AWARE recently received the results of a survey they held last semester, in which they asked a series of questions about sexual assault in the Plymouth State University community.
The survey was taken as part of a research project by AWARE with the overall goal of determining the levels of reported and unreported sexual violence on the PSU campus. The results would then be used to compare the knowledge and opinions of Plymouth State community members.
“Last March, we started developing a survey with the goal in mind to discover how often sexual assault occurs on the Plymouth State campus,” said AWARE in the group’s official statement on the survey, “While universities often keep statistics on how often sexual assault incidents are reported, we also wanted to get a more accurate view of the incidents that go unreported.”
The survey was distributed last May anonymously through My.plymouth.com, and received a sample of 120 people; 108 students, three professors, 10 university employees and two others.
The survey began by asking if various levels of sexual encounters should be considered assault if they are unwanted. The options range between kissing and fondling all the way to anal and vaginal sex. It then asks if the same list of sexual encounters should be reported to a law enforcement agency if it is unwanted. On both questions, the majority of people completely agreed that the majority of these options were sexual assault if the action was unwanted.
The middle of the survey asked if the acts were sexual assault if physical force or the threat of physical force were involved. This had the same results in that just about everybody agreed that these were indeed sexual assaults.
The survey then asked if the individual had experienced any unwanted sexual contact as a member of the PSU community. For kissing, 22 people had experienced it but did not report it. For fondling, one person had experienced this and reported it, and 24 had without reporting it. For grabbing, one person had experienced it and reported it and 35 had experienced it and not reported it. For oral sex, 5 people experienced this without reporting it. For anal sex, two people had experienced this without reporting it. And with vaginal sex, one person had experienced it with reporting it, but 10 people had experienced it without reporting it.
“We feel that the results of the survey show that sexual assault incidents at Plymouth occur way more than they are reported,” AWARE said in their statement on the survey, “Moreover, only 120 people took the survey, which leads us to believe that there are perhaps many more incidents that have gone unreported. We want to bring the awareness out that sexual assault does happen on this campus.”
This survey has arrived at a good time, as October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. AWARE has intentions of putting out another survey next spring.
“We also want to let men and women know about the resources they have at Plymouth,” the AWARE statement said, “First, we urge anyone in danger to visit the S.A.G.E. Center at 16 Merrill St., right next to the computer store, or call 535-2387. Voices Against Violence is another resource, with a 24-hour hotline at 536-1659. Lastly, Campus Police can be reached at 535-2330. All of these resources are ready and willing to help.”