UK survey: sexual assaults under-reported

Preliminary results of a survey of UK students show some were sexually assaulted in the last year but many were reluctant to report it to the school.

The Campus Attitudes Towards Safety (CATS) survey asked 24,382 students questions about sexual assault and campus climate.

The University of Kentucky believes this might have been the largest campus-wide survey of its kind.

According to the survey, most students believe UK is a safe place. 98 percent reported feeling safe at UK during the day and 77 percent felt safe at night.

The survey also found that 1,053 students, five percent, reported some type of sexual assault in the past year and that more than half did not report the assault to the authorities.

This is the first-year of a five-year initiative. UK says it is the first step to making changes.

“This survey wasn’t a silver bullet, but it is a bullet that has got to pierce the hearts and minds of everybody on this campus that has responsibility to one another and responsibility for the welfare for what is most precious to us and that’s our students,” said Eli Capiluto, University of Kentucky President.

UK says so far, the numbers are comparable to other national surveys. It hopes to have more information from the survey later this year.

UK plans to share the survey with other universities in the state.