Chico State's Sexual Assault Procedures

            While talking about Chico State and its relation to the sexual crimes audit, it is important for readers to know more about the school’s procedures and strategies on dealing with sexual abuse.

            Being that this topic is the basis of the investigation, people need to know what exactly the university does to prevent sexual abuse, so they can decide for themselves, whether or not campus staff is doing enough to help victims who come forward.

            As I have mentioned on a previous blog, a study compiled by Robin Hattersely Gray for an article published on campussafetymagazine.com states that, “between 20% to 25% of women will experience a completed/or attempted rap during their college career,” and only about half of them come forward to talk about their horrific experience.

            It is important to investigate what significance the school’s procedure has, if any at all, on a victim’s decision to not come forward after they are attacked.

Chico State’s efforts through organizations:

            For Chico State’s procedures on combatting sexual abuse, my investigation started at the office of the Gender and Sexuality Equity Center.

            As discussed in my previous blog, GSEC is an organization that brings awareness to students who attends Chico State about the issue of sexual abuse.

            Members of the organization also had a chance to speak with the auditor when the investigation began.

             While at the GSEC office, some of the members provided me with information about how they assist students who have experienced sexual abuse.

            The organization helps victims by referring them to a number of “safe places” provided by the school.

            Chico State has a number of groups in campus that students can go to in the event that they experience sexual abuse such as, The Counseling Center, SAFE Place, Student Judicial Affairs and Wellcat Wellness Connection.

            SAFE Place in particular, is an organization housed at the University Police office located at school.

            All services provided by these specific organizations are strictly confidential to protect a victim’s identity.

            They offer support, resources, referrals and other tools that are useful for victims.

            In addition, the AS Government of Chico State is in collaboration with a couple of organization in running a Rape Crisis Intervention and Prevention program for the Tri-County area. The program is a hotline where people can call to talk to peer councilors about sexual abuse. The councilors are volunteers who are certified by the state.

            GSEC has pamphlets and brochures available at their office where students can get information on how to access these organizations if they experience sexual assault, or if they want to volunteer as part of these groups.

           

Question still remains?:

            With all these organizations and assistance that Chico State offers, the question still remains, why are victims afraid to come forward?

            Privacy seems to not be an issue since all the organizations offer strict confidentiality.

            Why was Chico State part of the audit despite having all these organizations helping victims?

            Is it because of Chico State’s reputation as a “party school,” and the high rate of alcohol abuse among students?

            Because of the auditors strict confidentiality of the investigation, it seems like the answers to these questions will only be answered when the results come out.

Student Response: How Well Do Students Know About the Audit

The following videos show 3 different perspective of the student population in Chico State, and how well they are informed about the audit.

 Katrina Cameron, a GSEC member and a Journalism student    

Kristen Warshaw, Chico State student

 

 Samantha LaBare, Chico State student

         As the video clips will show, only one of the three students I interviewed had any idea what the sexual crimes audit is about. Joe Wills, Chico State's Director of Public Affairs, discussed this issue, among other things, during a one-on-one interview. He also addressed some of the topics that I have talked about on my previous posts regarding the sexual crimes audit in Chico State.

·      Publicity:

            In regards to publicity Wills gave a number of reasons why the audit has not had major publicity.

            According to Wills, audits happen all the time, and it is custom for it to take place without public discussion.

            The auditors ask the campuses involved not to talk about the procedures and the process, so they can go about their business without being bombarded by questions.

            They also want publicity only after the audit has been finalized. Wills also said that he has been advised by the auditors that anyone who has specific questions about the investigation itself can contact them, and they are willing to answer any inquiries.

            Finally, he said that although the auditors do not want any publicity towards the audit itself, he is more than willing to talk about the issue that is being examined.

            He said that they are happy to talk about the problem of sexual assault, and that they want attention about the issue itself so they can educate students better.

·      The effects of the audit to the schools involved:

           

            Wills admitted that he was well aware of the consequences and the bad publicity the audit brings to Chico State. He said although it is “unfair” that people will draw conclusions about the state of the school’s reputation of having a sexual crimes problem due to the audit, he hopes that it will not affect the schools future recruits.

·      Why these schools? :

            Wills could not give a definitive answer as to why Chico State, along with the three other schools were chosen.

            He added that high media visibility of the campuses involved might have been a factor, but it is all speculation at this point.

            The only thing he could reaffirm was the alleged incident that happened in UC-Berkeley that caused the investigation to happen.

·      The Audit:

           

            Unfortunately, Wills could not answer specific questions about the audit itself due to instructions from the auditors not to discuss the process. However, if anyone has any question about the audit itself and the procedures, he was kind enough to provide this website:

https://www.auditor.ca.gov

            The California Auditor’s website has info on previous audits that has been filed, and could serve as a guide for anyone wanting to get an idea of what the results of the audit will be.

Student Efforts on Combating Sexual Abuse

Blog Corrections: On my previous post on how the sex-crime audit happening in Chico State, San Diego State, Berkley, and UCLA, will affect the schools in the short-term and in the long run, I mentioned that it is not a highly publicized matter, and that one of the only place I found information about the audit was from an article that was published in my school newspaper.

            However, while going through my e-mails this weekend, I found a message sent out by Chico State to their students in the beginning of the semester about the audit. Therefore, I stand corrected.

            
            I try to make my blogs as objective as possible (as every journalists should), and so I felt it was important for me to include that bit of information for the readers. This blog is not meant to criticize the schools involved, or the audit itself. I am simply trying to inform students and people about the nature of the audit and how it affects all the parties involved.

 Now that I have gotten that out of the way... 
         
             I want to talk about a talk about a group that is involved in the matter at hand, the students.

            Ultimately, the audit will affect not only the schools, but also the students who attend the schools that are being investigated.

            Students are the ones who are often the victims in the sexual abuse crimes that happen in college institutions, which is why I felt it was important to address them in someway.

             As a student myself, I often find it difficult to try and find organizations who can help me with particular questions and concerns that I may have. Being that this is a blog about the current audit on sexual abuse, I thought it would be useful to include information about organizations who can assists victims of sex crimes, so that anyone who may be reading this, who is a college student and who has been a victim of sexual abuse can find solace in knowing that there are organizations out there that can help.

College Organizations vs. Sexual Crimes:       

   In my previous blog, I touched upon the issue of sexual abuse and how it is often a subject that is disregarded, but there are some who put an effort on trying to bring this issue upfront. 

   In Chico State, one particular group that tries to bring the issue of sexual abuse to the forefront is the Associated Students’ Gender and Sexuality Equity Center (GSEC). GSEC is ran by students who attend Chico State. They are an activist organization that attempts to empower students, with their two programs: Women’s Program and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Program (LGBTQ).

                                                                                   

Recently, GSEC put together an event on Chico State called “Take Back the Night,” a biannual event that protests against rape and sexual abuse.

           

The other schools that are currently being audited also have similar organizations that try and tackle the issue of sexual abuse. UC-Berkeley has GASA (Greeks Against Sexual Abuse), a student led organization within the Greek community. San Diego State does a fair that is held on April during National Sexual Awareness Month called "This Hands Don't Hurt," and UCLA has CARE (Campus Assault Resources & Education).

What these organizations show is that the schools being audited do provide some sort of assistance and recognition to anyone who has been a victim of sexual assault. With that in mind, one can assume that the schools involved do in fact have their ways of handling and dealing with sexual abuse. 

Although it is unclear how much effort and help these organizations provide, negligence of addressing sex crimes could not have been the reason why the schools being audited were chosen.

 I have brought up plenty of questions upon starting this blog, yet it seems like I have provided very little answer. Next week, I will be speaking to Chico State's Director of Public Affairs, Joe Wills. Hopefully, he will be able to clear up some of the issues that readers of this blog most certainly have, in regards to the sexual crimes audit.