COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The percentage of students on Ohio’s public and private four-year campuses who reported being trained in sexual assault prevention nearly doubled during the past year, according to a survey being released Wednesday.
The second-year results of Ohio’s statewide campus climate survey were obtained by The Associated Press ahead of their planned release.
They show 30 percent of students at public universities said they received training last year on sexual misconduct prevention compared with 56 percent who said they received training this year. At private colleges, more than 65 percent of students now report having taken such training, up from about 34 percent in 2016.
The findings are part of the Ohio Department of Higher Education’s Changing Campus Culture initiative. The state has allotted $2 million to help colleges and universities tackle issues of sexual violence on college campuses.
Last year’s survey found that 21 percent of public university students and 18 percent of private college students had been told by a friend or acquaintance that the student had been sexually assaulted. The term was defined to include rape, sexual harassment and stalking.
This year’s survey doesn’t contain a comparative figure. Instead, project manager Kerry Soller said questions were revised to gain information on students’ individual experiences, with the goal of helping institutions target resources where they’re needed.
Resulting statistics show:
— 7 percent of public university respondents and 5 percent of private college respondents reported experiencing non-consensual intercourse since attending college.
— 9 percent and 6 percent, respectively, reported experiencing intimate partner violence.
— 34 percent and 15 percent, respectively, reported experiencing sexual harassment since attending college.
— 15 percent and 13 percent, respectively, reported experiencing non-consensual sexual contact.
— 6 percent and 8 percent, respectively, have experienced stalking.
The survey also showed students are increasingly involved in activities on campus that seek to address sexual misconduct. More than 350 students from across the state attended a state-sponsored summit in November to learn how to become active in changing campus culture.
