A soon-to-be-released University of Wyoming (UW) campus climate survey shows that sexual assault and misconduct are lower than they were five years ago. It also demonstrates that the university's efforts to address sexual violence both on- and off-campus are working.
The study found a 10 to 20 percent reduction in sexual assault and similar or greater reductions for stalking, intimate partner violence and sexual harassment.
"We're starting to move the needle in meaningful ways," said Campus Climate Report co-author and UW psychologist Matt Gray.
In 2018, when UW conducted the last survey of its campus climate, it found that more than 1 in 4 female students had experienced sexual assault and that 1 in 5 students had experienced intimate partner violence.
Those numbers are lower now. The new survey shows some 23 percent of female students have experienced sexual assault, while 16 percent of all students have experienced intimate partner violence. The number of students who have experienced sexual harassment from other students fell from 58 percent to 27 percent.
The numbers from both 2018 and 2023 might seem surprising to those unfamiliar with the issue — especially when compared to official tallies — but they're not surprising to researchers in this area. Gray said that's because the "overwhelming" majority of sexual violence is never officially reported.
"Both the numbers in 2018 and 2023 are very much in line with what we see in national data and what we see in campus climate surveys across the country," he said. "Most people, if they're interested in the topic at all, they can get data by looking at the university's CLERY Act or Title IX data — when students formally report to the university that something has happened — or by looking at the campus crime statistics. And those numbers are, not just at UW but everywhere, falsely reassuring."
UW's survey and others of its kind get more accurate numbers by asking questions about specific actions and interactions — rather than only asking about "rape" or "sexual assault." Those can be loaded words and survivors might not attach such severe words to what they've experienced — even if what they've experienced matches the literal definition of sexual assault. Researchers, such as Gray and his co-authors, also make sure to use a large, diverse sample size. The new report surveyed more than 2,200 members of the campus community. For context, there are only about 11,000 students at UW.
In the wake of the 2018 survey, then-president Laurie Nichols and the UW Board of Trustees funded Green Dot bystander intervention training — an evidence-based approach to reducing sexual violence in a community.
The training equips people with the skills and mindset needed to intervene when they witness problematic behaviors that can lead to assault.
According to the climate survey, those who had completed Green Dot training were more likely to have engaged in bystander behavior — such as walking home with a friend who'd had too much to drink or distracting someone who appeared to be trying to take advantage of a drunk person — and less likely to believe misconceptions that put the blame on the victim.
Gray said he hopes university leadership will keep investing in bystander intervention.
"It's definitely not a 'Let's do it for a couple of years and then stop doing it' kind of thing, because you probably would get a return to baseline," he said.
