Reported sexual assaults are at a record high on IU Bloomington’s campus this fall semester. As of December 12th, there have been 40 reported sexual assault incidents listed on the IU police crime log for this semester. But at the beginning of this semester, something was missing: the names of the dorms, fraternities and academic buildings where the reported assaults took place.
IUPD Deputy Police Chief Shannon Bunger told IU NewsNet that this decision was made as a “team” and was about protecting people in fraternities where these crimes occur from being “guilty by association.”
The student body was outraged.
IU junior and Hoosiers Against Sexual Assault member Sam Barber talks about rape culture at IU.
Protests and petitions ensued. All across campus, women had conversations about their safety and sexual violence—Where was it safe to go? The discussions had started in Greek Life even before IU News Net’s investigation, when when the Panhellenic Association canceled a weekend of parties in September due to rising sexual assault reports within Greek Life.
In future interviews, IU Police Chief Jill Lees would not address Bunger’s comments and said not disclosing locations of reported sexual assaults is a longstanding department policy.
“It is our best practice to leave exact locations off because it is our priority to ensure the survivor’s information is kept confidential,” Lees said.
IU News Net requested crime log records, which showed that IUPD gave the majority of locations for reported sexual assaults in previous years. In 2020, they listed at least 26 specific locations on the crime log, including the names of dorms and fraternities.
Police Chief Jill Lees discusses the increased reports of sexual assaults on IU’s campus and IUPD’s reporting policies.
Suddenly, in late October, IUPD started giving locations again. The first was a reported rape and sexual battery between two visitors at Phi Kappa Psi fraternity on Halloween night. In response to the latest assault, the Panhellenic Association and Interfraternity Council jointly agreed to suspend parties and social events for the rest of the semester. Since then, several more rapes and sexual batteries have been reported, along with the names of dorms where they reportedly occurred.
IU News Net spoke to three sexual assault survivors about the reporting process and what they want to see from the university moving forward.
“They make you tell your story countless times, just to make sure you’re not lying about it, to make sure all the facts add up,” said Lily Kaplan, the president of Safe Sisters. “Revictimization is almost as harmful as the actual event because it makes you go back to the moment when you lost power.”
Madison Smith, a junior, was is a sexual assault survivor. She said the reporting process is exhausting.
“It would be awesome if all of our rapists were in prison,” she said. “But we kind of have to pick if we’re going to heal or if we are going to get justice.”
One anonymous survivor told IU News Net she wants the university to address the rising number of cases.
“I think IU needs to be accountable for trying to be open about these things that are happening instead of worrying about what their reputation will look like,” she said.
IUPD says they have sent 10 cases to the prosecutor’s office for review, but the office declined to issue charges in all of them.
