ST. LOUIS — Sex assault reports are on the rise across St. Louis-area universities.
According to publicly released data from four St. Louis colleges, reports of rape on or near campuses have doubled or even tripled at some schools.
Between 2014 and 2016, Washington University saw a 71 percent increase in reported rapes, up from 21 to 36.
In the same period, rape reports at St. Louis University tripled from 4 to 12.
UMSL reported 3 rapes in 2014 and 5 in 2016.
Lindenwood University reported 1 rape in 2014 and 2 in 2016.
Under the Clery Act, any college or university that receives federal funding must publish statistics about crimes on or near their campuses. 2017 data is not yet available at any of the schools.
Experts say the rise in reports is a good thing.
"It's showing that people are comfortable coming forward,” Kelsey Burns, a crisis advocate with Safe Connections said.
She says the reports don’t mean more rapes are happening but that fewer people are staying silent when they do.
"With the movements like #MeToo, with all of the amazing work happening on college campuses, we're seeing that more and more survivors reach out, they're going to be believed, that people are going to listen to them, and that we are going to support them,” she said.
See the crime stats for yourself:
- Washington University: https://police.wustl.edu/Documents/Clery-Crime-Statistics-Danforth-2017.pdf
- SLU: https://www.slu.edu/about/safety/2017-clery.pdf
- Lindenwood University: http://www.lindenwood.edu/files/resources/2017-clery-report-lindenwood.pdf
- UMSL: https://www.umsl.edu/~safety/police/files/pdfs/Campus%20Crime%20and%20Fire%20Safety/CampusCrimeReport_2016.pdf.
