Michigan sex assault survey comes with trigger warning
Approximately 89 percent of respondents said they felt safe from sexual misconduct on campus.
However, 11.4 percent said they'd experienced "some form of nonconsensual touching."
The report is the result of 3,000 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor student respondents surveyed in January.
A University of Michigan sexual assault survey released today includes a trigger warning.
“This report uses explicit language, including anatomical names of body parts and specific behaviors, to discuss data about sexual situations...Reading this report might remind you of experiences that you, friend, or family member have gone through,” reads the introductory warning, the title of which is stylized in bold letters.
The 2015 University of Michigan Campus Climate Survey then lists the contact information of a number of resources available for those who “would like to talk to someone confidentially about questions or concerns relating to sexual misconduct, including sexual assault.”
The report is the result of the input of 3,000 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor students in January 2015. UM’s Survey Research Center designed the survey to help “gain a deep understanding of the prevalence and incidence of sexual assault on campus, as well as students’ views regarding campus climate and resources, so that U-M can improve its education and prevention efforts, strengthen existing services for survivors, and ultimately, create a safer and more caring community.”
Approximately 89 percent of UM student respondents said that “they feel safe from sexual misconduct on the Ann Arbor campus,” but 11.4 percent said they have “experienced some form of nonconsensual touching and kissing or oral, vaginal, or anal penetration—including 22.5 percent of undergraduate females and 6.8 percent of undergraduate males.”
Nearly 23 percent of respondents reported “experiencing some form of sexual harassment; most said they had been stared at in a sexual way, had been the subject of teasing comments of a sexual nature or someone had made a sexual motion towards the student, all in spite of requests to stop.”
The report states that females were nearly eight times “more at risk than males” and “lesbian, gay, or bisexual students were 2.5 times more at risk than heterosexual students.”
An independent contractor, SoundRocket, conducted the data collection as part of an effort by the university to provide "a firewall between respondent's identity and their survey responses" because of the “potentially sensitive nature of the questions.”
SoundRocket destroyed "all identifiable data (electronic and paper) that was received during the course of the effort," according to the report.
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