As a UNCW faculty or staff member, you may be concerned about your own or a student’s safety. Even though ours is a safe, secure campus, the threat or experience of violence can occur anywhere. Recent data regarding violence indicates:
- At least 1 in 5 college women has been the victim of an attempted or completed sexual assault.
- Of women who are assaulted, more than 8 in 10 knew their assailants.
- In the United States, 5 in 100 women and 1 in 100 men reported at last one stalking incident that resulted in a high level of fear during the past year.
- 4 of 10 stalking incidents occur at the end of a relationship.
- More than 1 in 5 women in the United States reported being assaulted by a partner during their lifetime.
- Incidents of women assaulting partners have increased, with 1 in 14 partners reporting an assault by a woman.
UNCW has created a comprehensive violence prevention and education response, led by several offices on campus, including the University Police, CARE: Collaboration for Assault Response & Education, and the Office of the Dean of Students. These offices work closely with Student Heath Services, Housing and Residence Life, the Counseling Center and off-campus agencies, including Rape Crisis Center and Domestic Violence Services.
CARE: Collaboration for Assault Response & Education works confidentially with students who may need information and support after experiencing assault or attempted assault, relationship abuse or stalking. We collaborate with the University Police and other offices in a confidential manner.
The CARE office recognizes the importance of faculty and staff relationships with students. If a student discloses a violence-related concern to you, it is important that the information disclosed not be kept confidential. Rather, the student should be referred to an appropriate office which can support them in reporting the violence, or can use UNCW’s anonymous notification procedures to inform the University of the assault without identifying the student. The following guidelines may be helpful:
Do:
- Do provide information about how to connect with CARE by calling 962-CARE. The CARE responder may also be contacted 24/7@512-4821.
- Do help the student to contact University Police if they desire to do so @962-2222 or 911(EMR.)
- Do allow the student to make their own decisions about how to proceed.
- Do get information and support for yourself as a helper, (especially if the student does not want to talk to anyone else) by calling 962-CARE.
Don’t:
- Don’t ask for details. Good intentions may be experienced as intrusion.
- Don’t tell students what they “should” or “must” do.
- Don’t make statements or ask questions that unintentionally imply victim-blaming (“How much were you drinking?”)
- Don’t make judgments about the student’s reactions or behaviors. It is normal for people to respond to a traumatic experience in a wide variety of ways.
Remember that the sooner you refer a student to CARE or other campus resources, the more effective and easier the referral process will be.
University Employee Responsibilities
It is not your responsibility to determine whether an assault actually occurred or to confront alleged perpetrators. Always refer students who report possible sexual assault, relationship violence or stalking to the CARE office and/or the University Police for additional information and support. To refer a student does not mean that the student will be required to pursue any legal or judicial action.
There are designated university employees who are required by law (Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act of 1990) to notify University Police that a sexual assault has been reported to them. This is an Anonymous Notification that an incident has occurred; it is not an official report and does not name the reporting victim. These required-to-report employees are those from the following offices: University Police, Dean of Students, Campus Recreation, University Union and Athletics.
Other faculty and staff are encouraged to share information regarding violent or criminal activity that may assist University Police in maintaining community safety. This can be accomplished while maintaining the anonymity of the person who alleged an assault or other crime. For example, the Student Health Services and the Counseling Center, while not required by law to use the anonymous notification, typically will do so with student consent.
