The Annual Report of the Sexual Abuse Awareness Program that arrived last week in Hinman boxes paints a more serious picture of sexual abuse at Dartmouth than the Safety and Security's Annual Security Report that came out earlier this fall.
The SAAP report says there were 26 cases of sexual assault or rape between September 1998 and August 1999, as well as 19 cases of unwanted sexual conduct, three cases of attempted sexual assault or rape and three cases of relationship domestic abuse.
Safety and Security stated in the fall Security Report that zero incidents of sexual offenses were reported to their department during the same one-year period.
According to Susan Marine, coordinator of SAAP, the vast discrepancy between the two reports stems from the fact that victims of sexual assault often do not report their case to Safety and Security, but do alert Sexual Abuse Peer Advisers, deans, Dick's House or Marine herself.
She said whenever students come to her to report cases of sexual abuse or assault, she suggests that they tell Safety and Security about the incident as well. She said deans and SAPAs, whom she trains, are expected to do the same.
According to Marine, cases of sexual assault are not being reported to Safety and Security because of societal pressures.
"Most of the students I work with have really internalized what society tells you about sexual abuse -- that it's probably your fault," she said. "Society has taught us that you don't stand a chance with this stuff."
Marine said her statistics reveal neither a positive or negative trend when compared to the numbers she has collected over the past three years.
And even though Marine's statistics paint a different picture compared to those reported in the Annual Security Report, she said they probably don't tell the whole story.
"There's no way to know if the reporting represents what happens or just who is talking to us," she said.
According to Marine, national research has found that only about 15 percent of victims report cases of sexual assault, so even her numbers could underestimate the extent of the problem.
Marine said the College's official and widely-circulated Security Report is not attempting to obscure the truth about sexual assaults from the community. Rather, she said her figures are not applicable to the Security Report, whose statistics are calculated using governmental regulations.
"The College isn't trying to hide anything," Marine told The Dartmouth. "The College wants everyone to know what gets reported here."
Marine said her report is unique in that it discloses information that many schools like to keep under wraps.
"I don't know of anybody else who puts out a report like mine and makes it public," she said.
But she said she does not think cases of sexual assault are either more or less frequent at other colleges and universities than they are here.
She said her office works hard to prevent more cases of sexual assault through educational programs.
Marine alone does about 100 workshops alone per year with groups and organizations including the residence halls.
Another way the College tries to cut down on sexual assault is through the Rape Aggression Defense course, offered through Safety and Security.
"I think we're making some headway," Marine said.
But, she said she cannot fix the problem alone -- she needs the community's support.
"We as a community have to be more cognizant of the problem and more united in fighting it," she said.
She said throughout her tenure here at Dartmouth the groups she has worked with has improved, but that there is still a large subset of Dartmouth's community that is "totally oblivious" to sexual assault and the issues that surround it.
