For Sexual Assault Victims, A Choice

Students grappling with the aftereffects of sexual assault have three options.

They can take the case to court, they can take the case to the Administrative Board, or they can do nothing.

And two female undergraduates who claimed they were sexually assaulted by acquaintances in the Freshman Dorms last fall have taken two divergent roads in dealing with it.

One chose to report it to the police a full three months after the incident. The other elected to remain silent.

In instances Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) Spokesman Steven G. Catalano said were not connected to one another, the first victim alleges she was sexually assaulted between the hours of 10 p.m. on Sept. 14 and 3:15 a.m. on Sept. 15, just three days after freshmen arrived in town for their first semester of college.

The victim did not file a report with HUPD until Dec. 21—the day before winter recess.

The second victim notified police of her sexual assault on Jan. 4, but decided not to go forward legally.

“The victim did not want to formally go on the record,” said Catalano,

HUPD police logs note that the date and time of the incident are unknown.

Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Director Susan B. Marine said most sexual assaults reported to her are instances of rape, defined as forced penetration, and that 80 percent of sexual assaults nationally are not committed by strangers.

“A lot of times, people don’t want to make a report right away because they are overwhelmed with what happened to [them], they’re dealing with their own feelings,” said Marine. “It’s relatively common for someone to make a police report several months after the assault actually happened.”

Although both victims knew their assailants, no arrests have been made.

FACING THE LAW

Whether or not to pursue the matter legally is a personal matter and entirely up to the victim, Catalano said.

“Some victims do not want to report to the police because they think a criminal suit will ensue, and that’s not the case at all,” said Catalano. “It’s just in case they want to pursue a criminal case later on. It does not mean it’s automatically going to go to court.”

Marine said the low conviction rate in matters of sexual assault also discourages victims.

“The conviction rate is somewhere between 10 and 15 percent,” said Marine. “That doesn’t sound like, nor is it, good odds.”

And although a delay in reporting the incident does not hinder the investigation, according to Catalano, he believes the sooner it is reported, the better.

“The longer someone takes to report it, the more their memory fades little by little,” Catalano said. “As in any crime, it is important to report it right away.”

FACING THE AD BOARD

The third option, seldom taken and shrouded in secrecy, is taking the case to the Administrative Board.

“A student who’s chosen the Ad Board process usually [has] initially decided that they do not want to go through a criminal case,” said Assistant Dean of the College John T. O’Keefe, who is also the Ad Board’s secretary. “Sometimes, students feel the Ad Board process will be better for them than the court process.”

But only one case of sexual assault was heard by the Ad Board during the last academic year, according to 2003-2004 statistics.

The Ad Board voted to take “no action,” in the case, a finding of neither guilt nor innocence.

The majority of sexual assault cases end with such a ruling.

“These are very difficult cases to sort out,” said O’Keefe. “There’s often a desire for some [complainants] for punishment, but a complainant may have other reasons too.”

Although the Ad Board now distributes a student guide explaining its role and power, no students currently serve on the disciplinary board.

“It’s history: our Ad Board has never had a student representative,” said O’Keefe. “The Senior Tutors have a good sense of what students want. The student perspective we care about is right in front of us.”

A movement for reform of the Ad Board was led by Jol. A Silversmith ’94 and the Harvard Civil Liberties Union (HCLU) in the early 90s.

“What we were most successful in doing is having the administration provide additional information to students,” Silversmith said. “What we were not successful in achieving was any real change in the procedure to the Ad Board. There is still an immense amount of secrecy, still a lack of student participation, still a fundamental lack of due process.”

The respondent is never allowed in the same room with the victim. This means, as Silversmith points out, that the accused is not allowed to confront the accuser.

“All proceedings of the Ad Board are confidential because of the nature of the information there,” said O’Keefe.

If a vote of responsibility against the respondent is found by the Ad Board, punishments range from an admonishment to expulsion.

O’Keefe said that since 1997, three sexual assault cases have ended in expulsion.

—Staff writer Robin M. Peguero can be reached at peguero@fas.harvard.edu