The Cornell University student organization RISEUP and The Sophie Fund on April 1 launched a social media campaign to promote Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month.
Throughout April, the organizations are posting infographics on their social media platforms about resources to contact for help, behaviors to recognize, plans of action, general statistics about sexual assault, and more.
“Sexual assault is not only very prevalent, but extremely underreported,” said Harmony Guan ’28, head of RISEUP’S mental health committee. “By spreading awareness of the long-lasting impacts of sexual assault, we aim to reduce the widespread stigma and encourage victims to report assaults and feel comfortable enough to share their stories.”
The campaign highlights that sexual violence affects hundreds of thousands of Americans each year. According to RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network), an American is sexually assaulted every 68 seconds, and every nine minutes if that victim is a child.
One out of every six American women and one out of every 33 American men have been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime, RAINN reports.
Sexual violence on college campuses is pervasive, with female students at three times greater risk of assault than women in the general population. According to RAINN, 13 percent of all college students experience rape or sexual assault through physical force, violence, or incapacitation. Among undergraduate women alone, the figure is 26.4 percent.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that sexual violence impacts health in many ways and can lead to short and long-term physical and mental health problems.
Guan said that RISEUP, an acronym for Realizing Integration, Support, and Education for Underserved Populations, believes that it is important to discuss how the barriers of accessing help for sexual assault survivors disproportionately affects certain communities.
She said the campaign highlights communities that face difficulties in receiving the help they need, advancing a clearer understanding of the aspects of the healthcare system that need improvement.
Click here to follow the campaign on RISEUP’s Instagram, or here to follow on The Sophie Fund’s Instagram or Facebook page.
Check out the Sophie Fund’s Sexual Assault page: National, state, and local resources to learn about sexual assault and how to deal with it.
Our teens continue to experience poor mental health, according to a new U.S. government report. Female and LGBTQ+ students are far more likely to experience feelings of sadness and hopelessness, poor mental health, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors, the report said.
The report said that 10-year trends are improving for some areas of adolescent health and well-being, including sexual risk behaviors and substance use.
“Unfortunately, the data show that from 2013 to 2023, almost all other indicators of health and well-being worsened. Data highlight worsening trends in protective sexual behaviors, experiences of violence, persistent sadness or hopelessness, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors,” the report said.
The CDC conducts the YRBS every two years among a nationally representative sample of public and private high school students. It provides the most recent surveillance data as well as 10-year trends and two-year changes in health behaviors and experiences. The survey tracks sexual behavior, substance use, violence, mental health, suicidal thoughts ad behaviors, social media use, and racism in schools.
According to the survey, 29 percent of respondents said they had poor mental health during the previous 30 days; and 4 in 10 said they experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness during the past year. Female teens were twice as likely as males—53 percent to 28 percent—to report those experiences; and nearly 2 in 3 students identifying as LGBTQ+ reported persistent sadness or hopelessness.
The survey results for suicidal behaviors were particularly concerning. Twenty percent of respondents said they seriously considered taking their own lives during the previous year; 16 percent reported making a suicide plan; and nearly 1 in 10 students said they had actually made a suicide attempt.
Looking for help? DOWNLOAD the 2024 Mental Health Support and Crisis Services guide for Tompkins County
There were some major disparities in sex, and sexual and gender identity. For example, 39 percent of female respondents reported poor mental health compared to 19 percent for males; 53 percent of teens identifying as LGBTQ+ reported poor mental health.
Female students were twice as likely to consider suicide than their male counterparts: 27 percent of females (and 41 percent of students identifying as LGBTQ+) said they considered making an attempt compared to 14 percent of males.
Similar wide disparities were seen in actual suicide attempts: 20 percent of LGBTQ+ students, 13 percent of female students, and 6 percent of male students reported trying to take their own lives.
The 2023 survey results showed a slight improvement, declining from 42 percent to 40 percent, over the previous two years in feelings of sadness and hopelessness. All other indicators remained static. However, the 10-year trends showed worsening teen mental health.
Forty percent of respondents reported persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness in 2023, compared to 30 percent in 2013. Percentages of those with suicidal thoughts and behaviors also increased, though relatively slightly.
The new YRBS survey showed a slight decline from the 2021 survey, from 14 percent to 13 percent, in female teens reporting being forced to have sexual intercourse. The figure still represented an increase over the 10 percent reporting forced sex in 2013.
In other areas, the 2023 survey showed a marked drop over 10 years, from 47 percent to 32 percent, in students reporting having ever had sex; and also a decline from 15 percent to 6 percent in those reporting four or more lifetime sexual partners. Twenty-one percent of students reported being currently sexually active. However, the CDC said there were also concerning decreases in condom use, STD testing, and HIV testing.
Downward trends were seen in alcohol and drug use. Twenty-two percent of respondents said they currently drink alcohol, compared to 35 percent in 2013; percentages of using marijuana and illicit drugs declined from 23 percent to 17 percent, and 16 percent to 10 percent, respectively.
Currently, according to the survey results, 22 percent of respondents drank alcohol in the previous 30 days; 17 percent used marijuana.
In new area of the survey, 77 percent of respondents reported using social media several times a day. Only about half of students said they felt close to people at their school.
Also, 32 percent of students reported experiencing racism in school; the figures were highest for Asian teens (57 percent), multiracial teens (49 percent), Black teens (46 percent), and Hispanic teens (39 percent).
According to CDC, poor mental health can result in serious negative outcomes for the health and development of adolescents, which can last into adulthood. Young people who feel hopeless about their future are more likely to engage in behaviors that put them at risk for HIV, STDs, and unintended pregnancy, it says. Suicide risk not only places the life of the adolescent at risk, but is also a marker for experience with trauma and other mental health issues, CDC notes.
The CDC report called attention to the role that schools play in the lives and development of young people.
“Partnering with and supporting schools has the potential to reach large numbers of young people with strategies that can make a positive impact. Schools can provide education, connections, and environments that lessen the impact of negative life events and promote health and well-being,” the report said.
The guide outlines six strategies include increasing students’ mental health literacy; promoting mindfulness; promoting social, emotional, and behavioral learning; enhancing connectedness; providing psychosocial skills training and cognitive behavioral interventions; and supporting staff well-being. The strategies are stronger when supported at multiple levels by parents, families, and communities, according to the CDC.
If you or someone you know feels the need to speak with a mental health professional, you can call or text the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 9-8-8, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741-741.
Tompkins Cortland Community College students report being victims of sexual assault and harassment, according to the school’s Campus Climate Survey 2021.
In an initial report on results published on the college’s website, 4 percent of female students, 7 percent of gender non-binary students, and no male or transgender students said that they were subjected to sexual assault in the prior year.
Tompkins Cortland Community College campus (Photo credit: TC3web)
The college reported that 18 percent of female students, 6 percent of male students, 40 percent of gender non-binary students, and no transgender students reported that they were subjected to sexual harassment in the prior year.
Another in an occasional series of articles about campus sexual violence. For more information, go to The Sophie Fund’s Sexual Assault Page.
The sparse initial report provided no breakdowns by types of sexual assault and harassment, by sexual orientation, by race and ethnicity, or by victims’ class years. The report did not provide information about the locations of assaults, characteristics of perpetrators, percentages of assaults reported to authorities, or physical, psychological, and academic impacts on victims.
According to the initial report, 66 percent of students indicated that they knew how to report sexual assault and harassment, and 45 percent could identify the school’s Title IX coordinator who is responsible for receiving and responding to assault and harassment complaints.
LEARN MORE: April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month
The college said that 397 students completed the survey and that the response rate was 27 percent. The college says that 4,698 students are enrolled at Tompkins Cortland, meaning that 8.4 percent of all students took part in the survey.
“Tompkins Cortland Community college, working with SUNY and community colleagues (including students, faculty, and staff), will use this data to improve response to violence, develop prevention programs, and will continue to study the issue,” said a statement on the Tompkins Cortland website.
The Tompkins Cortland survey is part of a system-wide assessment conducted every other year by the State University of New York. SUNY has not yet published full reports for Tompkins Cortland or other schools in its system. When the full Tompkins Cortland report is released, it will be available on SUNY website.
The surveys are done in compliance with New York State’s “Enough is Enough” Education Law Article 129-B to combat collegiate sexual violence. Adopted in 2015, it requires colleges to submit and publish data reports no less than every other year on incidents of domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, and sexual assault.
Separately, in compliance with the “Enough is Enough” law, Tompkins Cortland’s Title IX office reported 4 incidents of sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking in 2020.
Also, Tompkins Cortland’s 2022 Annual Security & Fire Safety Report said no instances of rape occurred in its jurisdiction in 2021, down from one instance in 2020 and one in 2019 both of which were reported in residential housing.
In the 2019 Campus Climate Survey for Tompkins Cortland, 2 percent of survey respondents reported being raped through sexual penetration and 2 percent sexually assaulted through forced oral sex. Two percent reported attempted rape and 2 percent sexually assaulted through forced oral sex. Nine percent of those surveyed said they had experienced forced sexual touching, and another 9 percent reported attempted sexual touching. The full 2019 report is on the SUNY website.
A survey of Ithaca College students in 2022 showed that 29 percent of respondents have experienced “unwanted sexual behavior” while attending the school.
The prevalence of such conduct is nearly double what respondents reported in a campus community survey six years earlier that included all Ithaca College faculty and staff as well as students.
Ithaca College campus
Since former President Shirley M. Collado took office in 2017, Ithaca College has demonstrated indifference to mandated campus climate surveys, and appears to have violated New York State’s “Enough is Enough” law during her four-year tenure.
According to the “Sexual Misconduct Climate Assessment Summary,” a report on the 2022 survey results by Ithaca College’s Title IX Office, almost half of the students reporting unwanted sexual behavior were victims of rape, sexual assault, or sexual touching.
Another in an occasional series of articles about campus sexual violence. For more information, go to The Sophie Fund’s Sexual Assault Page.
Twenty-six percent of the students who experienced unwanted sexual behavior said it included stalking, and 7 percent said it included relationship violence.
Almost half of the offenders were Ithaca College students, and about a quarter were described as friends or acquaintances. Between 25 percent and 30 percent indicated that the unwanted sexual behavior had occurred during their first year at Ithaca College, whereas less than 5 percent reported the behavior happening in their senior year.
More than 20 percent reported that alcohol was involved in the unwanted sexual behavior. More than 40 percent said the incidents occurred on campus, while 20 percent pointed to off campus locations.
A total of 83 percent of the victims of sexual misconduct did not report the incidents to college officials.
Altogether, 46 survey respondents reported unwanted sexual behavior and cited 71 instances. Twelve incidents were formally reported to college officials. The students reported being dissatisfied with the way their cases were handled in 11 instances, and only one student reported satisfaction with the outcome of their complaint.
LEARN MORE: April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month
The Title IX Office said that all Ithaca College students were invited to participate in the survey during the summer of 2022. It said that 160 students completed the survey. Given the school’s total enrollment of 5,000 students, the survey response rate was poor at just 3 percent.
“The results serve to help our community identify opportunities for growth and improvement,” the Title IX Office report said.
The nine-page summary of the survey, conducted during the tenure of current President La Jerne Terry Cornish, glosses over many pertinent details, exact numbers and percentages, and breakdowns of results that are normally part of college surveys on sexual misconduct.
For example, in the section on unwanted sexual behavior, the summary does not provide a break down of victims by sex, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, or class level; nor does it provide a break down by types of unwanted sexual contact (penetration, assault, or sexual touching).
Although more than four out of five students said that they did not report sexual misconduct to Ithaca College officials, the survey summary did not indicate their reasons for not doing so. Nor did the summary provide feedback on the physical, psychological, or academic impacts that the sexual misconduct had on the student victims.
The full report of Ithaca College’s 2022 climate assessment does not appear on the institution’s website; the college did not respond to The Sophie Fund’s requests to provide a copy.
On April 26, 2017, the college posted the full report of its 2016 campus climate survey on its website, but the link went dead by 2021. The survey was conducted during the tenure of former President Thomas R. Rochon.
Those results showed that 15 percent of all respondents—students, faculty, and staff—had experienced unwanted sexual conduct, and 3 percent reported experiencing unwanted sexual contact (rape, sexual assault, or sexual touching), according to an IC News announcement.
The announcement said that 3,823 people, or 46 percent of the campus community, took part in the 2016 survey; 74 percent were students, 12 percent faculty, and 14 percent staff. College officials also arranged for two public forums in May 2017 for the campus community to discuss “possible action items as a result of the survey.”
“Taking the results of this study and translating the findings into positive action is critical,” said then-Associate Provost Roger Richardson. “The college must take this opportunity to make important changes, offer different resources, and continue the conversation to make this a place where everyone feels like they can belong and thrive.”
Under the “Enough is Enough” law, further Ithaca College campus climate assessments were required in 2018 and 2020. In a March 22, 2023 editorial, The Ithacan student newspaper reported that no surveys were conducted during Collado’s time as Ithaca College’s president. “Not continuously conducting the survey does not allow for progress to be noticed, thus disallowing for change to be made,” said the Ithacan.
In 2021, The Sophie Fund made seven requests to Ithaca College’s Title IX Office, Office of General Counsel, and to Collado directly requesting copies of all Ithaca College campus climate survey reports; The Sophie Fund received no response from those Ithaca College offices. Another more recent request to the General Counsel, on March 6, 2023, went unanswered as well.
Ithaca College must conduct the climate assessment surveys to be in compliance with New York State Education Law Article 129-B to combat collegiate sexual violence. Adopted in 2015, the “Enough is Enough” law requires colleges to submit and publish data reports no less than every other year on incidents of domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, and sexual assault.
Separately, in compliance with the “Enough is Enough” law, Ithaca College’s Title IX office reported 49 incidents of sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking in 2020.
Also, Ithaca College’s Annual Security & Fire Report 2022 said that eight instances of rape, including seven in student housing, occurred in its jurisdiction in 2021. The figure represented a decline from 10 in 2020 and 14 in 2019.
According to a 2019 survey by the Association of American Universities (AAU), 25.9 percent of undergraduate women reported being the victim of rape, attempted rape, or sexual battery through force or incapacitation since entering college; 12.8 percent reported the same experiences for that current academic year.
Among undergraduates nationwide, according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), 26.4 percent of females, 6.8 percent of males, and 23.1 percent of transgender, genderqueer, and nonconforming (TGQN) students have been sexually assaulted.
Ways for Ithaca College students to report sexual assault:
Female students at Cornell University continue to report disturbing rates of sexual violence.
According to the “2021 Cornell Survey of Sexual Assault and Related Misconduct,” 9.8 percent of participating undergraduate women—nearly one in 10—reported being victims of rape or attempted rape involving physical force or incapacitation since entering college. Extrapolated, the percentage means that potentially hundreds of Cornell’s 7,000-plus female undergrads were affected by such sexual violence.
Cornell University campus
The survey showed that 19.1 percent of female undergrads—nearly one in five—reported incidents of nonconsensual sexual touching involving physical force or incapacitation since entering college.
Among women graduate and professional students, the survey showed that 4.7 percent reported being victims of rape or attempted rape involving physical force or incapacitation since entering Cornell; 8.3 percent reported incidents of nonconsensual sexual touching.
Among Cornell female seniors participating in the survey, 30.3 percent—nearly one in three—reported being victims of rape or attempted rape (“experiencing nonconsensual penetration, attempted or completed”) or sexual battery (“nonconsensual sexual touching”) through physical force or incapacitation during their years in Ithaca.
Survey results showed that 88.2 percent of sexual assault offenders were male, and 82.1 percent were Cornell students. Among male undergraduate students, 5.8 percent reported being victims of nonconsensual sexual contact—assaults involving penetration or sexual touching—through physical force or incapacitation since entering college.
The highest percentages of surveyed sexual assault at Cornell involved transgender, genderqueer, and nonconforming (TGQN) students; 25.7 percent reported experiencing nonconsensual sexual contact through physical force or incapacitation since entering Cornell.
Separately, also in compliance with New York State’s “Enough is Enough” law to combat collegiate sexual violence, Cornell’s Title IX office reported 205 incidents of sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking in 2020; the figure represented the highest number of reports among all the colleges in New York State.
Another in an occasional series of articles about campus sexual violence. For more information, go to The Sophie Fund’s Sexual Assault Page.
For just the 2020-21 academic year, 3.1 percent of all surveyed students reported experiencing nonconsensual sexual contact, a significant drop from 6.3 percent in the previous survey conducted in 2019; of undergraduate women, 6.3 percent reported such sexual assaults in 2021 compared to 13.3 percent two years earlier.
The decreases in 2021 may be related to Covid-19 pandemic conditions, however; Cornell officials noted that most courses were held online, activities were halted or held remotely, and students were cautioned about socializing to reduce virus transmission.
The 2021 survey was distributed to a random sample of 6,000 students on the university’s Ithaca, Weill Cornell, and Cornell Tech campuses; 2,303, or 38 percent, provided responses.
Two-thirds (66.2 percent) of the “most serious” incidents of “nonconsensual sexual contact” involving undergraduate female victims occurred on Cornell or affiliated property—residence halls, fraternity chapter houses, fraternity annexes, and off-campus housing affiliated with another type of student club. Eighteen percent of such sexual assaults occurred at other off-campus houses, apartments, and private residences.
The 2021 survey defined penetration as “when one person puts a penis, finger, or object inside someone else’s vagina or anus.”
The survey defined nonconsensual sexual touching as: “kissing; touching someone’s breast, chest, crotch, groin, or buttocks; or grabbing, groping or rubbing against the other in a sexual way, even if the touching is over the other’s clothes.”
The survey defined physical force as “when someone was “holding you down with his or her body weight, pinning your arms, hitting or kicking you, or using or threatening to use a weapon against you.” The survey defined incapacitation as a student being “unable to consent or stop what was happening because you were passed out, asleep or incapacitated due to drugs or alcohol.”
LEARN MORE: April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month
The Cornell administration responded to the survey results in a statement on November 29, 2021 signed by Ryan Lombardi, Vice President for Student and Campus Life; Mary Opperman, Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer; and Jamal D. Lopez, Senior Director of Institutional Equity, Weill Cornell Medicine.
“The prevalence rates reported through Cornell’s Surveys of Sexual Assault and Related Misconduct have remained largely static since 2015, highlighting the need for strategic public health prevention efforts,” the statement said.
“Sexual assault, harassment and other forms of related misconduct are never acceptable. Working together, we believe that we can—and will—make Cornell a safer, more respectful environment for all community members.”
Survey results showed that 27.6 percent of the sexual assault offenders were “someone I just met at a social event”; 26.8 percent were current intimate partners; 22.6 percent were friends; and 18.2 percent were acquaintances.
The survey cited alcohol as a potential factor in sexual assaults at Cornell. In 55.6 percent of the cases reported by female undergraduate students, the perpetrator drank alcohol prior to the incident. The female victim drank alcohol in 57.4 percent of incidents.
According to the survey, 16.9 percent of undergraduate women, 24.8 percent of TGQN students, and 13.4 percent of Cornell students overall, reported experiencing domestic or dating violence since enrolling at Cornell. The survey showed that 5.1 percent of respondents reported experiencing stalking.
Nearly one in 10 victims of sexual assault said they did not report an incident to the Cornell or Ithaca police, Cornell’s Title IX office, or other campus and community resources. Despite the prevalence of sexual assault at Cornell, Cornell Police received only seven rape reports, all taking place in campus residential facilities, during 2021, according to the Cornell Police 2022 Annual Security Report.
During the 2020-21 academic year, nine formal sexual assault complaints were filed against undergraduate, graduate, and professional students with the Cornell Title IX office. One student was dismissed, two were suspended, one received a reprimand, two cases resulted in no-contact orders, and three of the accused were found not responsible.
Among the reasons given in the survey for not reporting: “not serious enough” (54.3 percent); “did not think talking about it would make me feel better” (40.8 percent); “other things to focus on” (37.6 percent); “felt partly responsible” (32.1 percent); “wanted to forget” (31.2 percent); “embarrassed or ashamed” (25.4 percent); “did not think anything would be done” (21.8 percent); “did not have proof” (21.5 percent).
The Cornell report on the student survey cited serious physical and psychological consequences of the sexual violence. The survey showed that 4.5 percent of victims suffered physical injuries as the result of their most serious sexual assault incident. Also, 37.6 percent reported feeling numb or detached; 30 percent feelings of helplessness and hopelessness; 27.6 percent experienced fearfulness or concerns about personal safety; and 19.8 percent had nightmares or trouble sleeping.
As for academic impacts, 36.5 percent of victims said they had difficulty concentrating on studies, assignments, or exams; 15.3 percent reported decreased class attendance, 8.6 percent considered leaving school or their program, and 2.1 percent took a leave of absence.
In general, Cornell’s sexual assault prevalence appears to track with data compiled through national surveys by the Association of American Universities (AAU).
According to AAU’s most recent survey, conducted prior to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2019, 25.9 percent of undergraduate women reported being the victim of rape, attempted rape, or sexual battery through force or incapacitation since entering college; 12.8 percent reported the same experiences for that academic year.
The pre-pandemic 2019 survey at Cornell showed that 26.8 percent of undergraduate women reported being the victim of rape, attempted rape, or sexual battery through force or incapacitation since entering college; 13.3 percent reported the same experiences for that academic year.
Among undergraduates nationwide, according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), 26.4 percent of females, 6.8 percent of males, and 23.1 percent of TGQN college students have been sexually assaulted.
Cornell conducts the surveys in compliance with New York State “Enough is Enough” Education Law Article 129-B, adopted in 2015, which requires colleges to submit and publish data reports no less than every other year on incidents of domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, and sexual assault.
Cornell provides comprehensive information about its 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021 reports on its Sexual Harassment and Assault Response and Education (SHARE) webpage.
Ways for Cornell students to report sexual assault:
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