When rising McCormick senior Chuka Nchekwube was a freshman, two female friends sexually assaulted him in a room of about 13 people when he was passed out after drinking too much alcohol. He said the next day his other friends told him the two girls had put their hands down his pants while he was unconscious.
“It bothered me that they felt like they could do it,” Nchekwube said.
Although the incident surprised him, he did not think it was a serious enough offense to report it. Since the two girls were drinking as well and the party included activities like licking whipped cream off guests, he did not think it was of much concern. He said their intent was not malicious.
According to a Chicago Tribune article from June 16, Northwestern reported 21 sex crime cases in the last six years. However, although there were 21 cases, no arrests or convictions were made at the Evanston campus.
For University Police Deputy Chief Dan McAleer, however, this number does not illustrate the entire picture of sexual assault on college campuses.
McAleer said UP receives about four to five sexual assault and abuse cases per year, and most of their cases are student-to-student interactions.
Because many of the reports UP receives involve the victim being assaulted by an acquaintance, new obstacles occur throughout their investigations. There are usually no witnesses to acquaintance assault cases, there may be no evidence of physical injury depending on what time the victim calls the police after the incident, the accused may not have a prior criminal record for sexual assault, and it is difficult to prove whether an act was consensual or forced, especially if one or both parties was intoxicated.
“It’s hard for officers to find conclusively who’s telling the truth,” McAleer said.
The investigation
When students report sexual assault crimes, an initial UP officer will be sent to the scene and determine if the victim requires medical treatment. The initial officer then contacts the campus’s sexual assault investigators, who begin building a case to present to prosecutors. The police also contact the Evanston Police Department’s Victim Services to provide assistance for victims.
After UP conducts an investigation into a sexual assault claim, they take their evidence to the state attorney’s office, he said. Sometimes, however, this office can refuse to bring a case to court depending on what they deem sufficient evidence.
He also said one has to consider the number of crimes that go unreported.
“Do I think there’s more out there? Yeah, I do,” McAleer said. “A lot of times victims believe they were at fault, and that’s not what we’re looking for. We know who the victim was in these cases.
“I want to work more closely with the prosecutor’s office to bring more of these cases forward,” he added.
Njoki Kamau, associate director of the Women’s Center at NU, said some women do not report sexual assault cases or tell anyone because of shame, regret or a sense of partial responsibility. They also fear that someone is going to blame them or not believe them, and some do not want the additional stress of a court hearing as they go to school.
However, she said, the decision to report or to seek an alternative method of treatment is an important decision for victims of sexual assaults.
“In a situation of rape and sexual assault, when a woman is victimized, it’s a very personal experience,” Kamau said. “The action that each woman decides to take has a lot to do with who they are. Being able to be in charge of that process, that’s what makes the woman feel empowered.”
Alternatives to court proceedings
Although the only way to arrest someone in a sexual assault case is by filing a report and pursuing an investigation with UP, McAleer and Kamau agree that NU offers multiple alternatives for those who do not wish to bring his or her case to a criminal court.
Besides receiving counseling at the Women’s Center or Counseling and Psychological Services, victims can bring their cases to NU’s Sexual Assault Hearing and Appeals System, which addresses student-to-student sexual assault cases.
In SAHAS, once a student files a complaint, the complaint can be resolved through a mediation or a hearing. In the mediation, both parties, with the assistance of a trained mediator, try to reach an agreement on how to resolve the issue. In the hearing, both parties can state their position before a panel comprised of five to seven members of the University community. Students who are found to have violated the University’s sexual assault policy can seek an appeal or a rehearing. Punishments for those found guilty include suspension and expulsion.
Feeling safe
Despite the threat of sexual assault, some NU students do not feel unsafe on campus.
Weinberg rising senior Lauren Sachar said although she worries more about being robbed than being sexually assaulted, she takes precautions when traveling around campus, such as taking SafeRides when coming home late at night.
“I tend to not put myself in an unsafe situation,” Sachar said.
However, she does admit that she feels safer on campus than off campus since NU’s campus has better lighting, and usually only Evanston residents and students are on campus.
Like Sachar, Nchekwube said he does not worry about sexual assault as much as other crimes even though he was previously assaulted by his friends.
McAleer said there is still more to be done in order to educate students about sexual assault and to aid more victims. He said the current laws are curbed more toward stranger rape than acquaintance rape, and he said he hopes changes in these laws will improve areas like sexual assault awareness, investigations, prosecutions and counseling for victims.
“I don’t think the law is helpful in making acquaintance offenders responsible for their crimes,” he said.
Federal action
Vice President Joe Biden and Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced a new set of guidelines for how schools should respond to sexual assaults last April. In the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights “Dear Colleague” letter, it lists the responsibilities of schools under Title IX when dealing with complaints of sexual assault and sexual violence, such as that schools must respond to student-on-student harassment that occurs off campus and designate a Title IX coordinator to oversee complaints.
McAleer hopes to combat more sexual assault in the future.
“I’d like to know what the extent of sexual assault is on our campus,” he said. “I’d like for us to be able to improve on our arrest rates on these types of crimes. I’d like survivors to feel confident that
we’re there for them and (to) pursue more of these cases.”
According to UP, they have applied for a grant that will provide $300,000 over the next three years to improve training and awareness of sexual assault cases at NU. The winner of this grant will be announced in September.
