Tara Richards, a criminal justice assistant professor at UB, is quoted in a Huffington Post story about a new campus climate survey on sexual assault and misconduct, conducted by the Association of American Universities (AAU). The survey gathered responses from 150,072 students at 27 higher education institutions—one of the largest sexual harassment and assault surveys completed among US college students.

Richards believes the AAU survey results are “an important new tool regarding the context of gender-based violence among college students.”

The results reveal that 50-75% of surveyed students have experienced sexual harassment, including 3 of every 4 LGBTQ students. Approximately 1 in 10 female students are victims of assault involving sexual penetration through force or incapacitation. Over 11 percent of undergraduate women and nearly 15 percent of undergraduate LGBTQ students have experienced penetration or oral sex without their affirmative consent. According to survey results, freshmen, LGBTQ, and Native American students face the highest risks.

The survey found that most students don’t report sexual assaults. Of the few who do report an incident to their university or the police, most fear that no action will be taken. “The fact that many students reporting ‘penetration by force’ still feel that they will not be taken seriously or that no one will care or act on their behalf highlights how far we still have to go regarding changing the entire culture around sexual violence,” said Richards.

Learn more about Tara Richards and the School of Criminal Justice.