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Reply To: | AAM (African Association of Madison) |
Date: | Wed, 25 Dec 2002 22:35:54 -0600 |
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UW-Madison Ups Sexual Assault Stats
By Associated Press
December 25, 2001, 6:49 PM EST
MADISON, Wis. -- A university which had reported it was one of the safest
schools in the Big Ten last year has revised its statistics, showing that it
actually had more sexual assaults on campus than the other schools in the
conference.
The revised figures being submitted to the federal government by the
University of Wisconsin-Madison will show 19 forcible sexual assaults on
campus in 2000, nine of them in university residence halls.
The school previously reported only two assaults, none of them in the dorms.
The old numbers placed UW-Madison among the safest of the Big Ten schools in
a tie with Northwestern and Purdue.
According to the new figures, more sexual assaults were reported at the
university in 2000 than at any other Big Ten school, topping the 18 forcible
sexual assaults reported by the University of Minnesota and Michigan State
University.
The revised figures will appear in next year's campus security report due in
the fall from the U.S. Department of Education. The agency's latest report
was issued in November.
The Capital Times newspaper of Madison reported earlier this month that the
school's initial report for 2000 did not include most of the sexual assaults
that were reported.
UW officials said they thought they had to include only crimes reported to
campus police rather crimes reported to any campus official, according to
David Bergeron of the Department of Education's Office of Post Secondary
Education.
"When it came to our attention that there was a misunderstanding of what was
to be reported, there was an obligation to make it clear that we are trying
to report it correctly," said Nancy Lynch of the university's legal office.
Officials said the high tally of assaults may reflect UW-Madison's efforts
to encourage victims to report such offenses. University and law enforcement
officials say sexual assault is the most underreported crime in the nation
because of guilt, stigma and fear of reprisals.
The university also will revise its 1999 figures for next year's report,
showing seven forcible sexual assaults reported on campus, two in residence
halls. The current report shows four campus offenses and none in the
residence halls.
Lynch said the school gives a complete campus safety report on the
university's Web site. That state-required report shows 58 on-campus and
off-campus sexual assaults against students in 2000.
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