Over the past four weeks, there have been three sexual assaults in the university area.

There were also two additional incidents that were reported to University Police Sept. 17 and Sept. 28.

On Sept. 17 at 3:48 p.m., University Police gathered information regarding an aggravated rape that was reported to have occurred on North Road near the Freret Street Garage.

The second incident was a reported sexual assault of a Loyola student by an acquaintance. That student, however, asked that University Police not investigate the incident, which was reported to have occurred Sept. 28 between midnight and 12:30 a.m. in one of the main campus residence halls.

University Police Chief Patrick Bailey said the “student has asked (University Police) to be as confidential as possible.” He declined to give any details regarding the report.

There are two kinds of sexual assault that have been reported in the university area this semester. According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, stranger rape is when a “perpetrator rapidly and brutally assaults the victim” without having known the victim before.

RAINN says acquaintance rape “involves coercive sexual activities that occur against a person’s will by means of force, violence, duress or fear of bodily injury.” In acquaintance rape, someone the victim knows imposes sexual activities on him or her.

While sexual assaults are often portrayed by the media as unwanted sexual activity by a stranger, sexual assaults by acquaintances are much more common.

For women in college, average rates of sexual assault are three times greater than rates of sexual assault among women in the general population.

A 1987 study by M. P. Koss, C. A. Gidcyz, and N. Wisniewski analyzed rapes in the United States, finding that 54 percent of U.S. college women reported to having been victims of sexual aggression and that 28 percent of college women reported they had experienced an act that met the qualifications of rape.

This study also indicated that the prevalence of completed assaults on college campuses ranges from 11 to 28 percent of women on campuses, with incidences of unwanted sexual contact and attempted rapes making those numbers even higher.

In discussion of rape on college campuses, a statistic known as “the one in four statistic” often surfaces. Researchers surveyed 3,000 college women who were asked questions such as “Have you had sexual intercourse when you didn’t want to because a man gave you alcohol or drugs?” and included questions regarding physical force threats by attackers.

The researchers found from these questions that 15 percent of the women surveyed had been raped and that 12 percent had experienced an attempted rape. They concluded that 27 percent of women, or more than one in four, had been victims of either rape or attempted rape.

Chris Burke, finance and economics sophomore, said that the one in four statistic “seems high to me because I don’t know anyone (who has been a victim of sexual assault).” He also added, however, that he doubts that anyone would tell him if they had been a victim because sexual assault is such a private crime. He added that the statistic is “kind of scary.”

Burke said that the recent spike in sexual assaults is “strange because there (have) always been BOLOs …” but added that he thinks “some of (the recent sexual assault BOLOs) are hard to believe” based on the location or time of the incident.

Often, critics of the one-in-four statistic say that the figure is exaggerated and includes women who drink too much one night, engage in sexual activity and regret it the following morning.

Criticism of the one-in-four statistic is not helpful according to Karen Reichard, Ph. D., Director of the Women’s Resource Center. Reichard said that criticism “takes us off target.”

Reichard said that even in looking at the recent sexual assaults in the university area, the numbers are too high and that “one (sexual assault) is too much.”

“When people start arguing about what the exact statistics are, we forget about the larger issue and…(sexual assault) is happening and is something that it is important to pay attention to,” she said.

She said “Women and Men Take Back the Night,” the community event sponsored by Loyola and Tulane Universities, is really important in “bringing awareness to the issue of sexual violence against women and men.”

Tom Kupferer, Interfraternity Council adviser and the Assistant Director for Co-Curricular Programs, said that while IFC does not require its members to go through any kind of sexual assault prevention or educational classes, that IFC discusses the “importance of having sober brothers and sisters at events to make sure that things don’t get out of hand” with chapters.

Kupferer said “The university takes sexual misconduct very seriously and will address it when it is brought to (the university’s) attention.”

Emily Shockey, graphic design freshman, said if she has to go near some parts of the university area, she will get a ride, following the recent spike in sexual crime. “I avoid some areas past a certain time,” Shockey said. “It makes me nervous.”

Ilyse Goldberg, assistant director of Counseling Services, said that the recent sexual assaults in the university area can serve to remind students to “be mindful of their own safety and surroundings and to make sure they walk in groups and watch out for their friends.”

Goldberg also said, “It is important to note that the only person at fault in a sexual assault is the perpetrator and not the victim.”

“It’s not right that a young woman has to almost assume statistically that being sexually assaulted or (that) somebody making an attempt to sexually assault them will be a normal part of their college career,” Goldberg said. “It’s unacceptable.”

Jessica Erwin can be reached at [email protected].