In response to Pipe Dream’s 2020 Sex Survey, 173 anonymous students indicated that they have experienced sexual assault. Just 26 answered that they sought help afterwards.

The 2015 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS), launched by the Center for Disease Control’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, states that one in five women and one in 14 men will experience rape in their lifetime. These statistics show that sexual assault is extremely common, particularly for young women aged 18 to 25 years old, yet rape is one of the most under-reported crimes, with only 37 percent of victims reporting to the police. False allegations are rare, with falsified or incorrect reports making up between 2 to 10 percent of all cases, according to the NSVRC.

According to the NISVS, sexual violence can be categorized into four types: rape by penetration, being made to penetrate someone else, sexual coercion where the victim is pressured in a nonphysical way to engage in unwanted sexual intercourse and unwanted sexual contact besides penetration. Contact sexual violence is any combination of the aforementioned types of sexual violence.

BU and Broome County have a number of services available to support victims of assault and harassment. The Student Association (SA) recently initiated a sexual assault campaign in an effort to educate students on sexual assault resources, including, but not limited to, the University Counseling Center, Decker Student Health Services Center, the Office of the Dean of Students, the Dean of Student’s Consultation, Advocacy, Referral and Education (CARE) team, BU’s ombudsman, Binghamton’s New York State University Police, a student-run peer helpline called Support Empathy Empowerment Kindness (SEEK), Residential Life and the Interpersonal Violence Program (IVP).

In the city of Binghamton, the Crime Victims Assistance Center and Broome County’s Sexual Assault Response Team can also help victims get the support and resources needed after an assault.