Sexual harassment on college campuses

  Sexual harassment increasing around college campuses

       

    Every 21 hours a rape occurs on a college campus and that number is steadily increasing.

     At the University of Mississippi the Equal Opportunity and Regulatory Compliance office is there to mediate with any student that has been a victim of sexual harassment.

    “We serve mainly as a resource”, Judy Hopper, Assistant Director said, “We help the victim in making whatever decision they’d like to pursue.”

     The Executive Director of the EO/RC investigates complaints of discrimination or sexual harassment and serves as liaison between University and federal enforcement agencies concerned with equal opportunities for minorities and women.

    “Most complaints we get, the victim usually tries not to use criminal action”, Hopper said.

     Statistics show that of college women who are sexually assaulted, only 25 percent describe it as rape and only 10 percent actually report the rape.

   Hopper also mentioned the Clery Act, named after Jeanne Clery, a 19-year-old student who was raped and murdered at Lehigh University while asleep in her residence hall in 1986.

   The Clery Act requires all colleges and universities to report any information on crimes on or around their campus. This Act came about after Clery's parents discovered that students hadn't been informed about 38 violent crimes that took place on the campus three years before their daughters murder.

    A student at the University of Mississippi recalls having a member of their family being sexually assaulted while on a University function.

“It was a tough time,” the student says, “but we got through it and the University was very helpful.”

    The Equal Opportunity and Regulatory Compliance also deals heavily with Title IX, which forbids sex discrimination in all university student services.

    This includes but is not limited to admissions, financial aid, academic advising, housing, athletic, recreational services, college residential life programs, health services, counseling and psychological services.

   If any student has a question the EO/RC office is always open to questions and the University’s site offers brochures and training courses on preventing sexual harassment and discrimination.