Dunn is one of thousands of college students faced with sexual violence each year.

Last month, legislators introduced the Campus Sexual Assault Violence Elimination Act, or Campus SaVE Act, to Congress in an effort to combat sexual violence in higher education institutions.

The act would require colleges and universities to have prevention and support programs for sexual violence and list sexual violence incidences in annual reports.

At MSU, programs already are in place to support victims and raise awareness of sexual violence, such as the MSU Sexual Assault Program and MSU Safe Place.

Still, like every other college campus, sexual assault is a problem at MSU, said Elizabeth Battiste, a communication senior and member of the Sexual Assault Crisis Intervention Team, or SACI, at MSU.

“There’s a lot of work to be done,” Battiste said. “But I think there’s a lot to be said about steps already taken.”

By the numbers
Nationally, 20-25 percent of women will experience sexual assault during their time on campus, according to statistics from the Campus SaVE Act.

Sexual assault is not only forcible rape but also unwanted sexual contact or abuse, among other things.

For some, it can be difficult to acknowledge the prevalence of sexual assault in American culture, MSU Sexual Assault Program Coordinator Shari Murgittroyd said.

“We pretend that these crimes don’t exist,” she said. “Quite often, victims are met with disbelief.”

In 2010, 11 cases of criminal sexual conduct were reported to MSU Police. Safe Place gave support and shelter to 131 individuals in 2010 and more than 15,000 attended educational programs, Safe Place Director Holly Rosen said.

Because sexual violence often goes unreported, many students don’t realize it happens on campus, Battiste said.

“(It’s) especially important to get that (information) out to college students,” Battiste said. “They don’t think about sexual assaults that are happening in the dorms.”

Resources on campus
MSU already is in compliance with some of the requirements the Campus SaVE Act would enforce if passed, although many students are unaware of the resources available on campus, Murgittroyd said.

The Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence Prevention Program, or the SARV Prevention Program, was introduced this past academic year as a mandatory discussion session for freshmen — who are more vulnerable to sexual violence than upperclassmen — to attend, SARV Coordinator Kelly Schweda said.

Since the SARV program’s implementation, the MSU Sexual Assault Program has seen an increase in the number of community members calling their hotline and using their services, Murgittroyd said.

SACI and other student-led advocacy programs are some of the few groups that make such a huge difference on campus, Battiste said.

Volunteers answer crisis line calls at all hours of the night to support assault victims.

For Dunn, being involved with SACI means making a difference in fellow survivors’ lives, even though it forces her to remember her own experience.

Pager in hand, Dunn drives to Sparrow Hospital to be there for other victims during their examination and treatment as a medical advocate with the program.

“You’re walking into maybe the worst day of someone’s life, but at the same time, I guess I’d rather be there than not,” Dunn said.
“It’s sad, but it’s also fulfilling in a way to know that you can be there to make someone’s day a little easier or to help them through the process.”

Reporting assault
After her assault, Dunn had to relive her experience speaking with nurses during her medical examination and in court when she prosecuted her rapist.

Both experiences were “extremely difficult,” she said.

At the hospital, nurses conducted a thorough medical examination of her. Although many of the procedures, such as taking pictures of her body, were helpful in her court cases, they also were violating, Dunn said.

“The last thing you want to do is open up your body again, even though you know you have to,” she said.

“It’s a really hard experience, and it makes you realize why some girls wouldn’t want to go to the hospital — because all they want to do is cover themselves up not ever be hurt again.”

At Sparrow Hospital, sexual assault nurse examiners, or SANEs, are trained to be sensitive to victims, SANE Coordinator Debra Douglas said. Among other things, nurses give victims the option not to undergo parts of the exam if they feel uncomfortable, Douglas said.

“If they don’t want to, we don’t want to be pushing them into it,” she said. “They’ve already had their choice taken away when they’re sexually assaulted. As far as the exam goes, we try to give some of that control back to them.”

Most victims of sexual assault keep their experience to themselves, often by choosing not to file a report with the police or take any other legal action, Rosen said.

At MSU, police and campus disciplinary programs have policies designed to encourage victims to report their assault, MSU police Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor said.

In the mid-1990s, campus police wrote a sexual assault response guarantee, McGlothian-Taylor said.

As part of the guarantee, MSU police will meet victims outside of the department to report the incident if they feel more comfortable doing so.

Police also will try to have either a male or female officer speak with the victim, depending on the victim’s preference and which officers are available at the time of the report.

“We thought, if we got this message out to individuals so they could actually see it in print, that might help in order to get people to come and for them to know that we are serious about this issue,” McGlothian-Taylor said.

Judicial Affairs and the Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives handle reports of sexual assault and harassment if it involves an employee or student offender.

Sometimes, victims of sexual assault or acquaintance rape don’t feel comfortable pressing charges, Dunn said.

“(It’s) the scariest thing in the world to know that you have to be in the same room with the person who so badly violated you,” Dunn said.

The university judicial process often is faster than the criminal justice system and more accommodating to victims, said Rick Shafer, associate director of student life.

Screens can be used to separate victims from their assailants and technology, such as Skype, also is an option for victims who feel uneasy, Shafer said.

“The university system offers some privacy (and) perhaps a little more sensitivity to the needs of a victim,” he said.

Out of ignorance
Although her family was supportive of her, some of Dunn’s friends abandoned her when they learned she was raped.

People questioned whether or not it was true because she was drinking and asked why she didn’t do more to resist, Dunn said.

“It seems cruel to the victim, but now that time has gone on I realize it’s more ignorance,” she said.

Especially on a college campus, the community needs to band together to support survivors of sexual assault instead of isolating them, Battiste said.

“We need to stop blaming each other,” she said. “The only person who can prevent sexual assault is the perpetrator.”

Instead of ignoring the issue, individuals on campus can make a difference by standing up for other community members dealing with the traumas of sexual violence, Dunn said.

“If you see it happening or you see a friend struggling, step up and be there for them,” Dunn said. “That’s really what’s going to make a difference.”