By DAVID N. GOODMAN
DETROIT (AP) _ About 11 percent of University of Michigan students say they experienced some form of sexual behavior without their consent in the past year, according to what the university said Wednesday was the first detailed data on sexual misconduct on its Ann Arbor campus.
The campus-wide survey of sexual misconduct on the campus is based on a sample of 3,000 out of the about 44,000 undergraduate and graduate students, the university said. It said that students “overwhelmingly say they feel safe from sexual misconduct.”
While 11.4 percent of all students reported experiencing nonconsensual sexual behavior within a year, the percentage was 22.5 percent for undergraduate women. It was 9.2 percent for women graduate students, the report said.
“The issue of sexual misconduct keeps me awake at night,” university President Mark Schlissel said in a statement. “I feel personally responsible for the safety and well-being of all students.
Among men, 6.8 percent of undergraduates and 1.1 percent of graduate students said they experienced nonconsensual sexual behavior in the past year.
Most nonconsensual sexual behavior occurred off or near campus, rather than on campus, and 56 percent of cases involved another Michigan student, the report said.
Twelve percent of undergraduate women and 4.3 percent of women graduate students reported they had experienced unwanted sexual penetration.
“It is a challenge to face these issues forthrightly, but it’s also critical that we do so if we are to solve this issue, together,” Schlissel said. “We want every student to feel safe on our campus and to trust the university to take the appropriate action when necessary.”
Michigan State University and other schools nationwide are conducting similar surveys. In April, Michigan State emailed a questionnaire to its 50,000 students asking detailed and specific questions about their “personal experiences with sexual misconduct,” including harassment and assault.
About 800,000 students from 28 schools are participating in similar surveys under an initiative from the Association of American Universities.
The U.S. Education Department last year revealed that the two Michigan universities were among dozens of schools that it was investigating for the way they handle sexual abuse allegations.
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