Editor’s Note: This story includes mention of sexual assault. Resources are available here.
One case of fondling, one case of sexual battery and two cases of rape were reported to Indiana University Police Department between Feb. 21 and Feb. 25, according to the IUPD crime log. All the reported sexual assaults occurred on IU’s campus, with two separate incidents reportedly taking place within McNutt Quad.
The first report came Feb. 21, when a student told IU’s Title IX Office they had been raped Jan. 28 in a Greek house on North Eagleson Avenue, IUPD Public Information Officer Hannah Skibba said. The Title IX Office passed the report along to IUPD, who referred the information to university officials for review.
Just two days later, on Feb. 23, another student reported they had been raped Feb. 10 in McNutt Quad. Again, the student first reported the incident to the Title IX Office, which gave the information to IUPD. IUPD referred the incident to university officials for review.
A second incident was reported Feb. 23 when a student told the Title IX Office they had been sexually assaulted Aug. 20, 2023, inside the Hickory Hall building at Union Street Apartments. The IUPD crime log lists the crime as sexual battery. IUPD again received the report from the Title IX Office and passed the incident along to university officials for review.
Another two days later, on Feb. 25, a student reported being inappropriately touched Jan. 16 in McNutt Quad. The IUPD crime log lists the crime as fondling, and states IUPD referred the incident to university officials for review once more.
There have been 26 rapes and 17 sexual batteries reported on campus since Aug. 17, according to IUPD’s crime log.
According to IU’s 2023 Security and Public Safety Report, there were 38 rapes reported on IU Bloomington’s campus and five rapes reported off-campus in 2022.
Off-campus cases include incidents that occurred at any building or property owned or controlled by a student organization, buildings owned or controlled by an institution directly supporting IU’s educational purposes and properties frequently used by students not within the geographic area of the institution. Off-campus cases also include incidents occurring on public property within or immediately adjacent to campus.
Also in 2022, there were 35 cases of fondling — defined as the non-consensual touching of private body parts of another person for the purpose of sexual gratification — reported on the Bloomington’s campus, with an additional two cases occurring off-campus.
These numbers are a marked increase from previous years. In 2021, there were 31 cases of rape and 21 cases of fondling on and off-campus. In 2020, there were 25 reports of rape and seven reports of fondling, although on-campus instruction paused mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic and did not resume until the fall.
Despite these numbers, more than 90% of sexual assault victims on college campuses do not report their assaults, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.
A list of resources is available here if you or someone you know has experienced sexual harassment or abuse.
