One in ten female students at the University of Oregon has been raped. That's one of the findings of a survey of the sexual assault climate on campus.
The survey also found that 35 percent of female students at the U of O have had non-consensual sexual experiences. The survey was done by psychology Professor Jennifer Freyd with PhD students Carly Smith and Marina Rosenthal. Rosenthal says the numbers weren't surprising.
Rosenthal: "Because we were looking much more specifically at the UO campus and trying to think about our community, our students really, I will say that these numbers are really distressing and saddening. The University of Oregon has about 10,000 women on its campus and if that 10% number applies, that means 1,000 women on this campus have been raped."
Most of the students who'd had unwanted sexual contact said they knew their perpetrators. And only 10 percent reported sexual assault to authorities. A random sample of 1,000 students were surveyed late this summer. The research was performed with funding from the UO Center for Women and Society and the UO Foundation. Rosenthal hopes the University will use the information to provide better resources for sexual assault victims.
UO Psychology Professor Jennifer Freyd and PhD student Carly Smith will be at the City Club of Eugene Friday Oct. 3. Their presentation is called "Addressing Sexual Assault- From Institutional Betrayal to Institutional Courage".
Copyright 2014 KLCC
