The final draft of the 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report was released Friday with new statistics from 2018 revealing an increase of rape reports on campus property.
This year’s report details information on campus security policy, on-campus resources and fire and crime statistics for the past three years. The report opens with a letter from University of Wisconsin Chief of Police Kristen Roman. Roman wrote that reading and understanding the report is crucial to staying safe on campus.
“While UW-Madison is generally a safe place to study and work, it is not without the challenges that other institutions of similar size and scope face,” Roman said. “There are many resources available to help you make informed decisions about your safety.”
UW needs to reevaluate safety, sexual assault prevention programs
The 2018 statistics show changes across different types of campus crime. One of the biggest differences the report captures is the increase of rapes reported on campus from 2016 to 2018.
In 2016, there were 7 rapes reported on campus property. In 2017, this went up to 13 reported rapes on campus property.
The report found that there were 17 rape reports in 2018. Thirteen of the reports were on-campus and four were off-campus. There were also increases from 2017 to 2018 in reports on fondling, dating violence and stalking violations under Violence Against Women Act offenses.
The report also stated that UW is “pro-actively address[ing] sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking.” The 34-page sexual assault portion of the report details prevention and awareness programs like “GetWise” and “U Got This” that approximately 7,800 incoming students must complete their first semester.
“Primary prevention programs promote behaviors that foster healthy, mutually respectful relationships and sexuality; encourage skillful bystander intervention; and seek to change social norms in healthy and safe directions,” the report stated.
UWPD officers highlight campus resources when discussing assault, ticketing practices
The report contains information on how to report, recognize and prevent sexual assault. In 2018, UW increased its efforts to encourage student bystanders to speak up when they see signs of potentially dangerous situations.
“Many people assume that sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking only involve the victim/survivor and perpetrator,” the report stated. “But at UW-Madison we recognize that every campus community member is responsible for preventing violent behavior and helping to create a safe and respectful environment.”
Liquor law violations that warranted disciplinary referrals on campus property also increased from 2017 to 2018. While the report does not detail underage drinking tickets on campus, the overall violations of liquor laws increased.
2018 had 1,262 liquor law violations on campus property, 64 more than 2017. Both 2018 and 2017 statistics, however, were down from the 1,479 violations on campus property in 2016.
Though there were increases in crime, there was a decrease in drug violations resulting in disciplinary referrals with 2017 reports dropping from 370 on campus property to 233 on campus property in 2018. Burglary and hate crime report statistics remained relatively the same from 2017 to 2018.
“We all have an important role to play in keeping ourselves, our fellow Badgers and our campus community safe,” Roman said.
