident was not important enough to report.

Another finding is that 17% of the victims are men. ABC 17 News spoke with Captain Brian Weimer with the MU Police Department today. Weimer says he can not remember even one report of sexual assault from a male in 22 years. He thinks men may be even more hesitant to come forward because of embarrassment.

Mizzou is now requiring all students, faculty and staff to complete a sexual assault training course online. It outlines how to identify sexual assault, how to report it and what to do in response. For staff it is mandatory and must be completed by the end of January. Students will participate in the spring.

Here is a link to the full report from the Justice Department:

http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/rsavcaf9513.pdf