Number of reported incidents of rape increased by 26 from 2017

The American River Courtyard, one of the residence halls located at Sac State. In the university's 2019 Clery Act Report, 31 instances of sexual assault were reported at on-campus housing, an increase of 21 incidents from last year's report.

Sacramento State reported 30 instances of rape in 2018 in its annual Clery Act Report, an increase of 26 from the year before.

According to Sac State University Communications, while the number of reported sexual assaults increased from the previous year, the number of individuals who were sexually assaulted did not see a significant increase.

If a person reports multiple instances of sexual assault, each of those instances is counted as an individual report, officials said.

“The number of sexual assaults reported in 2018 increased over reports from the previous year, but we did not see a significant increase in the number of individuals who were sexually assaulted,” officials said in a statement.

According to the report 30 instances of rape were reported in “on-campus residential” areas, which the report defines as on-campus residential facilities for students, which include American River Courtyard, Desmond Hall, Draper Hall, Jenkins Hall, Sierra Hall, Sutter Hall, Riverview and the Upper Eastside Lofts.

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Last year, Sac State said that four instances of rape were reported in 2017. In 2016, the report said, one instance of rape and two instances of fondling had been reported.

University Communications said that one explanation for the increase may be because students feel more comfortable reporting instances of sexual assault.

“We encourage and provide many avenues for reporting these incidents and offer numerous opportunities for education and increasing awareness,” the statement said. “These efforts have resulted in more reports as we work to provide a safe environment.”

Under the Clery Act, fondling, rape and statutory rape are each individually reported. In this year’s report, three instances of fondling were reported in 2018.

Under the report’s Violence Against Women Act Statistics category, reports of dating violence rose from four on-campus instances in 2017 to 29 in 2018. Of those 29, 26 occurred at on-campus residential areas.

The report adds in a footnote that while the number of dating violence reporting increased, there was not a “significant increase in the number of individuals reporting dating violence.”

Every year, the campus’s Clery Act Report details the number of crimes reported on campus. The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act of 1988 is a federal statute that requires colleges that participate in federal financial aid programs to both maintain and disclose crime statistics and security information.

According to the report, robbery, burglary, motor vehicle theft and arson all went down from the year before. Burglaries on-campus decreased from 27 instances in 2017 to 16 instances in 2018.

Students that have been sexually assaulted or harassed can receive support from Sac State’s Title IX office, such as counseling, medical care, legal help and assist in reporting.

This is a developing story. Stay with The State Hornet for updates.

This story has been updated to reflect a change in language of Sac State’s 2019 Clery Act Report. A previous version of the report described individuals who were sexually assaulted and individuals reporting dating violence as sexual assault victims and dating violence victims, respectively.

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