The University Advisory Committee’s Subcommittee on Sexual Violence made their report on the University’s sexual violence policy available to the community via the Office of the Provost this month. The report was first released in June 2014, after 15 months of work. The committee added a supplementary addendum in Nov. 2014 as a response to the 2014-2015 Rights and Responsibilities handbook.

“Social justice, which is a pillar of Brandeis University’s identity, must begin at home. Violence of any type in our midst tears at the fabric of who we are as a community, but sexual violence is a particularly pernicious form, because it goes to the heart of a person’s being and can result in harms to students’ physical and mental health,” the report begins.

According to the report, in 2011, all 20 Women and Gender Studies core faculty members produced a letter to the Faculty Senate on sexual assault that prompted the Senate to hold hearings on sexual violence against students.

The letter noted the low reporting rate and the lack of training for professors despite the Office for Civil Rights’ requirement for such training, according to the report.

In response, former Provost Steven Goldstein ’78 appointed the committee at the recommendation of the Faculty Senate in 2011 with the intent that the committee would recommend policies that could reduce instances of sexual violence on campus, as well as ways the University could better implement these policies.

Committee co-chair Prof. Bernadette Brooten (NEJS) wrote in a recent email to the Justice that the report is something she hopes will help implement change and not only help students who have been victims of sexual violence but also decrease the overall number of cases.

“I am very glad that Brandeis’s increased attention to sexual violence and better training are now resulting in more students seeking the help and justice that they deserve,” she wrote.

According to the report, 19 percent of female college students and 6.1 percent of male college students nationally have experienced sexual assault or sexual assault attempts during their undergraduate years.

According to the report, this statistic would mean that 389 undergraduate women and 96 men at Brandeis would have had similar experiences while undergraduates, yet the report notes that in 2010 no students reported instances of sexual violence, and in the two subsequent years, only a total of three students reported cases.

While Brooten noted that most universities experience under-reporting from students in sexual assault cases, she said the committee was more focused on the gap between the number of sexual violence reports at the University and the statistical number of cases that are likely happening.

Brooten also detailed the need for a better understanding of other cultures and communities, so as to improve resources available for international and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, intersex and queer students.

“I want all of our trainings and educational efforts to be imbued with an awareness of how sexual violence intersects with race, ethnicity, religion, disability, LGBTIQ concerns, nationality, and other forms of diversity,” she wrote. “Sexual assault happens in all communities, but differently in each. I fear particularly that students of color and international students may be hesitating to seek help.”

Additionally, Brooten noted the important role students have played—and will continue to play—in the process of finalizing the report and discussing its content in the coming months.

“Student activism, especially that of B.SASV, has had a tremendous impact,” she wrote. “I would like to see broad discussion among students on policies on sexual violence and their implementation, as this is a subject that affects the lives of many students.”

Brooten is also a member of the Task Force on Sexual Violence—comprised of faculty, staff and students—which will discuss the report and is currently creating a sexual misconduct policy and a sexual assault educational campaign for faculty and students.