Take Back the Night is not the only support for sexual assault victims that the university offers.
According to the Code of Conduct, located in the student handbook, Louisiana law defines rape as any anal, oral or vaginal intercourse committed without lawful consent due to force, alcohol, narcotics, or unsoundness of mind.
“It’s a violation of human rights,” said Alicia Bourque, director of University Counseling Center.
“The law says if you’re under the influence of alcohol or drugs, you cannot give consent,” said Patrick Bailey, Loyola University Police Chief. “That’s a key point that I think a lot of people don’t understand.”
If a student pressed charges against another student for sexual assault, the accused individual could face university judicial action, also as stated in the university Code of Conduct.
“If there was a concern that the individual might be a threat to members of the community, we could take disciplinary actions until we had a hearing, which could mean that student could be banned from campus until we had a hearing,” said Robert Reed, assistant vice president of Student Affairs.
Loyola University Police Department has four female officers who have training in sexual assault prevention.
“One of the first things that we do is try to have the victim, when they come in, to be able to have this resource officer that is trained in sexual assault,” Bailey said.
LUPD will refer sexual assault cases to NOPD, where they have a sex crimes unit.
“Most of the time the case is handed over to them because they have the resources to do that,” Bailey said.
When reporting cases such as sexual assault, the university must comply with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Report. This is a federal statute which requires colleges and universities that participate in federal financial aid programs to keep and disclose information about Part I crimes on and near their respective campuses. Part I crimes include rape, murder and motor vehicle theft. This annual report must be posted by Oct. 1 each year.
There are statistics available online from 2007 to 2009. The Clery report states that in 2008, three instances of forcible sex offenses on Loyola’s campus were reported. No sex offenses were reported in 2007 and in 2009 on-campus.
Bourque said UCC offers free counseling to students. She also said there is a sexual assault survivors group under UCC, in conjunction with Tulane University’s Center for Educational Resources and Counseling. Group meetings are held weekly and are open to female Loyola and Tulane students who have been victims of sexual assault.
Other support and prevention programs the university offers include Sexual Assault Awareness Week in April, the Clothesline Project and Rape Aggression Defense System.
RADS is a national program that offers self-defense tactics and techniques for women in situations that could result in sexual assault. Lt. Angela Honora of LUPD is the instructor for the course at Loyola.
LUPD offers it on-campus for free and it is available to the Loyola community and friends of the Loyola community. Instructors have also taught the course to neighborhood organizations.
Bourque also said the university will begin a sexual assault advocates program, which will allow victims of sexual assault to talk to a trained Loyola student, faculty or staff member about options and referral to appropriate resources. These resources include the UCC, University Police and Louisiana State University Interim Public Hospital—the only hospital in New Orleans that provides rape kits.
“We want to make sure that they have care right away—physical, emotional, and sometimes spiritual. We provide that care immediately,” Bailey said. “When we get that kind of report, it affects us because it’s a tragic incident to occur. We know it has long-term effects.”
Precious Esie can be reached at [email protected]
