Though the latest security statistics revealed four sexual assaults were reported to campus security authorities in 2002, the number may represent a significant understatement of how many students are victims of sex crimes.
Federal law mandates universities that receive federal financial aid to publish annual crime statistics, often referred to as the Clery Report. However, because the mandate requires only statistics from crimes that occur on-campus or on property immediately adjacent to it, the report does not include crimes that take place off-campus. The U.S. Bureau of Justice estimates the majority of rapes and attempted rapes take place off campus.
“”If someone is at a party with somebody over at UTC and the rape happens there, even though both of them live on campus, the crime gets reported to San Diego police. Those would not be included in our Clery Report,”” said Nancy Wahlig, director of the Student Safety Awareness & Sexual Assault Resource Center. “”So it’s not real accurate in the sense of what’s really happened. It gives us a picture of everything, but I think to look at Clery, we need to look at more than just numbers. And I think that was really the spirit of the Clery report.””
Of the roughly 60 students yearly who come to her for counseling, Wahlig said an estimated half are dealing with crimes that transpired while the victims were UCSD students, not in their past.
“”I may be providing them counseling, but it doesn’t go into the Clery Report. Even though the Clery Report is great, there is still the reality that where crime happens is where the report gets made,”” she said.
However, the majority of sexually assaulted students do not tell anyone about the crimes, Wahlig said.
“”The reality is that most don’t get reported, period, whether you’re on campus or off campus,”” she said.
The most recent statistics on the effect of sexual assaults on college women, released jointly by the National Institute of Justice and the Bureau of Justice Statistics in 2001, found that roughly 3.5 percent of all female college students experience completed or attempted rape during a typical college year.
The report also found that fewer than half of women consider their victimization as rape, and only one out of 20 reported it to the police.
Earl Warren College freshman Megan Hatlen said she isn’t worried.
“”I think UCSD is [safe]. They have the escort service and everything, so it doesn’t worry me too much,”” she said.
Hatlen said she looked at the annual crime statistics released by the campus with her parents before coming to UCSD. Her family also examined UC Berkeley, which had seven attempted and actual assaults.
“”[UCSD] wasn’t as bad as other schools, so they weren’t really worried,”” Hatlen said. “”We looked at how many break-ins and how many Œabductions’ there were, but it didn’t really factor into my decision.””
The differences, according to Wahlig, have more value in showing where crimes occur, not necessarily how many.
“”I think that if I were a parent sending a child off to college, I would look at a number of things beside just these numbers,”” Wahlig said.
