One in four women, in the course of their college career, and one in six men, in their lifetime, will be victims of sexual assault.
For many reasons - among them confusion, ambiguous circumstances and the pressure of public scrutiny - rape and sexual assault victims are dissuaded from reporting the offenses.
Reported cases of sexual assault are nonexistence or minimal at UB every year.
"We've had zeros, and I don't think we've ever gotten out of the single digits," said Anna Peryea, violence prevention specialist with Wellness Education Services.
A solitary incident of a sexual offense on campus was reported in 2006, according to University Police's UB crime statistics Web site. No incidents were reported in 2005 and three on-campus sexual offenses were reported to the police in 2004.
While the numbers may be low, there is not an absence of these crimes on campus, according to Peryea.
The results of the first National College Health Assessment (NCHA) conducted at UB during the 2006 to 2007 academic year exhibits the unreliability of the crime statistics, according to Peryea.
"We found that things here are pretty much on par with all the research we've been seeing - it's no less here, which is an interesting thing to take note of when you realize that our reported incidences of rape and sexual assault have been so low," Peryea said.
The NCHA survey asked about unwanted sexual experiences, rape and sexual assault, Peryea said. The old version of the NCHA survey received a total of 1,975 student responses, according to Peryea.
"It found out that within the last school year...of our total student population sample, 6 percent reported having experienced within the last year a sexual assault, 133 students out of 1900 - 4 percent men and 8 percent women," Peryea said.
Applying the survey's findings to the UB's current student population of 27,000 students would mean that over a thousand students have been sexually violated, according to Peryea.
According to UB Chief of Police Gerald Schoenle, the discrepancy is a problem for colleges and universities nationwide.
"We do know far more sexual assaults happen than are reported - that's for sure," Schoenle said. "Universities of our size are probably having hundreds of sexual assaults that occur that are not being reported."
Defining sexual violence
"Sexual violence" is the general term that encapsulates various sexual offenses including sexual harassment, sexual assault and stalking, according to the American College Health Association's Campus Violence White Paper.
The ACHA White Paper is a standard resource used by many college populations to give a consistent definition to sexual violence.
According to Jane Fischer, Director of SBI Health Education, New York State's definition of rape is flawed.
"The definition of rape is penal-vaginal in New York State. But, there's also forced anal rape on a man or a woman. The other thing that happens often is implements and instruments and that's not considered rape. Forced oral sex is not considered rape," Fischer said.
The restrictive definition of rape in the United States also conflicts with a more broad definition the United Nations uses that includes men as victims, according to Peryea.
"Men can be raped, too...we can say, 'Okay but, rape is defined as vaginal intercourse.' If a man is raped by another man, that's not rape?" Peryea asked.
According to college experts, the involvement of alcohol in the majority of sexual assaults in college further complicates the issue. "The drunk excuse" makes the subjective cases of sexual violence more difficult. On college campuses, there is rarely a case of sexual assault where alcohol is not involved, Fischer said.
"Alcohol is especially at college campuses...you can't really discuss any kind of violence without incorporating alcohol into it," Fischer said.
The way people have accepted premeditated rape into our culture is evident in movies like 40-year old Virgin and Superbad, Peryea said.
"They say, 'Let's go to the bar and find the drunkest girl you can get and take her home.' It's kind of part of the culture we are in right now - that's premeditated rape; they are planning to go out and rape a girl," Peryea said.
Why are sexual offenses underreported?
One major deterrent of reporting sexual assaults is the interrogation process the victim goes through after making the claim to the police, Fischer explained.
"It is because of the psycho-social effects on the victim. It is an extraordinarily intimate experience and to have to go through the rape kit, questioning and the trial, is re-experiencing it again and again," Fischer said.
Stamatina Fileas, senior psychology major, was a resident hall advisor for two years and believes it's the psychological effects that deter victims from disclosing what happened.
"A lot of times a girl won't say anything if something like that happens to her because ultimately it could be her fault," Fileas said.
The nature of most rapes also makes it difficult for victims to speak up, according to Mike Shaffer, Education Coordinator with the Anti-Rape Task Force at SBI Health Education.
"The majority of rapes that happen across campuses are by acquaintances...it's someone you've known for at least a year," Peryea said. "That's another big variable when people are coming forth."
Shaffer said the majority of mandatory education in college concerns alcohol safety, rather than sexual violence prevention.
"Most people have not thought about rape or sexual assault since high school health. That was like three years ago. It's not a lack of knowledge, it's a lack of interest, I think," Shaffer said. "I do not think it's addressed that well on this campus."
Freshman English major Jason Gomez believes that limited definitions of rape and the acceptance of violence into our society contribute to crime's prominence.
"I think it happens a lot because we are a violence probe culture. Violence is part of our lives, and it doesn't help that women are still seen as inferior to men," Gomez said.
Amanda Fromm, a sophomore English major, believes rape is a crime that is extremely underreported because of the newly gained independence of college students.
"I think especially on campus because people are trying to achieve their independence...they are trying to deal with stuff on their own. It's not necessarily the immediate thought to go report it when something like that happens," Fromm said.
Shaffer said the system of crime statistics is inconsistent; the crime statistics are incorrect because they only reflect incidences reported to University Police, Shaffer said.
"I definitely think rape and sexual assaults happen more often than reported...these reflect what happens in the dorms. Say it happens on a house in South Campus or somewhere not on campus - they do not have to be reported because they will go to the Buffalo or Amherst Police," he said.
Peryea thinks that most students have the ability to restrain themselves from committing crimes.
"We don't really talk about it enough. Students need to talk to other students because the majority knows (what) behavior is acceptable and what isn't. But a minority of students that are committing these crimes are still thinking that it's okay," Peryea said.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
