By Dennis O’Neil

Coercion. Assault. Consent. All words of which many University of Louisville students could use a better definition, according to Sharon LaRue, director of Prevention, Education, and Advocacy on Campus and in the Community.

According to LaRue, PEACC has seen an average of 18 reports of sexual assault per year since 2002, with numbers reaching as high as 30 in 2005. PEACC also had eight reports of sexual assault issued from August through September of 2007 alone.

LaRue said some students may not be aware of the various levels of sexual assault, and that this affects certain victims who may not report their cases.

“Many students think that rape is the only thing they can report,” LaRue said. “So when I do education on sexual assault, I try to emphasize things like sexual touching and forced oral sex, both of which are against the law.”

However, PEACC statistics are not the same as the Department of Public Safety statistics, which only reported two acts of forcible sexual offenses occurring on Belknap campus since 2003.according to DPS Major Kenny Brown, one reason for this is that most sexual assaults happen off campus, and thus can’t be taken into account in the DPS statistics.

Another reason is that some victims who report their assaults to PEACC don’t always file a report with DPS, Brown said.

“A lot of victims choose not to report, and the reasons for that vary from victim to victim,” said Brown. “Sexual assault is like any other crime, in that you don’t have to file a report and if you do, you don’t necessarily have to prosecute.”

LaRue said that even though PEACC is required to report an incident to DPS for use in their anonymous statistics, they leave the choice of filing a police report on an assault up to the victim.

“Any counseling we give is to help the victim make the decision that is best for them,” LaRue said. “Every case is different, but no matter what, we are here to support their decision.”

DPS Chief Wayne Hall said that the state of the victim plays a heavy role in the DPS approach to a reported sexual assault. He added that one reason campus crime alerts are not issued after sexual assault reports is for fear of traumatizing a victim further.

“If we have a pattern of sexual assaults occurring on campus, then we would issue a campus crime alert,” Hall said. “But if it is a very isolated incident involving two students who may have had too much to drink, then I don’t see much sense in issuing one.”

Some students agree with LaRue that a lack of awareness is a real problem within the student body.

“I think a lot of students don’t really know what it means to get consent or give consent,” Melissa Johnson, a graduate student in the Kent School of Social Work, said. “Sometimes, students aren’t really all that well informed about what sexual assault is.”

“Some students have a one track mind and think that if a sexual assault happens, it isn’t going to happen to them,” Khala Granville, a senior communication major said. “Or if an assault does happen, people think it will come from a stranger. More often than not though, the assailant will be someone the victim knows.”

According to LaRue 85 percent of assaults are committed by an acquaintance of the victim. Hall added in 16 years at U of L, he has only seen one act of sexual assault that was perpetrated by a stranger to the victim.

In policing cases of sexual assault on campus, both Hall and LaRue are quick to emphasize the partnership that has developed between PEACC and DPS. Hall said that all DPS officers have received training from PEACC to deal with sexual assault.

“I would say, at this point, we are better trained in matters of sexual assault than most of the other local police departments,” Hall said.

Granville also said that she feels DPS does a good job, “there is always room for improvement in campus security, but I feel that it is in a good state right now,” she said. “I still feel safe walking to my car across campus because I know there is enough of a security force present, and that makes me feel safe.”

LaRue added that students should use the university provided escort service any time they feel unsafe on campus.

“I don’t feel that students should ever have to feel fear on campus,” LaRue said. “Students are here to learn, and we want them to know that they should use the escort service at all times.”