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About 19% of Syracuse University students who participated in a 2020 survey said they have experienced nonconsensual sexual contact at SU, results released Thursday show. 

The data is part of the Survey on Sexual and Relationship Violence that was sent to a random sample of 4,000 SU students. A total of 1,160 students — about 29% of those who received the questions — participated in the survey, which asked about attitudes, awareness and experiences concerning sexual and relationship violence.

SU last conducted the survey in spring 2018. New York state’s Enough is Enough legislation requires that institutions survey students on sexual and relationship violence every two years.

Of the students who said they were sexually assaulted, about 95% did not file a report. The lack of reporting is a trend in the survey. Nearly all students who said they experienced dating violence, sexual harassment or stalking also said they did not file a report.

Nationally, 13% of college students experience sexual assault or rape through violence, force or incapacitation, according to RAINN. Of female students between the ages of 18 and 24 who experience sexual violence, only 20% report to law enforcement.

When SU surveyed students in 2018, 95% of students who had been assaulted said they did not report their assault. Following the survey’s publication, W. Scott Lewis, a co-founder and advisory board member of the Association for Title IX Administrators, told The Daily Orange that the figure is “really high” for a school of SU’s size.

About 24% of SU students who responded to the survey said they have experienced dating violence while at the university, and about 17% said they have been sexually harassed. The largest category of students affected by sexual assault, harassment, stalking or relationship violence were first-year students.

Only 218 students responded to questions about where nonconsensual sexual contact took place. About 52% of respondents said the incident had occurred on campus, including in a residence hall, campus facility or the house of a Greek life organization. 

Students also answered questions regarding bystander intervention and defining consent. The 2020 survey shows that about 23% of students who responded have witnessed a situation since coming to SU that they thought could lead to sexual assault. About 64% of students asked the person who appeared to be at risk if they needed help. About 10% of students didn’t take any action. 

The survey also asked students to define “affirmative consent.” About 53% of respondents selected a verbal “yes,” as the definition of consent, while about 45% chose “a voluntary and mutual decision among all participants to engage in sexual activity.”

SU sent the survey to twice as many students in 2020 than it did in 2018, and its response rate increased by about 5%. 

Information collected from the survey provides “important insight” to guide SU’s sexual and relationship violence prevention efforts, said Rob Hradsky, co-chair of the Chancellor’s Task Force on Sexual and Relationship Violence, in a summary of the survey results released Thursday.

Published on December 3, 2020 at 5:25 pm

Contact Kailey: kmnorusi@syr.edu