It took only a half a week into the start of the 2011-2012 school year before the first sexual assault was reported on Longwood's campus, and while that report was later determined to be unfounded by the Longwood University Police Department (LUPD), multiple departments on campus respond to such charges.
Officer Garry Hardy, a 13-year police officer, said that after the LUPD receives a call saying there has been a sexual assault, a responding officer will "try to make contact with the victim. In doing so, the first thing we want to do if possible is to give immediate care to the victim." The responding officer also wants to try and "secure the evidence, crime scene, which would be the room or wherever the actual crime takes place." After this is completed, the responding officer will also try to find any witnesses. Hardy said the investigation is then turned over to an investigator.
If a victim decides to tell their resident assistant (RA) first, then the RA will contact their supervisor, who would be either a residence education coordinator (REC) or area coordinator (AC) who will then respond by directly coming to the victim and ensuring their well-being.
Matthew Coats, REC for Frazer Residence Hall and Longwood's longest-tenured REC with five years of experience, said their main responsibility is to give control of the situation to the victim. Coats said, "They have already had some type of control taken away from them, so we want to give as much control back as possible." Coats also said the main role an REC or an AC has when responding to these types of cases is to give the victim "the resources and give them the advice, that and the encouragement to speak to other people."
The Burg Peer Education Network describes the "Red Zone" as "the time period starting at the beginning of the fall semester and ending after Thanksgiving break." They also said that freshmen females in particular are at higher risk during this period. Sasha Trent, a wellness coordinator with the Health & Wellness Center, said this is based on "research from many professionals in the field of student affairs and sexual assault prevention and violence prevention."
Studies have shown most assault cases have two common themes: alcohol and acquaintances. Stanford University reports that 80 percent of rapes occur when the victim knows the attacker and that 40 percent of victims had been under the influence of alcohol, while 60 percent of assailants had been consuming alcohol.
Larry Robertson, associate dean of students, whose career has spanned 15 years in student affairs, said, "In easily 90 percent of the cases, either the victim, the accused, or both have been abusing or using alcohol." Robertson pointed out many things students, both male and female, can do to minimize their risk of being a victim or being accused of sexual assault.
For women on campus, Robertson emphasized using the buddy system when drinking or going to a party and having friends there who will help make you aware of your limits. Also, taking a Rape Aggression Defense (R.A.D.) class offered through the LUPD will also better your chances of warding off a potential attacker. Robertson also advised to stay away from binge drinking at all times.
For men, Robertson stressed also having friends that will let you know once you have approached your limits and to "truly understand and do some research on what sexual assault is and what sexual battery is. Understand what those things are and too realize that that's a part of it."
Robertson also stressed that anybody, man or woman, can be assaulted by anybody else of any sex and that it is important to talk to your partner about how far both of you are willing to go. He stated that in our culture, a word such as "hook-up" could have many different definitions for many different people.
According to Stanford and the National Victim Center, 90 percent of rapes go unreported. This goes in line with the most important thing Robertson wanted to stress, which was, "If something happens, tell somebody."
