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Colleges across the country are tightening restrictions for medical services provided on campus and are working to educate students of their rights on campus with the hope of avoiding sexual assault scandals like those that have plagued Michigan State University, the University of Southern California, and Ohio State University in recent years. In a report from The Chronicle of Higher Education, one of the measures being taken by some universities is ensuring there is an observer present when a medical procedure is being performed.
The tighter restrictions are necessary, with students visiting the campus medical center on average once per year.
From EducationDive:
Data also shows that a third of rape victims are attacked before they are 17, and that one quarter of girls are sexually abused by 18, and athletic programs have often been the focus of accusations of sexual misconduct.
More serious crimes on campus are documented by the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN), which reports that women are more than two times more likely to be sexually assaulted than robbed in college and about one quarter of undergraduate females experience sexual violence.
One of the most notable scandals surrounded disgraced former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State doctor Larry Nassar. While Nassar was on trial, more than 150 women and girls said that they were sexually abused by the doctor over the course of his career. Nassar was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison earlier this year.
Richard Strauss, who was once a well-regarded physician at Ohio State University, was accused of decades-long sexual misconduct. Strauss, who committed suicide in 2015, has been accused by more than 100 former students, including members of the wrestling team and athletes from 14 other sports, of sexual misconduct. Strauss allegedly used medical examinations as a guise for assaulting male student-athletes.
