Sexual Violence on College Campuses: Changing Culture to Address Shortcomings in Policy Implementation

Problem Statement:

Despite Duke’s history of sex scandals, the most prominent being the 2006 Duke Lacrosse Team Scandal, Duke has complied with the stipulations of Title IX and the Clery Act, federal legislation mandating university action in response to sexual assault.  In an effort to be proactive, this university has gone further than what was mandated, creating policies like considering expulsion as the first punishment if an individual is found in violation of the sexual misconduct policy.

However, sexual violence is still prevalent on this campus. The women’s center records how many victims seek help from their facility for sexual assault every year. While I was unable to verify the exact number of women who came to the women’s center, your office is able to access this data. In the 2013-2014 school year this number was far greater than the 6 women who brought their cases to the office of student misconduct. Of the 6 cases, 0 resulted in expulsion. Duke has policies that meet or exceed federal standards; yet, the presence of sexual violence at such high rates, low reporting rates, and mild punishment indicates that the policies are not working as intended. These policies are meant for a campus culture that simply does not exist.

Duke does not hold administrators, faculty, or students accountable for following through with these policies. For example, under Duke Standards, coaches are mandatory reporters (individuals that must report any knowledge of sexual assault to administration). When I interviewed Dean Sue, I asked if coaches were adhering to this rule; Dean Sue responded that she has seen an increase in coaches in coming forward. While this is seemingly positive, this does not answer the question of whether coaches are in fact adhering to this rule. It is unclear if all coaches are reporting, if they are reporting every incident that comes to their attention, what Duke administration is doing to ensure coaches’ compliance, and whether they actually punish those who do not.

This example represents the larger problem: Duke’s policies are meant for a campus culture that simply does not exist. Our policies are not realizing their full potential because individuals have not changed their beliefs, attitudes, and views on sexual assault. If we want to eradicate sexual assault we need individuals to care about sexual violence, understand it, and be willing to employ school policies.