Study: Campuses Underreport Sex Crimes

The study states that most institutions severely underreport incidents of sexual crimes.

Researchers almost expected the results, said Heather Karjane, the study's principal investigator. "We had an idea that schools weren't complying, so the results weren't shocking," she said.

She said the study focused on nine different types of schools. According to the report, four-year public and private colleges and universities were better at reporting sexual crime than higher education institutions overall.

Officials said there are many factors why such a large portion of schools did not comply fully with federal law.

Karjane said each school often categorizes sexual crimes differently, which results in confusion. "There's a lot of ignorance because the laws are complicated."

Daniel Carter, senior vice president of Security on Campus Inc., a group that assists victims of sexual assault and seeks to educate college students about risks, said ignorance is a big problem for universities.

Carter said there is a deliberate indifference to reporting procedure for sexual crimes. "If they wanted to inform themselves, they know the information is out there."

But Carol Kozel, UNC director of nursing at Student Health Service, said the University has a clear procedure for reporting sexual crimes to Office of Student Affairs. She added that all assaults at UNC are reported.

One problem universities face is victims' unwillingness to come forward, Kozel said. "Women aren't able to admit that just because he's a friend doesn't mean he's not violating the school Honor Code or criminal code."

But Kozel said making victims aware they have options is the biggest problem faced by university officials when trying to accurately gauge the number of assaults on campus. "Many victims worry about the press and going to court and ask themselves, 'Will I be traumatized twice?'"

Carter said another problem is that universities are unwilling to acknowledge that they have problems with campus crime.

He added that officials might keep reports or information to themselves to avoid negative press and other effects.

Karjane said she thinks schools need to start including an investigative process when students report sexual crimes. "The reality is that assaults usually involve alcohol and someone that the victim knows."

Carter said state government needs to set some concrete consequences for universities that do not abide by the law by not reporting sexual assaults.

"(The N.C.) Department of Education needs to publish a handbook about reporting sexual crime statistics and act swiftly to impose fines on those schools not following the law," she said. "Universities need to start accurately publishing the truth of crimes occurring on their campus."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.