Ball State’s reported statistic of 11 sexual offenses in 2012 tells a very small part of the story.
The sexual offenses reported in the 2012 Ball State Campus Crime Report only applies to incidents that were both reported and that occurred on Ball State’s campus, Ball State-controlled property or public streets immediately adjacent to campus.
The statistic does not include sexual offenses occurring on private property off campus, said Michael Gillilan, director of student rights. Nor does it include crimes that are impossible to factor in because no one reports them.
Ball State releases the annual crime report in compliance with the Clery Act, which mandates all colleges and universities disclose crime on and near their campuses. Gillilan said crimes away from campus are not included in the act.
Gillilan said the Department of Education is strict about mandating where crimes qualified for reporting occur so students and parents have numbers from each campus that are comparable.
UNREPORTED CRIME
Gillilan said he is confident the number is correct for crimes that are reported, but there is no way to gather data on crimes that are not.
Though Ball State reported 11 sexual offenses on campus in 2012, a study from 2009 in the Journal of American College Health reports approximately one in five undergraduate women experience rape or attempted rape since entering higher education institutions.
The ratio of reported, on-campus sexual offense victims to undergraduate students at Ball State is 1:1,514, far from one in five.
For 2012, Indiana University reports a comparable ratio of 1:925 with 35 sexual offenses and Purdue University’s ratio is 1:10,049 with three sexual offenses.
Traci Bemis-Smiley, victim advocate for A Better Way in Muncie, said the numbers may be accurate for how many victims reported their incidents, but the real total is probably much higher.
“Even for on campus, it is going to be much higher because the majority of people do not report,” she said. “Individuals on a campus site, it may be their first time away from home and they are worried about what is going to happen or not sure how to handle it, so it will go underreported.”
The Justice Department estimates less than 5 percent of college women who are victims of completed or attempted rape report the incident, though 40 percent of the general population report.
Jacki Clame, interim director of Muncie Victim Advocate, agreed that many sexual offense crimes go unreported, for various reasons.
“Sometimes, believe it or not, they don’t [use victim services in Muncie] because they don’t want anyone to know anything,” she said. “They’ll go to another town like Indy or Anderson because they don’t want anyone to know. You can, [however], get an anonymous rape kit.”
RESOURCES AVAILABLE
When a Ball State student who is a victim of sexual offense reaches out for help, either to the hospital or University Police Department, they are directed to the Ball State victim advocate, Allison Wynbissinger.
The victim advocate’s office in the Amelia T. Wood Health Center serves as a confidential, safe place for victims.
Wynbissinger does not share specific information with the Office of Student Rights and Community Standards, but she reports totals for sexual offense crimes that meet the conditions to be reported by the Clery Act.
Ball State’s sexual offense response team includes the Office of Student Rights and Community Standards, the Health Center, the Counseling Center, the Multicultural Center, the Office of Health, Alcohol and Drug Education, the Housing and Residence Life and the Office of Victim Services. The greater support network includes the University Police Department, the Muncie Police Department, the Muncie Victim Services and A Better Way.
Wynbissinger, who also sits on the Delaware County Sexual Assault Response Team, said she thinks the response policy at Ball State is comprehensive. A university prevention team meets monthly to coordinate efforts and check on each other’s services.
“It is a collaborative team effort,” she said. “[We talk about] what is happening on our university, what things come up regarding sexual assault, what are we doing to work together to address these things. We make what is a really bad situation as good as it can be so that person doesn’t have to tell their story multiple times.”
In comparison, IU operates a Sexual Assault Crisis Service with counselors to provide psychological services and direct students toward medical care or police authorities. IU has two counselors specifically for sexual assault.
Purdue’s Office of the Dean of Students operates an on-call team to help victims of sexual assault and direct them to legal authorities, medical help or psychological help from the Purdue Counseling and Psychological Services or community crisis centers.
Ball State is the only university of the three to have its own victim advocate, but Wynbissinger said when she asks groups of students if they are aware of her office, the usual answer is “no.”
She said sexual assault is the least reported crime for many reasons, and whether to file a police report is a very personal decision.
“Unfortunately, I would say a vast majority of students don’t know [about my office] until they need to know,” Wynbissinger said. “[The] decision to report really falls on the individual. Knowing the Office of Victim Services is here would only be helpful. For some students, that may still mean they are not going to report, and that is OK.”
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