*Names have been changed to protect the identity of those interviewed
Over the past few weeks, Arizona State University has come under scrutiny for unresolved issues involving sexual violence on campus.
These issues came to light when an ASU student publicly released information about ASU and the ASU Police Department silencing her when she reported her rape in February of 2020.
The student’s bravery to speak publicly on her experience has led other ASU students who are survivors of sexual violence to speak out.
Sun Devils Against Sexual Assault is among the users of the #MeTooASU hashtag, a reference to the #MeToo movement in 2017 against sexual assault.
Lauren*, a sophomore at ASU, has been an advocate for survivors of sexual violence for a long time, but since her experience with sexual violence in the fall semester of her freshman year, the fight has become all the more real.
“I trusted him because we had been talking for many months,” Lauren said. “But then he got me extremely intoxicated at his dorm and forced me onto my knees and made me give him oral sex.”
Lauren said her assaulter proceeded to have intercourse with her when she was far too intoxicated to consent.
“I didn’t think much of the incident until we talked about sexual assault and rape in my (Liberal Arts and Sciences) class,” she said. “My advisor told us that there is no way to consent if you are not sober.”
After learning this, Lauren told her advisor what had happened to her. Lauren said her advisor had to report the incident as a mandatory reporter for the university, and she was fine with that.
“She reported the incident and absolutely nothing was done,” said Lauren. “No one from the school reached out to me.”
After her rape, Lauren found out that her assaulter was going through the rush process for a fraternity on ASU’s campus. He was then “dropped” because he had four allegations of rape, according to Lauren.
Lauren said she and her sorority’s president recently reached out to ASU’s Interfraternity Council (IFC), as her assaulter was going through the rush process again for a different fraternity which made her feel extremely unsafe.
“I was promptly ignored by the president of this fraternity after explaining the incident to him,” said Lauren. “He never said anything back.”
When Lauren and her sorority’s president spoke to the IFC at ASU, they told her that they will “be more careful with allegations in the future” and said there was nothing they could do now, according to Lauren.
“This entire situation has been happening for over a year and it is so incredibly detrimental to my health,” said Lauren. “I feel ignored by ASU and the IFC.”
Lauren also filed a Campus Community Incident Report to share her experience with ASU. She will be meeting with the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities in December to further discuss her incident.
“I am always anxious walking around campus, as I have seen him a couple of times around,” Lauren said. “My mental health has been declining since this situation, and I am fearful for the safety of other students around campus.”
Jane*, a student on the Downtown Phoenix campus, also experienced sexual violence in 2019.
“It was just a random Tuesday in August,” she said. “But now the date is burned into my memory.”
Jane said she had met her assaulter through her friend group and that he was from the Tempe campus.
“We were honestly really similar and I wanted to be friends with him,” she said. “So I invited him up to my dorm with me and my friends to hang out.”
Jane said that the gathering was small and everyone was drinking a lot. She said she and her assaulter were both taking shots and then she quickly became intoxicated. All of her friends, including her roommate, had left to go to their rooms.
“When it was just the two of us, he wouldn’t get off of me,” Jane said. “I can barely remember anything, but I woke up with bruises.”
Jane said after the incident, she told her friends and they asked her the question, “Are you sure?”
She said because her friends didn’t believe her, she chose not to report it to anyone because she wouldn’t have evidence or witnesses.
“I thought I could get over it, but then October 10 came around,” said Jane. “That was the day I was assaulted for the second time. But this time, I was raped.”
Jane said she believes she was drugged, as she passed out in her dorm room after having a single drink, and woke up to her assaulter on top of her.
“It was the darkest night of my life,” Jane said. “And that’s when I decided to report both instances to my CA.”
Jane reported her incident to her Community Assistant and gave both assaulters’ names to the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities when she had her meeting with them.
“I didn’t report to ASU Police because I didn’t have evidence,” said Jane. “But even after giving their names to the school, nothing happened to either of them. One of them transferred to my dream school. He shouldn’t have been able to get in. He is a sexual assaulter.”
Jane said that the fact that her assaulters faced no consequences disgusted her, and now she fears for students at the university her first assaulter transferred to.
Anna*, an ASU student, felt similar feelings when she was assaulted her freshman year in 2019.
“I ended up drinking more than I intended at a party,” said Anna. “I have a large portion of my memory missing the next thing I know was separated from my friends with a stranger offering to help me get home.”
Anna said she remembers waking up to her assaulter, a stranger, taking off her clothes while she was practically unconscious.
“Over the next couple of days I wondered what happened, and I knew something had to have happened because I was in a lot of pain,” said Anna. “Then I pushed it back in my mind.”
Anna said she had many flashbacks to the incident and her friends supported her and helped her get to ASU Counseling Services.
At ASU Counseling Services, Anna said she was given all the options to report the incident, as well as emotional support.
“I really considered reporting,” said Anna. “I didn’t want to let him walk around free after what he did to me.”
But Anna said she did not end up reporting because of her lack of evidence. She said with similar cases to hers, the survivor almost never gets justice if they don’t have evidence.
“I have run into him at parties and around campus many times, and I have a panic attack and instantly have to leave,” said Anna. “It hurts me to see that he is out there living his life carefree while I am still hurting, but it is something that I live with.”
These three survivors were courageous in sharing their stories and each said they hope to get justice for the student that came forward and all other survivors at ASU. They also said they don’t appreciate ASU’s lack of public response to this issue.
Editor’s Note: Arizona State University released a statement on Nov. 24 about the allegations made by the student mentioned in this story. The full statement is available here.
Contact the reporter at shalliwe@asu.edu.
