Sexual Assaults on SSU Campus Raise Concerns

The following article is by Lindsey Ryan, a journalism student at Salem State University and originally appeared on the SSU Viking Voice.

Seven people were raped at Salem State University (SSU) in 2014, all on campus and all in student housing, according to a report recently released by campus police. That number is more than double the three rapes police reported for 2013.

“That statistic means there are a lot more assaults on campus than are being reported,” SSU Assistant Dean of Students Shawn Newton told the SSU Viking Voice in a recent interview. “If in 2014, university police reports that seven people reported they were raped, how many more went unresolved, unreported?”

​Police also said that 2014 saw two cases of “dating violence,” ten incidents of “domestic violence” and one report of “fondling” in 2014.

The rape and sexual violence statistics were made public on October 1 in a document compiled every year in order to comply with the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990 and the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act of 1998.

The incidents of reported rape and other sexual violence are actually low when compared with statistics from recent reports. A recent national survey from the American Association of Universities determined that one in five female college or university students experiences sexual assault on campus. The survey of 27 universities found that 23 percent of undergraduate females and 5 percent of males said they had been victims of non-consensual sexual contact.

Newton said that, “more often than not, the cases may involve first-year students.” He also noted that women, people of the LBGTQ community, and African American women may be more at risk than other groups of people.

A brief survey of a dozen students conducted by the Viking Voice confirmed Newton’s speculation that there were likely more than seven rapes during 2014.

Four out of 12 students asked said they would not report a sexual assault to campus police, and a fifth was unsure. The students who stated that they would not go to the University Police said they would rather resolve issues on their own. Some participants also noted that in the past they have been followed on campus, which is a critical safety concern for students.

SSU and its students are currently in what is known as the “Red Zone” period. College students are most likely to experience sexual assault on campus during the time from the beginning of the fall semester through Thanksgiving. Students are meeting new people and for many, they are in a new social setting. They also may be experimenting with drugs and alcohol.

Elisa Castillo, member of the SSU Counseling Staff, said there are many myths about rape that need to be constantly debunked.

“A rape myth is that rape typically happens when someone is attacked by a stranger. While that does happen sometimes… 90 percent of the time that’s not what it looks like,” said Castillo, who is also a member of Campus Educators on Sexual Assault (CESA).

In other words, people are more likely to be sexually assaulted by someone they know, rather than a stranger. Castillo also noted that the person who initiates physical contact is responsible.

“You only know if somebody consents if you have that conversation, or if people are sober enough to have that conversation,” she added.

Assistant Dean Newton said he was “saddened when I hear that people do not feel safe” at SSU.

Students worried about their safety won’t be able to focus as well on their studies, he added.

“Students need to feel like they’re not looking over their shoulders,” he said. “It’s up to the campus community to try to reinforce our values of what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. I think, just as much as it is the responsibility of faculty and staff to help create that culture, it is equally important for students to help create that culture for one another as well.”

Newton urged all students, faculty and staff to make sure they know about the resources available.

Resources

At SSU all first-year students receive training on sexual assault, and the Vikings CARE program was launched this year. Vikings CARE is a bystander intervention-training program, which promotes respect, civility and responsibility within the community. According to Castillo Residence Life staff members are also trained to deal with sexual assaults.

Anyone who wants to talk to a peer about these issues, or who wants to get involved, can get in touch with CESA, a student group certified peer educators who have been trained on issues pertaining to sexual assault prevention and education. CESA discusses a variety of topics including rape myths, acutance rape, sexual consent and more.