Sexual Assault Awareness, Prevention and Adjudication (SAAPA) Task Force
In April 2017, UT President Sharon L. Gaber created the Sexual Assault Awareness, Prevention and Adjudication Ad-Hoc Task Force (SAAPA). This 15-member task force, co-chaired by Dr. Amy Thompson and Valerie Simmons Walston, was charged with assessing UT data on sexual misconduct, current programs and policies, and developing recommendations for future planning. The committee included representatives from across the UT campuses and community.
One of the first steps in this assessment process was examining the incidence of sexual misconduct on our campus. For the purposes of this report, the definition of sexual misconduct follows what is outlined in the University’s Title IX policy to include: sexual harassment, sexual violence, sexual assault, conduct that exploits another person in a sexual and non-consensual way (such as voyeurism and non-consensual recording), stalking, interpersonal relationship violence and indecent exposure. Sexual misconduct also may be discrimination, harassment or violence based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.
Overall, data suggests that our campuses are one of the safest campuses in the state of Ohio. Over the last several years, UT has had consistently low reports of rape, fondling, statutory rape, domestic violence and stalking. For example, in the preliminary 2016 data available from the UT Police Department, there were 13 reported incidents for all these categories combined. Data recently released (2017) from a study conducted by the Ohio Department of Higher Education suggests when compared to other state universities, our students have a higher average percentage of confidence that our campus will follow formal procedures to address complaints of sexual misconduct (UT 3.20 vs. 2.99 All University Main Campus Average; 4 point Likert scale with 4 being the highest score). The University of Toledo also outscored many other campuses regarding the perception that “campus officials would ensure that steps were taken to protect the person from retaliation” (UT 3.67 vs. 3.37 All University Main Campus Average; 5 point Likert scale with 5 being the highest score). These cumulative findings suggest that students perceive that acts of sexual misconduct on the UT campus will be addressed appropriately and that resources will be provided to support complainants.