Columbia Missourian | Sept 17, 2015
COLUMBIA — More than 300 reports of sex discrimination were made to MU’s Title IX Office from August 2014 to July of this year, and eight students were disciplined for violating campus sex discrimination policies, according to a report released Thursday by MU.
It is the first review of sex discrimination data — including sexual assault and harassment — compiled by the Title IX Office. It will act as a baseline to measure the frequency and types of sex discrimination involving students on and off campus. The Title IX Office will use this information in future prevention of sex discrimination and protection of university students.
“We have an opportunity and an obligation to use the information the Title IX Office collects to improve campus culture and reduce sex discrimination at MU,” said Ellen Eardley, MU Title IX administrator,in a news release that accompanies the 30-page report.
The office received 332 reports between Aug. 1, 2014, and July 31. However, some reports made during this annual reporting period were of incidents that occurred before Aug. 1, 2014.
“Sometimes we’re getting reports of incidents that occurred five or six years ago,” Eardley said in an interview.
The report comes in a national climate of growing concern about the prevalence of sex discrimination at colleges and universities. One in five women is sexually assaulted during her college years, according to a National Institute of Justice report, which is used by the Office for Civil Rights.
Among other changes in how sexual misconduct is addressed, the University of Missouri System recently announced a preventive training, Not Anymore, which students are required to complete before applying for classes this spring. The training is video-based and reviews topics such as sexual assault, consent, dating and domestic violence, stalking and bystander intervention.
By the numbers
Reports involving 328 students who said they experienced sex discrimination in some form were made to the office. Four involved more than one incident, for a total of 332 incidents. In its report, the Title IX Office states there were 374 alleged policy violations because sometimes one incident reported by a student violated multiple MU discrimination policies.
Complainants is the term used for alleged victims of the university’s anti-discrimination policies. Respondents are those accused of violating those policies.
The office regards sex discrimination as that based on sex, gender, pregnancy, gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation. Incidents such as sexual assault, harassment and stalking are subcategories of these.
Sexual misconduct — including rape and other sexual assault, exposing one’s genitals and sexual exploitation — was the most highly reported type of incident, at 33.2 percent.
Of the 124 counts of sexual misconduct reported to the office, 50 percent were incidents of rape (identified in the report as nonconsensual sexual intercourse) and 20.2 percent were other types of sexual assault, such as touching someone’s genitals without permission.
Students also reported 85 incidents of sexual harassment, 49 incidents of dating and intimate partner violence and 31 incidents of stalking.
Reports and incidents were not divided by gender in the report. The omission was not intentional, Eardley said.
“I could say that predominantly respondents were male and complainants were female,” she said.
Investigations
Just over 9 percent of incidents were followed up with an investigation.
The Title IX Office pursues an investigation when a student files a formal request with the office. Out of the 332 reports, students filed formal complaints 31 times.
Seven students were suspended as the result of Title IX investigations, and one student was given “discretionary sanctions,” which is not defined in the report. Four students were found not responsible for violating the nondiscrimination policies.
Other cases were settled through conflict resolution or were still open at the end of the reporting period.
A student can be disciplined for an incident of sex discrimination by the university if what the report called a reasonable person could, based on the evidence, find the accused person responsible for violating MU’s discrimination policy.
The number of students disciplined for sex discrimination is low in comparison to the number of reports made but is not low when compared to the number of investigations conducted. About one in four investigations led to disciplinary action.
A number of factors could have influenced why only 31 students decided to make formal complaints, said Salama Gallimore, lead Title IX investigator for MU. Students often pursue accommodations — such as help with classes or mental health treatment — instead of an investigation because they want to move forward rather than take action against someone, Gallimore said.
The student is not required to make a formal complaint, but the university can pursue action without the complainant’s permission when it’s in the interest of safety for all students, the report stated. In these cases, the student does not have to participate in the investigation.
“It’s their choice how they participate in that process,” Eardley said, “so they could say, ‘We’re done talking.’”
The university took independent action twice in the latest annual reporting period, so the Title IX Office conducted 33 investigations over that time.
Who reports incidents
The Title IX Office received most of its reports from university employees about MU students, according to the report. They were predominantly made by the Department of Residential Life, faculty members, course instructors, academic advisers and the MU Police Department.
“(Faculty and staff) don’t need to feel like they have to provide the support themselves — they may not have the expertise to provide the support themselves,” Eardley said. “So they can feel assured that they’re getting students to a place on campus that can help provide those options to them.”
The Title IX Office received the highest number of reports during October, and most of the incidents reported in October were alleged to have occurred that month. Gallimore said this was probably because a lot of drinking occurs around then for Homecoming, football games, Halloween parties and other events.
“We know that alcohol is a tool that’s used by predators so it becomes a lot easier to separate people from their friends, and people are obviously more uninhibited or may feel comfortable in a situation that’s not comfortable or safe,” Gallimore said.
Future of Title IX reporting
The MU Title IX Office was established for student victims of sex discrimination, Eardley said. This first report was intended to address students’ experiences with sex discrimination and not those of faculty and staff.
“It’s a process,” Eardley said of the overall development of consistent processes for dealing with sex discrimination on campus.
“I work on a regular basis with several places on campus that have historically addressed faculty and staff issues including Human Resources, the MU Equity Office and the Provost’s Office,” she said. “We’re continuing to work on those issues together. Certainly when reports of sex discrimination get to my office, regardless of who’s impacted by it, I address it and get involved in it.”
Eardley and Danica Wolf, coordinator for the Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention Center, which works closely with the Title IX Office, said they expected the number of reports to increase in coming years, after students — and faculty and staff, who are now mandatory reporters — become more aware of the Title IX procedures.
“One of the signs of a good prevention program is that the numbers go up,” Wolf said. “I think that it can hopefully increase confidence in how their story will be handled when and if they do choose to report.”
Kasia Kovacs 