1 in 5 Women Sexually Assaulted on College Campuses | Find out Your School’s Stats

Higher Education Accurate Rape Reporting (HEARR) is a mobile website that provides easy access to reported campus sexual assaults in comparison to the CDC expected 1:5 women assaulted number. The disparity shows how far we need to go to understand the epidemic of campus sexual assault. The site was a collaborative effort between concerned citizen, Kurt Ronn, and the tech talented and community minded folks at Code for ATL.

CHECK OUT YOUR COLLEGE’S NUMBERS

Georgia Tech students are developing an app to “close the gap” between the number of reported sexual assault around campus and the expected number of incidents. The team members are Jessica Pater, Maia Jacobs, Casey Fiesler, Catherine Grevet, Kayla Desportes, and Miranda Parker, all PhD Students in the Human Centered Computing department in the School of Interactive Computing. Jessica Pater told us more about the app:

According to http://www.hearr.org, the expected number of reports on the GT campus in 2012 should have been 329, yet only 9 reports were submitted through Title IV or the the Clery Campus Security Act reporting.  What leads to this discrepancy? The application we are developing will provide information to help people understand this gap and why it exists. We will discuss through the application the benefits of more accurate reporting (“closing the gap”), provide information on local resources available to people who experience sexual assaults, and allow individuals to discuss sexual violence incidents experienced by themselves or someone they know. Through the application, people are given the opportunity to describe the assault that takes place, either from a survivor or a bystander perspective. For those who share their experiences, the app collects data from the survivor or bystander about the type of sexual attack, if they reported, what resources they used, and what resources they need now. We also are aiming to understand why people have chosen not to report sexual assaults, as this information may prove vital for improving existing resources for victims.

This app is being developed for submission in the Convergence and Innovation Competition being held at Tech. The purpose of this competition is to use GT or local data sources to create responsive applications that contribute to making the GT community a better place. Are you interested in participating as well? Entries are due Oct 31.

Get Involved:  Today is a student-led National Day of Action against sexual and domestic violence. 130+ colleges and universities including 2 UK schools, 2 Canadian schools, and some high schools are participating. Check out their website and Carry that Weight.

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