College Sexual Violence Complaints Up 1,000 Percent in 5 Years

A group of Senate Democrats on Tuesday released new data showing the number of college sexual violence complaints submitted to the Department of Education has skyrocketed during the last five years. 

Sens. Barbara Boxer of California, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Tim Kaine of Virginia released data the department's Office for Civil Rights provided in response to letters the senators sent asking for greater transparency. The data show the number of sexual violence complaints at colleges and universities increased from nine in fiscal year 2009 to 102 in fiscal year 2014 – a jump of more than 1,000 percent. Meanwhile, the average length of time it takes the office to investigate cases that result in "substantive closures" – as opposed to those resulting in "findings of no violation or insufficient evidence," or another outcome – more than tripled, from 379 days to 1,469 days.

The office aims to resolve complaints within 180 days, but has been unable to do so in part because sexual violence cases "tend to be complex and may involve systemic, campus- and institution-wide issues, in addition to issues pertaining to specific students," department officials – Catherine Lhamon, assistant secretary for civil rights, and James Runcie, chief operating officer of the Federal Student Aid office – wrote to the senators in an April 28 letter. 

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But the Office for Civil Rights – which also handles complaints about other types of discrimination based on race, color, national origin, age and disability – has been attempting to do more with less. In an annual report released last week, the office highlighted the strain on its workforce as the number of complaints has increased. In total, the office received 9,989 complaints in 2014 with 544 full-time staff members – about 15 percent below its staffing level in 2005 and more than 50 percent below its staffing level in 1980. The complaint totals include those based on other types of discrimination, as well as those from elementary and secondary schools. 

The data also show that the number of forcible sex offenses reported to the department nearly doubled from 3,264 in 2009 to 6,016 in 2014. Colleges and universities that receive federal student aid are required under the Clery Act to report crime statistics annually to the department, and make them available to current and potential students and employees. 

Lhamon and Runcie wrote in the letter that the increase in reported offenses stems from an increase in federal enforcement efforts and "the growing public attention paid to the issue of campus sexual assault."

"These figures still don’t reflect even conservative estimates of the actual incidence of sexual assault and rape on campuses, and still the Department of Education lacks the resources to promptly investigate the few complaints against schools that are filed," Gillibrand said in a statement. "This data is the latest example of why we need to flip the incentives so that schools properly address the problem of sexual assault on their campuses, and make sure the Department of Education has the funding it needs to enforce the laws, review complaints and help prevent campus sexual assault."

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Still, Lhamon and Runcie wrote in the letter that the Office for Civil Rights was able to close some of the oldest complaints in 2014 and 2015. The combination of investigating long-running complaints with an increase in sexual violence complaints in part explains why it has taken longer to resolve cases, the letter said. 

"[The Office for Civil Rights] expects that these averages will decrease as the agency closes out its oldest sexual violence cases and if, as we hope, Congress increases [the office's] appropriation to allow [the office] to manage its current and projected caseload," the letter said.