UI survey: 21% of female undergrads say they were raped
The results of a recent campus climate survey on sexual misconduct include higher numbers than any University of Iowa official wanted to see.
More than 1 in 5 female undergraduate students who took part in last year's "Speak Out Iowa" survey say they were raped during their time at UI. For undergraduate female students who filled out the survey, 21 percent said they were raped and 20.5 percent reported attempted rape.
More than 11 percent of female first-year undergraduates surveyed said they were raped during their first semester on campus.
“The number is horrible,” Tom Rocklin, UI vice president for student life, said Wednesday in a news conference releasing the results. “It’s a scourge in our society. What’s important is that we work to bring that number down."
UI officials said the results of the survey are in keeping with the national data and research about sexual assault on college and university campuses.
“National research and literature also suggests our first-year students are at a higher risk, but having data that is specific to our own campus really helps us aim our strategies and be more effective," said Monique DiCarlo, who heads UI's Office of the Sexual Misconduct Response Coordinator.
The numbers, however, show a disturbingly high number of sexual assaults continue at a university that recently completed a Six-Point Plan to Combat Sexual Assault.
The survey results also come at a time when, as of June 15, UI remains one of 195 postsecondary institutions under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights over cases involving sexual violence. Other Iowa schools undergoing Title IX investigation include Drake University, Grinnell College and Iowa State University.
Several students — saying that they still needed more time to process the numbers — declined to comment Wednesday afternoon after a community briefing on the survey.
One student, when asked for her reaction to the survey results, said, "How about just a large sigh?"
Limits to the survey data
UI officials caution that there are some factors to keep in mind when reading through the survey results.
Because the survey had a response rate of only 9.3 percent, they said the sample size is relatively small and the results may not be reflective of experiences of the broader student population.
Also, about three-fourths of the 2,683 of those completing the survey were women. The gender breakdown among UI students is closer to 52 percent female and 48 percent male.
Moreover, because the survey was voluntary and anonymous, there is no way for UI officials to know specifics about the people who completed the survey.
Some researchers of campus sexual assault speculate that students who have experienced sexual assault — along with their allies — will be more likely to participate in the survey because "it's more salient to them," said Carolyn Copps Hartley, a UI professor of social work who chaired the Sexual Misconduct Climate Survey Subcommittee of the UI Anti-Violence Coalition.
"Other researchers argue that maybe students who have experienced sexual misconduct would be less likely to take it because it might be distressing," Hartley continued. "We don’t know for sure.”
Action plan
Despite the small sample size, officials have responded to the report with a new, two-year Anti-Violence Plan to End Sexual Misconduct, Dating Violence and Stalking.
"For the students who wanted to tell us about their experiences, this is what they told us," Hartley said. "So I cannot say for sure this is the rate on campus, but we’ve got numbers that we need to respond to."
The "Speak Out Iowa" survey was made available online to all degree-seeking undergraduate, graduate and professional students for seven weeks starting Oct. 26, 2015. Low response rates led university officials to extend the initial deadline for students to fill out the survey.
UI officials initially planned to release the survey results during the spring semester but said the analysis of the data wasn't completed until May.
"We didn’t want to dump it and have people go home," Hartley said.
The committee used the summer months, Hartley said, to work with various groups on campus to develop an action plan in response. The plan includes several provisions for prevention and education, intervention and policy changes.
"We really wanted to not just put the data out in a vacuum but (to be able to say), ‘Here’s what we learned from the data' and 'Here's a plan of what the university is going to do,' " she said.
Beware comparisons
UI officials also cautioned against comparing UI's survey results to those released in September by Iowa State University and the 26 other institutions that participated in a survey developed by the Association of American Universities.
Although UI is a member of the AAU, UI officials decided to use a newer survey model — the Administrator Researcher Campus Climate Collaborative (ARC3) Survey — which was created by a consortium of sexual assault researchers and student affairs professionals in response to the White House Task Force on Keeping Students Safe on Campus.
Where the AAU survey measured seven items, Hartley said, the ARC3 model allowed the "Speak Out Iowa" survey to measures 25 items. UI's survey included modules on both victimization and perpetration, peer norms, alcohol use, mental health and academic engagement.
UI officials also said UI is among the first universities to report the results of an ARC3 survey.
Penn State University released the results of its ARC3-based survey in April, reporting a response rate of nearly 27 percent among undergraduates and almost 41 percent among graduate students. Miami University in Ohio last week released the results of its ARC3-based survey, reporting a response rate of 13 percent.
The University of Northern Iowa also has conducted a campus climate survey using the ARC3 instrument. The survey was distributed earlier this year toward the end of the spring semester.
“We have the results but have not completed reviewing the data/responses,” Scott Ketelsen, a UNI spokesman, said via email.
Future surveys
Hartley said the data from this survey are especially important as a benchmark against which to measure the future effectiveness of the university's intervention plans. UI officials intend to administer the survey again within the next few years, and they are beginning discussions of what lessons to learn from this inaugural experience.
The thoroughness of the "Speak Out Iowa" survey made it much longer than the AAU survey, and that probably contributed to the low participation rate, Hartley said. Students complained about the length of the survey — which required as long as 30 minutes — as well as the specificity of the questions.
Students further complained that — despite trigger warnings on the survey — the repeated questions risked re-traumatizing those filling out the survey. They also pointed out that the questions about alcohol and other behaviors came across as accusatory.
UI officials said the prominent role of alcohol in such incidents is consistent with the research.
“It’s a difficult thing to talk about because — particularly prevention specialists — advocates are always really concerned that somebody is going to take that alcohol finding and flip it over into blaming victims,” Hartley said.
The survey results show that alcohol was a common factor in cases for all types of sexual misconduct on the survey — including unwanted sexual contact, attempted coercion, coercion, attempted rape or rape. In the incidents reported by the survey participants, 56.3 percent said the offender had been using alcohol, and 64.5 percent said they had been using alcohol.
Being able to collect and analyze that information is an important step toward ensuring the university's efforts are moving in the right direction, Hartley said.
"It's impossible to do this research without somebody being impacted by participation in it," she said, "and it’s really more about (asking), 'How do you make sure that there are supports and resources available to people?' "
That's one of the reasons, she said, UI officials scheduled counselors and advocates to be available during Wednesday's community briefing of the survey results.
Jeff Charis-Carlson at jcharisc@press-citizen.com or 319-887-5435. Follow him on Twitter at @JeffCharis.