BU Survey on Campus Sexual Assault, Harassment Finds Progress, and Problems

"Boston University students know all about the many resources their school offers to prevent and respond to reports of sexual assault and harassment, but despite widespread awareness, those troubling issues remain a concern, according to results from BU’s 2019 Campus Climate Survey of Sexual Assault and Misconduct. 

Roughly one-third of respondents said they experienced some level of sexual harassment since starting at BU; one-third of undergraduate women reported some type of nonconsensual sexual contact; one in every seven respondents reported some incident of stalking behavior. The most common harassment experiences reported were hearing insulting or offensive sexual remarks or jokes and hearing inappropriate comments about their or someone else’s body, appearance, or sexual activities. The most commonly reported harassers were people whom the respondents were familiar with, or they were classmates or friends.

The summary reports that 23.7 percent of BU undergraduate women and 7.4 percent of graduate women were victims of incidents that involved physical force or the inability to consent or stop what was happening. Nearly half of them (46.1 percent) contacted a program or resource. "

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