By LOLITA AVILA, LAUREN HALLIGAN, CONNOR HOWARD, SAMUEL MAXWELL
In the traumatic state of just being victimized in a sexual assault, many victims are unsure whether or not they should report the crime. Often uneducated on the subject, some victims don’t know their options regarding the situation.
“Sexual violence is one of the most underreported crimes, more so on college campuses,” said Joe Farrell, director of training for the New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
A number of experts on the subject of sexual assault told students in Journalism II that victims must decide for themselves whether or not to file a report.
Victims nearly always turn to a friend first, said Kevin Flynn, a detective for the Children and Family Services Unit of the Albany Police Department. This friend, whoever it may be, is essentially the first responder, and can have a great deal of impact on the victim’s response.
“I never put pressure on the victim to report a crime,” said Flynn. Joe Farrell echoed his thoughts in saying victims should do what they feel most comfortable doing.
Victims sometimes question whether they have the emotional strength to tell an authority figure. Some victims even question if they have their story straight.
“It’s just the nature of trauma,” said Karen Ziegler, director of the Albany County Crime Victim and Sexual Violence Center. Ziegler suggested that victims leave 24 hours before reporting to organize their thoughts. She warns respondents such as campus security personnel not to doubt a victim’s jumbled story, since the wrong response could have a negative effect on the victim.
Ziegler also said that believing the victim is the first step. Victims of sexual violence often feel as though it is their fault.
College of Saint Rose graduate student Amanda Daley spoke about her personal experience with sexual assault during her sophomore year. She was forced to perform oral sex on a young male she had just met. Daley met her aggressor at a friend’s house and initially thought he was attractive.
However, she was not looking to engage in any sexual activity. After the incident occurred, Daley said “I had a lot of guilt,” she said. She thought it was her fault. She also told how people accused her of being dramatic and lying about the assault.
Oftentimes, victims fall prey to slut shaming. This is a misconception when people judge a woman’s revealing clothes and determine that “she’s asking for it,” Ziegler said.
Victims tend to be hesitant about reporting because they are unsure of what happened or they’re receiving pressure from friends, and even law enforcement not to report.
Most acts of sexual violence, especially on a college campus, occur between acquaintances. In fact, most perpetrators are people the victim knows, said Flynn, not “the guys who jumped out of the bush.”
When the victim knows their attacker, loyalty becomes an issue. Victims do not want to be known as a tease or the person who ruined someone’s life by reporting the crime. It can be especially hard to report when the perpetrator is seen as a model student. The victims feel too embarrassed and sometimes second guess themselves.
Many recent campaigns use the slogan “No means no.” In sexual intercourse, consent must be given by both parties and can be revoked at the person’s leisure.
Underreporting of sexual assaults protects the perpetrator and encourages him continue to commit further assaults, Farrell said.
Most professionals recommend victims go to the hospital and undergo a rape kit.
One precautionary measure that should be taken immediately, regardless of the intent to report, is getting a rape kit done. Rape kits are sexual assault forensic exams, designed to detect physical evidence on a victim’s body. Trained sexual assault nurse examiners perform this procedure and provide comprehensive care to victims. These professionals conduct a forensic exam and may provide expert testimony if a case goes to trial.
“The physical evidence is extremely important,” Flynn said. Victims should not shower before going to the hospital, because the DNA of the aggressor could wash away, he added.
Rape kit findings are held at the hospital in a refrigerator for approximately 30 days, he said. During this time, the rape kit is available to use as evidence in a court case, should a victim decide to report. While more victims are having forensic rape exams done, the number of police reports made is not increasing, Ziegler said.
Victims have three options: reporting to the police, reporting to the college, or both. Different agencies have different methods for pursuing a sexual assault report.
If a victim files criminal charges against an attacker, the case may go to court. In this instance, the prosecution needs to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused committed the crime. On the other hand, if the victim chooses to report to college officials, those officials must rely on preponderance of evidence to make their decision about a course of action, said Dennis McDonald, vice president of student affairs for the College of Saint Rose.
Officials at the college analyzing the evidence need to be at least 51 percent sure that the accused is guilty in order to administer a punishment. Hypothetically, if a conviction cannot be made for criminal charges due to lack of proof of evidence, the accused could still be punished by the college if it seems likely that he or she committed the crime, said McDonald.
When an act of sexual violence is reported on campus, the report eventually arrives on McDonald’s desk. He reviews the report, and if he deems it a Title IX violation, it is then handed over to a Title IX investigator for the college. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits sexual harassment amongst students.
McDonald then meets with the investigator about how to proceed with the investigation. In terms of the investigation itself, the college is obligated to carry out an investigation once there is a report. Once the investigation is over, the investigator writes up a report based on the findings, and makes a recommendation on how to proceed.
After that, Saint Rose and all other colleges are required to report the number of incidents that occur on their campuses each year under the Clery Act.
If a victim chooses to report or if a victim prefers confidentiality, he or she may contact the offices of spiritual life, the counseling center, and health services.
Individuals in these departments may only keep the incident confidential if they are in their designated offices when they are told of the incident. If a student tells someone from spiritual life about an attack while that person is outside their office, that person is obligated to report it to the college. If they are told about the attack in their office, the decision of whether to report to the college lies with the victim.
After the school makes a finding and notifies the attacker, that individual may do three things: accept the findings and the punishment, accept the findings but disagree with the punishment, or disagree with the findings and the punishment.
The route is different when a sexual assault case is reported to the police. In cases where there is not enough physical evidence to proceed, or the district attorney deems that there is no hope of a conviction, the case could be dropped.
If there is no physical evidence, in most instances, there is no case, Flynn said. Because the prosecutor has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the crime, it makes it much more difficult than using preponderance of evidence.
If the victim suspects that he or she was drugged, then a test is administered to determine the presence of drugs. The test costs about $1,000, and usually takes between six to eight weeks for results. In order to make a case that the victim was a part of a drug-facilitated rape it is crucial for the test to show that there were drugs in his or her system.
Once a detective has a suspect, and obtains a photo of that suspect, the victim may be asked to look at a photo array. The array includes a picture of the suspect, and is used to determine if the victim can identify the attacker, Flynn said.
A second detective administers the test. The detective has no knowledge about the case or what the suspect looks like. This ensures there is no tampering with the identification, and that the identification is legitimate, Flynn said.
Back on campus, many schools have a specific set of protocols which they adhere to when an act of sexual violence occurs.
The University at Albany stresses its non-tolerance of sexual assault on their campuses. Each year every freshman student has to attend a mandatory orientation where various aspects of sexual assault are discussed. They are informed on ways of how to reduce the likelihood of being attacked and are given campus resources such as the contact information for the University Police Department, which is a 24-hour hotline. If an incident is reported to the University Police Department they are heavily involved in the investigation but it does not have to proceed to any legal criminal charges.
Joyce Dewitt-Parker, coordinator for Sexual assault prevention said “what we stress with our students is even if they do not report it to the outside authorities to report to faculty or staff and then they can get the services they need.” The University provides victims with counseling both on and off campus, where students can speak confidentially about their assault. Parker also said that reporting to law enforcement may not be the best choice for everyone. The University wants the student to heal first. “
“We are always empowering the students on the decision they feel comfortable with,” Parker said.
Similar to University at Albany, another college institution that has a similar method of handling sexual assault cases is the University of Hartford. Hartford also allows students to privately report incidents to their Public Safety Department. The University also works closely with the Hartford Police Department in the event of an incident on a higher scale.
Siena College who reported a sexual assault on their campus in September has not provided anymore updates on the status of the incident. However, the college does provide their students with information on their sexual assault webpage regarding sexual violence, dating, and stalking. There is a checklist included to help students distinguish whether or not they are in a healthy relationship.
Siena has established a Welfare of the Community Policy, which applies to a situation where sexual violence has been reported while drugs or alcohol have been consumed. Welfare of the Community weighs the positive impact of reporting a situation against the negative impacts of the conduct violation. The policy was created to protect victims. Siena emphasizes that the safety of their students is their highest priority.
All of these colleges and universities recognize sexual violence as high concern and are taking the appropriate steps to prevent these types of incidents.
