Georgia college students have expressed some concern about their safety as well as sympathy for the survivor of a reported rape near Emory Village who came forward last week.
“I know many of my friends who have late basketball or dance practices and have to return [home] after 10 at night,” Emory student Fiza Pirani said. “And that makes me really uncomfortable.”
The Emory student who reported the rape told police that a man in his mid-to-late 50s assaulted her in a wooded area near the Emory Village traffic circle between Oxford Road and Dowman Drive last Tuesday at around 11:15 p.m.
Police are still searching for the suspect and as of this week have linked him to three other attempted sexual assault cases in DeKalb County in the vicinity of Emory off campus. The university released a composite sketch during the weekend, and the DeKalb County and Emory police departments are conducting a joint investigation on the reported incidents.
The suspect, the University said, is described as about 5 feet 10 inches tall with a reddish or brown beard and was wearing a beanie cap, tan or brown jacket, blue jeans and brown boots.
The information about the reported rape was released at a time when reports of sexual assault at Georgia colleges are increasing. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that 126 rapes were reported on Georgia campuses in 2012 – a rise from the 83 in 2011 and 66 in 2010. Schools are required to disclose crime data under the Clery Act, a federal law.
More reports of sexual assault, however, doesn’t necessarily indicate an increased number of incidents taking place, Lauren Bernstein, who runs sexual assault education services at the school, told the AJC in December. Rather, a rise in reported assaults could show that students are utilizing a school’s sexual assault resources and services to a greater extent.
Emory student Dohyun Ahn said Emory’s Respect Program and the school’s current resources “are only a good beginning” but feels that the university should do more to change the “culture” at Emory to an environment where sexual assault is a rare occurrence.
“As a man, I personally feel safe on campus, but I know this campus isn’t completely safe for everyone,” Ahn said. “And that is wrong.”
Emory Police “have increased their presence around the campus” following the Emory Village reported incident, the university said in a statement.
Emory University also alerted students via email last week about a separate sexual assault in the Sigma Nu fraternity house, allegedly by a male student. The school has seen the greatest rise in the number of sexual assault reports of all colleges in Georgia: 26 in 2012, a rise from 15 the previous year and 11 in 2010.
In comparison, the University of Georgia reported 14 incidents in 2012, and the Georgia Institute of Technology reported nine.
“I am hesitantly glad there is more reporting, and the person felt safe enough to actually report it,” Ahn said of the reported incident in Emory Village.
Emory student Alycia Patton also said the survivor is brave for coming forward.
“My first reaction was feeling sympathy and a lot of sadness for the victim, imagining how scared she must have been, but also how hard it must have been to report it,” Patton said.
Still, she said, Emory could educate students to a greater extent about sexual assault to “combat rape culture on campus and promote enthusiastic consent.”
“I think they should talk about how to recognize sketchy behavior and step in as a bystander, as well as discussing why affirmative consent is so important and necessary and what rape culture and victim-blaming are,” Patton said.
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