WASHINGTON (AP) – Only a fraction of campus sexual assault victims go to police. Senators on Tuesday grappled with the thorny issue of why some just let their college handle it – or don’t report it at all.
Some sexual assault victims have said they prefer to work within their university system to seek disciplinary action against the perpetrator, such as expulsion, without the stress of pressing criminal charges. But there have been complaints that universities have encouraged victims not to seek criminal action because they want to protect the university’s reputation or that schools aren’t prepared to adequately adjudicate such cases.
“I am concerned that law enforcement is being marginalized when it comes to the crime of campus sexual assault,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., the subcommittee chairman, at a hearing on the issue. “I’m concerned that the specter of flawed law enforcement overshadows the harm of marginalized law enforcement.”
The hearing, focused on the relationship between police departments and campuses, comes following a high-profile Rolling Stone article that described a gang rape alleged to have occurred in a fraternity house at the University of Virginia. The magazine later acknowledged mistakes in its reporting.
In many cases, victims aren’t told they can pursue a criminal case, testified Peg Langhammer, executive director of the Day One organization in Providence, Rhode Island.