Survey: A Third of UNC Female Undergraduate Students Have Been Sexually Assaulted

UNC released a report Tuesday that showed one in three female undergraduate students at the school have experienced some form of sexual assault, according to a recent survey.

The Association of American Universities conducted the survey in the spring of 2019 and found 35 percent of women undergraduates at UNC have experienced some form of unwanted sexual touching or assault. The number rises to nearly half having such experiences among women undergraduate students who have been in college four or more years and were polled.

Respondents to the survey also said 72 percent of the offenders were also students at UNC and that only 17 percent contacted a resource or program after their unwanted experience.

UNC’s history with addressing sexual assault and harassment is a long and difficult one. While the university has made many efforts to improve its policies and culture after a federal investigation into their handling of sexual assault cases in 2013, the AAU survey still highlights a concerning trend. UNC participated in a similar survey conducted by the organization in 2015, which found one in four female students had some form of an unwanted sexual experience.

In the report on the survey’s results, the university cautioned against comparing the 2015 results too directly with the 2019 survey. Students’ responses may have been affected by the improvement of national awareness about sexual assault and its prevalence, meaning more students were willing to share their experiences. Changes to the survey, including updates to definitions of experiences and sequence of questions, also affect direct comparisons.

In a letter to the campus community about the survey’s results, UNC Interim Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz urged every person to seek ways to change this culture.

“The data are very concerning,” said Guskiewicz, “and reinforce what we know to be true both on our campus and across the country: sexual assault and sexual harassment are serious problems that deeply affect our community. These behaviors have profound physical and emotional effects on the people who experience them and also have lasting impacts on other members of the campus community.”

Guskiewicz said the university will once again look to strengthen its efforts against sexual assault, including the formation of a coalition in the next month with the purpose of creating a strategy to improve prevention and awareness.

“This survey is a reminder of the importance of those actions,” he said, “but also that our work is not done.”

The UNC report on the AAU survey can be found here.