Nearly two-thirds of undergraduate college students around the nation report they have experienced some sort of sexual harassment during their collegiate careers, according to a study titled "Drawing the Line: Sexual Harassment on Campus," conducted by the American Association of University Women.
Additionally, nearly one-third of students reported that the harassment was of a physical nature, such as being grabbed or touched in a sexual way, the survey states.
The AAUW held a press conference on Tuesday at which the AAUW leadership addressed the survey's findings. The transcripts of the press conference were made available on the AAUW's Web site.
"Sexual harassment is common among today's undergraduate students -- so common that it seems normal, as one student put it," said Elena Silva, director of research for the AAUW Educational Foundation, at the press conference.
According to the survey, although both male and female undergraduates report experiencing sexual harassment, female students are more strongly affected by it. While 35 percent of male students who reported being sexually harassed said that the experience made them feel somewhat or very upset, 68 percent of female students who reported experiencing sexual harassment said they felt very or somewhat upset.
"[Sexual harassment] prevents college students, both male and female, from achieving the social and academic benefits that colleges and universities aim to provide," said Barbara O'Connor, president of the AAUW Educational Foundation, at the press conference.
The survey also found that most students who sexually harass other students say they did so because they thought it was a funny thing to do, and that the majority of students who experienced sexual harassment do not go to school employees for help.
Virginia Frischkorn, leadership chair of the Sexual Assault Council at the University, said that the survey did an excellent job of getting a higher response rate than usual from students around the nation who had experienced sexual harassment. Frischkorn added that there are still large numbers of students who have experienced sexual harassment and have not come forward.
"The findings are still vastly under-reported," she said.
According to Frischkorn, the findings in the survey apply fairly well to the situation at the University, where a continuing effort should be made to educate people about sexual harassment and sexual assault.
"We need to bring more awareness as to what is appropriate and what is not," she said.
Students at the University who do not feel comfortable talking to University employees about sexual harassment experiences can make use of other resources, such as peer counseling and the Sexual Assault Resource Agency (SARA) hotline or the Office of Equal Opporunity Programs.
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