The law firm Pilgrim and Associates released its findings Thursday with regard to how the UNM community reports and responds to allegations of sexual violence.
According to a 71-page UNM Climate Assessment Report, the findings suggest that UNM students, staff and administrators are unfamiliar with or confused about the University’s policies and procedures for addressing sexual violence.
UNM has 17 policies in place to provide victims or those seeking to report sexual violence with assistance and information. However, many of the procedures fail to comply with Title IX of the U.S. Education Amendments of 1972, according to the report.
P&A started its investigation last fall, after the University Counsel commissioned the review in response to a complaint regarding the handling of sexual assault reports within student housing and the athletics program.
“This is not just about a place — this is about our neighborhood and our community, and making it an even better place,” UNM President Bob Frank said Thursday moments before Jill Pilgrim, founder and owner of P&A, discussed her firm’s findings.
During the investigation P&A sought information from 101 randomly selected individuals during both one-on-one interviews and focus group sessions, according to the report.
There were 11 recurring concerns that presented themselves during the 53 one-on-one interviews conducted by P&A. These concerns included physical safety on UNM campus, visibility of UNM security and confusion as to where to report sexual assault incidents.
During the Q-and-A session, P&A was criticized for not seeking out past victims of sexual violence to conduct interviews. Pilgrim responded that the sample had to be random in order to keep the results from being skewed.
P&A found that having too many policies to address sexual violence hindered victims’ abilities to navigate the correct procedures. Many policies were unclear or inconsistent with each other, or contained incorrect and incomplete information, and the language of the policies contained legal jargon that was difficult to understand, according to the report.
“The net effect of these drawbacks is that a victim of sexual assault, or a witness to an incidence of sexual violence seeking to report it, will likely be frustrated and discouraged from reporting simply by an inability to decipher the policies,” the report stated.
However, UNM’s residential housing staff and administration expressed confidence in their ability to recognize and react to sexual assault, according to the report.
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In interviews conducted by P&A, 71 percent of UNM staff and administrators said they thought sexual assault is more likely to happen off campus, and 77 percent said they have received recent training on sexual violence.
“A primary area of concern expressed by administrators and staff was the need to continue to improve and support the recent sexual violence programs and initiatives,” the Climate Assessment stated. “They expressed the need to enhance sexual violence training and outreach at UNM as well as the crucial need to establish solid, credible, viable and legitimate systems and processes to address sexual violence issues when, and if, the need arises.”
Another finding of the report indicates that students living in residential housing tend to feel safe on campus and believe reports of sexual violence are limited incidents.
However, only 50 percent of female students reported feeling safe or very safe on campus, compared to 92 percent of male students.
“One female student reported what she believed was an attempted sexual violence attack when she was walking across campus back to her residence at Casas del Rio,” the report stated. “Fortunately, this student was able to fight the attacker off and get away from him.”
In 2014 UNM received eight reports of sexual assault, UNM Dean of Students Tomas Aguirre said last year. Students residing in on-campus housing filed four of those reports, two of which involved student-athletes.
In 2013 there were 11 reports of sexual assault, seven of which occurred within residential housing.
“Thus, it appears that the students’ perception seems to match the reality: there are not many reported incidents of sexual violence on campus,” the report stated. “However, UNM must take into account whether 7 out of 11 and 50 percent — two out of four — is an acceptable and reasonable level of incidents of sexual violence on campus.”
Students showed a willingness to learn more about sexual violence, but only 32 percent of those surveyed received training.
“I really feel like this University is putting a focus in this area because it impacts all of us,” Aguirre said Thursday. “It is really personal for everyone and, honestly, I believe this is a place where we are really trying to make this a priority and make a difference.”
With regard to the UNM athletics program, staff and administrators who were questioned said they believe UNM athletes are no more likely to be involved in sexual violence than members of the general student body. However, there are concerns about public scrutiny and media interest that follow sexual violence allegations for athletes.
“UNM student-athletes are generally aware of sexual violence and understand the impact that actual and alleged incidents of sexual violence involving student-athletes has on the reputation of the individual athlete, all student-athletes, the athletics program and the University,” the report stated.
Eighty-three percent of student-athletes have reported receiving some training or education on sexual violence.
Paul Krebs, vice president of athletics at UNM, said the Athletics Department had a role in the climate survey and encouraged all athletes to participate.
“I think it was important to get a sense of the issue on campus, and it’s an incredibly important and significant subject,” Krebs said. “I think we need to make sure as an Athletics Department our student-athletes and staff are aware of the issue and have views on sexual violence.”
UNM administrators and staff said they felt safe on campus during the day. Twenty-eight percent of female staff felt safe on campus, compared to 29 percent of males who felt very safe.
Lauren Marvin is the Culture Editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @LaurenMarvin.
