Barely one month into the new school year, six Southern Illinois University students are facing allegations that they were involved in two reported sexual assaults on the Carbondale school's campus this month.
The reports underscore a troubling problem facing virtually all institutions of higher education: Students are most at-risk for sexual violence during the first six to nine weeks of the school year, experts say, often because they are just trying to get their footing in a new environment for the first time while living in close quarters with dozens of other students and, in some cases, attending alcohol-fueled parties.
The period of time between orientation and Thanksgiving has been dubbed the "Red Zone" by administrators and researchers-a term that has been reinforced by several studies, including a 2007 Department of Justice survey that found more than half of college sex assaults occur between August and November.
Like many schools, SIU has been offering training to students and staff members on how to prevent sexual violence and respond to it, even before last week's arrests, according to Rae Goldsmith, a university spokeswoman.
"We're trying to encourage students to report [sexual assault], because some students won't report, and we're also trying to say that no matter what we have supports for you," she said. "It's a national issue that we're taking ownership of, just like every campus in the country."
Both victims of the alleged sexual assault at the Carbondale campus were treated and released from Memorial Hospital of Carbondale, Reuters reports, and the incidents are under investigation.
The majority of unwanted sexual experiences happen to first- and second-year college students near the beginning of the academic year, according to a 2008 survey by researchers at Middlebury College in Vermont.
"Students are new to this culture and also away from their families for the first time, maybe experimenting with parties and new social groups that they don't know that well," said Diana Newton, the executive director of Porchlight Counseling Service, an Evanston-based counseling center that focuses on college-aged victims of sexual violence. "Or maybe they are hanging out with new people, and perpetrators target people who are more vulnerable. And that includes freshmen because they are new to the culture, trying to learn a lot of things and fit in."
For Porchlight, which primarily serves schools in and around Chicagoland, a disproportionate number of the 25 to 30 calls the organization receives each year come early in the school year, according to Newton. Two weeks into this academic year she already had received seven calls, which is double the number she expected, she said. That increase, she said, could be caused by the growing visibility of Porchlight on college campuses, or the fact that the problem of sexual assault has become more visible on campuses under scrutiny from the federal government.
A 2009 survey of undergraduate women in the U.S. found that nearly one in five experienced some form of sexual violence or attempted sexual violence. But it is widely understood among researchers, advocates and educators that sexual assault is a significantly underreported crime, and that includes assaults at colleges.
The Department of Justice is examining allegations that some universities around the U.S. aren't adequately reporting sexual assaults or addressing reports on their campuses. And last week the Obama administration launched "It's on Us," a public service campaign aimed at preventing campus sexual assaults, with a video message featuring celebrities such as actors Kerry Washington and Jon Hamm, musician Questlove and NBA star Kevin Love.
"We've been working on campus sexual assault for several years, but the issue of violence against women is now in the news every day," Obama said during a Friday speech from the East Room. "We're getting a better picture of what domestic violence is all about. People are talking about it. Victims are realizing they're not alone."
SIU isn't the only local school that has received attention over reports of sexual assault this year. In May, the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights announced investigations into the sexual assault policies at the University of Chicago and Knox College, and Northwestern University is facing a Title IX lawsuit from a student who claims a professor sexually assaulted her in 2012.
Amidst these reports, schools are struggling to figure out how to prevent sexual assault and other forms of gender-based violence on their campuses.
Schools receiving federal funding are required to have at least one freshmen orientation on the subject of sexual consent and assault under the federal Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which also requires schools to report sexual assaults to the Department of Education and train staff members.
"Sex Signals" is part of Loyola University's effort to combat the Red Zone, according to Stephanie Atella, a senior health educator who coordinates the school's sexual assault and domestic violence advocacy services.
Before students arrive on campus, she said, freshmen are required to take an online course in sexual violence, and take "Active Bystander" training, which teaches students how to support peers in situations in which someone might be harassing or violating someone else, rather than enable the behavior.
"The idea is people stepping in and speaking up when they see something that might escalate or might create a culture in which gender-based violence is acceptable," Atella said. "People are more likely to speak up if they feel like they know how to."