Sex crimes on campus

November 10, 2014 4:30PM ET

An America Tonight special series focuses on the epidemic of sexual assault on college campuses and efforts to curb it

Topics:
Sexual Violence
Rape
Education

In October 2013, America Tonight launched a special broadcast and digital series on campus assault, exploring the numbers, who these rapists are, the role of alcohol and the strategies of activists to end the problem.

Since then, we've investigated colleges across the country, analyzed the stakes and the stakeholders, and closely followed the shifting politics. 

What do we now know? What's changed? What piece of the problem has proven stubbornly fixed? Follow our stories right here, on Facebook and on Twitter. And share your own stories with the hashtag #campusassault.

One year later

Rebecca thought her alleged rapist would be expelled when University of Kansas found him responsible for sexual assault. But instead, the school just put him on probation. Then, last fall, Rebecca saw America Tonight's first "Sex Crimes on Campus" series and learned about her rights for the first time. Joie Chen tells her story of fighting back, part of a growing movement over the last year that has 86 colleges – KU now included – under investigation for how they handle sexual violence.

The backlash

Josh Strange was expelled from Auburn University in 2012 after a campus tribunal found him responsible for sexually assaulting a classmate. He insists he's innocent, and that the disciplinary process – overseen by a librarian – was a travesty of a legal process. Christof Putzel digs into the growing backlash of male students who say their colleges' systems are stacked against them, and how their mothers cope with the allegations against their sons and campaign to clear their names.

Sexual assault in high school

After a classmate raped her in the band room of her high school in Henderson, Texas, Rachel Bradshaw reported it. Within a day, the police decided the sex was consensual, and the school sent Rachel to an alternative disciplinary school – with her rapist. While the failure of many colleges to handle sexual assault has made headlines for a year, Lori Jane Gliha investigates how high schools are in fact far worse, traveling with Bradshaw back to her hometown with all of its dark memories.

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Where to turn for help

If you have been the victim of a sexual assault or are a friend of a victim, live support is available at 800-565-HOPE(4673) or online here.

For more on campus safety and sexual assault prevention and help, visit our resources page.

As Al Jazeera America’s flagship program, our mission is to tell urgent, important and underreported stories with the quality, depth and time they deserve. Learn more.