There were three reported cases of sexual assault on campus in 2006, up from one in 2005, according to Lt. Mike Orr, public safety officer.
“I’m not alarmed by the increase,” said Kim Bushore-Maki, coordinator of outreach programs at the counseling center. “I’m more concerned about people who aren’t getting help that need help.”
Bushore-Maki said the increase in reported sexual assaults does not suggests that more rapes are occurring. She attributes the increase to this year’s higher student enrollment and a raised awareness of knowing how and whom to report the crimes. She also said she believes that sexual assault is “grossly underreported on campus.”
Senior Casey Skorput, a social work major, said, “I have never been aware of a problem at ETSU but I think that in a college setting there are always instances of sexual assault.”
One student said she believes a rape happened in her residence hall. “I was walking down the hall in my dorm and there was a girl in her room with her boyfriend. When I passed by her room, I heard her screaming, ‘No, please, stop,’ and I could hear her crying. I called campus police, but when they came she denied everything,” she said.
Another student said she personally knew of two college women who had been victims in the past year.
According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, more than half of sexual assault cases go unreported, making it one of the most underreported crimes.
“The most predominant reasons why people who are raped don’t report it is because they feel very ashamed or embarrassed,” Bushore-Maki said. She said victims may be afraid of not receiving the support they need to prosecute rapists, and are often told by the perpetrator that no one will believe them anyway.
In 2004-2005, nationally there were about 200,780 victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault, according to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, or RAINN. Bushore-Maki said statistically one in four college women are victims of sexual assault.
Skorput advices precautions such as: not walking alone in the dark, guarding beverages in social settings, carrying pepper spray or similar self-defense items, and not going home with strangers, especially after drinking.
Bushore-Maki, however, said the only preventative measure that works is stopping sexual assaults altogether. She stresses that there is not much women can do to prevent being raped. So what can be done if you have been a victim?
Currently, the counseling Center has a program called Campus Advocates against Sexual Violence, or CAASV.
This program is designed to provide intervention and prevention programming for students. CAASV also, “provides a safe, confidential atmosphere in which survivors can discuss their experiences and explore their opinions about medical treatment and legal action,” according to the Counseling Center’s Web site.
Other programs include the annual “Take Back The Night” and Rape Aggression Defense Training, or RAD, which is a 12-hour program that teaches women self-defense.
“True prevention is when men start talking to other men about how to respect women,” Bushore-Maki said. “I don’t believe that all men are rapists, but I do believe most rapists are men,” she said. This is because over 98 percent of perpetrators are male, although one in 10 men are assaulted during their lifetime.
Bushore-Maki says if a person is sexually assaulted, he or she should seek help. Students concerned with themselves or a friend should go to the counseling center or to a counselor off-campus.
The Counseling Center, which is located in Room 303 in the Old College of Medicine building, is completely confidential and has counselors who can accompany survivors through the medical treatment and also when reporting the violence to police.
“Research shows that people who get help heal quicker than those who don’t,” Bushore-Maki said.

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