For the past two years, the University of Utah has documented spikes in reported sexual assaults on campus. These dramatic increases in the numbers are the result of survivors reporting a pattern of coercion and sexual abuse in their relationships—first in 2023 and again last year.
We asked professor Chris Linder, senior advisor on interpersonal violence to U President Taylor Randall and former director of the McCluskey Center for Violence Prevention, to help us understand what these numbers mean.
Each year in the fall, the University of Utah releases its Annual Safety Report—a detailed accounting of specific crimes reported on campus during the previous year.
This data release at colleges and universities across the country started more than three decades ago. In 1990, the Student-Right-to-Know and Campus Security Act was signed into law. Eight years later, it was renamed the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act after Clery, a 20-year-old student at Lehigh University, who was raped and murdered in her dorm room in 1986.
Initially, the Clery Act simply required campus administrators to share information about crime-related statistics with students. But over time, the act has become interwoven with the Violence Against Women Act, Title IX and equal opportunity initiatives meant to support female students while they are enrolled in college.
Today, in addition to releasing an annual accounting of crimes on campus and detailing a wide range of support services, colleges and universities are required to issue so-called “timely warnings” to their campus communities when specific crimes are reported, and to keep a daily crime log, which most campuses house on a campus security page.
Although the intention of the law is to provide information to students and parents about campus safety prior to them choosing a college, research indicates that students and parents do not typically review crime statistics as they make decisions about college. Many students also indicate that the crime alerts required by Clery are retraumatizing and not particularly helpful to their decision-making about safety. School administrators struggle to balance meeting the requirements of the law while providing neutral, useful information to their campus communities
Additionally, the Clery statistics only count crimes that are officially reported to the institution and happen within particular geographic spaces (see the Clery Center for more details). This means that numbers reported in crime statistics do not capture the vast majority of instances of dating and sexual violence because sexual assault is the most underreported crime. Students often do not formally report instances of sexual assault because they do not think it is important enough or they do not believe they will be taken seriously.
Last year, the annual safety report of 2023 crimes included a substantial increase in the number of sexual assaults reported—a surge from 30 cases in 2022 to 175 last year. And this year, the university is reporting 146 sexual assaults, including 110 documented in a single relationship.
In both cases, students documented almost-daily patterns of nonconsensual sex with ex-partners. Both victims reported the abuse after the relationships had ended.
In consultation with the Clery Center and Westat, an advisor for institutions working to comply with the federal law, the U Public Safety Clery team is reporting the total number of sexual assaults the victim-survivor confirmed, rather than a single case.
Given that many students do not feel comfortable reporting experiences with sexual assault, the fact that students are choosing to come forward and report their experiences to university officials may be an indicator of increased trust in university processes.
At the University of Utah, we hear and believe victim-survivors. Sexual assault has long been a tool used by abusive partners to exert power and control over another person. However, our culture has often relegated sexual assault to be something that happens when a stranger jumps out of the bushes and attacks someone. The fact that some survivors have identified and spoken up about their experiences with sexual assault as a pattern of abuse sheds light on an often misunderstood pattern of power and control.
Advocates and researchers note that once one victim reports this type of behavior, it makes it OK for others to do the same. This is a good thing, creating a climate of reporting, responding and providing support to the victim-survivors of interpersonal violence.
Chief Safety Officer Keith Squires said the university takes this behavior very seriously. “We recognize that intimate partner violence can be a singular event or a pattern of behavior that occurs over multiple years,” he added. “We believe our community members.”
Sexual and dating violence are happening at campuses across the country; the University of Utah is not unique in this regard. The fact that we are talking more openly about it provides an opportunity for further education and awareness, which may ultimately lead to preventing it from happening in the first place.
It’s a good sign that students feel comfortable coming forward and saying, “I need help. This is happening to me.” University of Utah leaders are glad that students are able to seek out help and report the crimes that are happening to them.
Any instance of interpersonal or sexual violence in a relationship is one too many. We will continue to work to share information and educate our students, faculty and staff about healthy relationships and consent. If you need help, reach out.
A wide variety of mental health services are available through Student Affairs at the U.
Additional support and resources are available via UUPD Crime Victim Advocates, at the SafeU website, through the SafeUT app, and through the U’s
Counseling and support services are available from several entities on campus:
- University Counseling Center (students only): 801-581-6826
- Office for Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action, and Title IX: 801-581-8365
- Huntsman Mental Health Institute crisis line (available 24/7): 801-587-3000
- Center for Campus Wellness (victim-survivor advocates, bystander intervention training and other support services): 801-581-7776
- Employee Assistance Program (staff): 801-587-9319 or 800-926-9619
- Office of the Dean of Students: 801-581-7066
Professor Chris Linder, senior advisor on interpersonal violence to President Taylor Randall and former director of the McCluskey Center for Violence Prevention, has conducted several studies into the Clery Act, its communication mechanisms and how effective they are.
One study found limits to the reach of a timely warning on the University of Utah’s campus in Octobers 2022, including: a “hyperfocus on compliance,” re-traumatization of victims and spikes in fear and anxiety when they receive timely warnings/safety alerts, and the indifference or immunity of some recipients to the seriousness and relevance of the warnings.