Administrators’ Perceptions of College Campus Protocols, Response, and Student Prevention Efforts for Sexual Assault

Abstract

Findings suggest that although many institutions are responding adequately to sexual assault in these three areas, improvements are possible. Implications for improving campus responses and further research are discussed.

Reporting Unwanted Sexual Behaviour at a Post-Secondary Institution: Student Understandings of Campus Policy

“…Moreover, Sheehy and Gilbert (2015, p.17) note that "there is a perverse incentive for universities to discourage reporting so as not to go public with sexual assault on campus, and so it is vital that women be told that sexual violence is a criminal matter and are offered support in contacting police should they wish." Without regular auditing and significant fines, universities and colleges will fail to comply with reporting accurate incidents of sexual violence on campus (Sheehy & Gilbert, 2015;Yung, 2015) In regard to campus sexual violence responses and protocols in the United States, Amar et al (2014) found that many institutions used an interdisciplinary team approach. For example, a sexual assault response team (SART) is typically used and comprised of health care, mental health, law enforcement, and victim advocate service providers.…”

“…For example, a sexual assault response team (SART) is typically used and comprised of health care, mental health, law enforcement, and victim advocate service providers. However, SART does not have established protocols to guide them with each response (Amar et al, 2014). While there is limited Canadian research on this topic, Ammar et al (2016) found that there were two models in place at Ontario post-secondary institutions.…”

“…These barriers can include self-blame, guilt, embarrassment, fear, as well as concerns about gossip, retaliation, and discrimination from their peers. Since the members of the campus environment engage in victim-blaming, survivors are often concerned about confidentiality (Amar et al, 2014;Brubaker, 2009;Fisher, Cullen, & Turner, 2000;Tamborra & Narchet, 2011;Walsh, Banyard, Moynihan, Ward, & Cohn, 2010). For the most part, many students are not comfortable reporting incidents of sexual violence to campus officials.…”

A Critical Review of Sexual Violence Prevention on College Campuses

“…A recent review by Amar et al [11] of university-provided sexualviolence services revealed that, while many campuses (85%) reported holding some kind of training on sexual assault, these typically brief trainings occurred at freshmen orientation [7]. Amar, Strout, Simpson, Cardiello and Beckford (2014) posited that "new students do not have relevant contextual knowledge of the institution and campus social culture to be able to effectively apply and use the training they receive".…”

“…The review by Amar, Strout, Simpson, Cardiello and Beckford provided no information regarding what percentage of the reviewed sample had implemented evidence-based prevention programs -for example, programs tested for effectiveness in randomized controlled trials. The Amar et al [11] review leaves important research questions to be answered, including: To what extend do sexual violence prevention efforts on college campuses represent a thorough commitment to providing the highest quality sexualviolence services? The fear is that insufficient concern has been expressed about the quality of sexual-violence prevention programming.…”