CEO DATELINE - Association: Fed data on college sexual assault ‘defies reality'
CEO DATELINE - Association: Fed data on college sexual assault ‘defies reality'
- January 15, 2016 |
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Walt Williams
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An advocacy group representing women in higher education said Thursday college campuses are concealing data on the number of rapes and other forms of sexual assault on their campuses.
In a news conference at the National Press Club, the American Association of University Women told reporters it "defies reality" than 91 percent of the nation's colleges told the federal government there were no rapes on their campuses in 2014, the Washington Post reported. Other surveys—including one conducted by the Post—found that about 20 percent of college-aged women and 5 percent of college-aged men reported being sexually assaulted.
"While even one incident of sexual violence is too many, we know that it remains prevalent on college campuses and we should expect schools to have reported incidents to disclose annually," Anne Hedgepeth, AAUW's government relations manager, said. "Zeroes are the red flag."
A survey of 150,000 students released last year by the Association of American Universities found that more than 20 percent of female undergraduates said they were the victims of sexual assault and misconduct. The association was criticized for that report because even though it released the results of the total survey, it did not release the individual results for the 27 colleges that participated.
Colleges are required to report data on dating violence, domestic violence and stalking. However, AAUW believes the disconnect between what campuses are reporting and what surveys are finding means colleges are not complying with the law.
"If the data was accurate, I'd be up here doing a happy dance for you," Lisa Maatz, AAUW's vice president of government relations, told the Post. "We have actual documentation to show that it is not." http://wapo.st/1KhoFVL
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