Panel discusses different views of campus rape
By MICHELLE KRUPA
Senior Staff Writer
Victims of rape and sexual assault have several options for reporting crimes and receiving counseling services, according to employees of campus and community support agencies.
Representatives of Notre Dame Security, Student Affairs, the University Counseling Center and South Bend's Sex Offense Services (S.O.S) explained how their organizations aid victims after incidents of sexual assault. From moments after an assault to years following an incident, services are available to help victims, professionals participating in the Sexual Assault Awareness Week panel discussion said.
Victims — both men and women — can choose to report crimes to campus or local police, said Sgt. Pat Cottrell, who has investigated sexual assault at Notre Dame since 1990. The officer first attempts to get general information about the incident and later meets with victims to secure details, sometimes days or weeks after an alleged assault.
Cottrell often visits victims in the hospital to gather physical evidence. This process — in which samples of semen and other bodily fluids are taken from victims — can be as violating as the crime, explained Michelle Visnosky, an SOS advocate and Notre Dame senior.
"It's like going to experience the violation again — having to go through the rape kit and having to go through the details" Visnosky said. "Reporting is an astronomical step for the victim, and it isn't done that often."
In fact, a victim, even one who goes to a hospital for treatment after being raped, is not required to report the crime to local or campus officials. Sometimes, student victims fear they'll be punished for having drunk unlawfully or broken parietals on the night of the sexual assault.
"If the victim has been consuming alcohol that night, they're concerned about that because it's a violation of Indiana law," Cottrell said. "Well, I can tell you the victim will not be charged with that violation on campus. I can also tell you that the county prosecutor will not prosecute a minor in consumption because she's reporting a sexual assault."
Student victims who choose to report rape or sexual assault can file incident reports with local police agencies or Student Affairs. Rapes that occur on campus are reported to Notre Dame Security/Police or to Student Affairs and are recorded, without using victims' names, each year in du Lac; in 1998, the most recent year for which statistics are available, two forcible rapes were reported.
Off-campus incidents are handled by a local city department — usually South Bend or Mishawaka — but can be reported to Notre Dame police if victims prefer.
If victims choose to press charges legally, reports given to police agencies are presented, typically, to the St. Joseph County prosecutor.
"One thing I always stress with the victim is that, while they take the case to the prosecuting attorney, the prosecutor's got to be pretty confident that he's going to win beyond a reasonable doubt. They don't want to burden the victim anymore with a hard court case."
But Cottrell could recall four times when students decided to press criminal charges but past county prosecutors chose not to pursue the case because they lacked sufficient evidence, or for other reasons.
"But just because a prosecutor doesn't accept a case, it doesn't mean a crime didn't occur," said Wendy Settle, a staff psychologist at the University Counseling Center.
Notre Dame and Saint Mary's students also have the option of a Student Affairs hearing, a victim-driven process facilitated by a three-person panel which could result in expulsion of a convicted assaulter.
The panel gathers reports of physical evidence, if there is any, and the victim's written recollection of the incident. Panelists interview the victim and charged student in the same room during the hearing, and victim's learn the fate of the accused.
Assaulters found guilty are almost always dismissed from the University, Student Affairs representatives Jean Johnson said.
Regardless of whether they press charges, however, victims sometimes suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and often benefit from counseling, even years after being assaulted, Settle explained.
"Counseling really is a process," she said. "It's often a process of disbelief at first. They may not be dealing with all the effects of the trauma, of the abuse. They are going through the whole roller coaster of feelings, from `I feel numb' or `I just want to forget this happened to me' to real intrusive memories of what happened."
Male students who have been victimized by men or women especially benefit, because society tends to ignore male sexual abuse, she said. Men questioning their own sexual behavior also benefit from counseling, Settle said, explaining that in a 1994 Notre Dame study, 22.2 percent of men admitted having perpetrated some degree of sexual force.
"We provide counseling for men questioning their own sexuality," she said. "`Have I forced sexual contact?' We deal with that."
For students who know friends who have been sexually assaulted, Settle recommended keeping an open, accepting attitude. She advised victims' friends to seek counseling themselves because "you're going to be overwhelmed by your own feelings of anger and fear."
Citing the latest Indiana Coalition for Sexual Assault statistics, Visnosky said one in three women and one in five men will be raped in his or her lifetime. She stressed that 90 percent of victims know their attackers and that even if victims choose not to pursue legal action, local and campus services are available to serve the wide variety of needs of victims and their friends.
All News Stories for Wednesday, April 19, 2000
