The Ohio State University has seen an upward trend in cases of sexual violence in 2017, according to its new Annual Security Report.
The figures, which were released on Thursday, present a grim picture of crimes reported on campus. A total of 71 rape cases were reported by the students in 2017, a jump of 14 rapes from 2016.
The university saw reporting of 44 incidents of dating violence, 21 cases of domestic violence, 49 cases of burglary and 8 cases of aggravated assault.
“Sexual assault is a national issue across college campuses and Ohio State continues to strongly focus on increased reporting with the goal of connecting survivors to resources,” Kellie Brennan, Ohio State compliance director and Title IX/Clery coordinator, said.
“Two years ago, the university launched Buckeyes ACT, a comprehensive program to increase awareness and reporting of sexual misconduct, including sexual assault.”
Though the university did acknowledge the rise in crime rates across most of the categories but attributed them to the inclusion of crimes whose exact location is not known and increasing population of on-campus students.
“ In 2016, the category of “Campus Rape” reports increased from 25 to 61. Part of this increase is because the university now includes rape reports where the exact location is unknown, but we cannot rule out the possibility that the crime occurred on campus,” the university said in a statement.
The university has also announced a number of measures to ensure a decline in the crime rates and provide a safe environment for the students.
The safety of our campus community is our No. 1 priority and we take all crime reports very seriously,” Monica Moll, director of Ohio State’s Department of Public Safety, said.
“The university continues to invest in safety and security to provide proactive policing and security services to additional campus residents and for major events.”
The university released the report in compliance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act.