Why are universities so concerned about sexual assault? It is because surveys and statistics suggest that sexual assault is a serious threat to the health and well-being of a significant percentage of college students.

How serious a threat? It is difficult to say for sure. In 1999, 89,107 rapes were reported to U.S. law enforcement agencies nationwide. This number has decreased from 93,144 in 1998.

In Wisconsin, 5,998 incidents of sexual assault were reported to the Office of Justice Assistance in 1999. This represents a 1% decrease from 1998. At UW-Platteville, three incidents of sexual assault on campus were reported to university officials during 1999. A total of 151 sexual assaults were reported throughout the UW System in 1999.

The actual number of rapes committed, however, may have been 3 to 10 times greater than the number reported. According to Robin Warshaw, author of I Never Called It Rape, “while rapes by strangers are still under-reported, rapes by acquaintances are virtually unreported,” yet such assaults constitute “70 to 80 percent of all rape crimes.”