Editor’s Note: This story includes mention of sexual assault. Resources are available here.
A rape reportedly occurred at 2 a.m. Thursday in the Walnut Grove Center residence hall, according to an IU Bloomington crime notification.
The IU Police Department received a report of the rape at 11 p.m. Thursday. The suspect is a student, and IUPD knows their identity, according to the crime notification. The report said the suspect assaulted the victim through nonconsensual sexual acts in the victim’s room.
Anyone with information about the crime is encouraged to call IUPD at 812-855-4111. The investigation is ongoing.
IUPD issues a crime notice when there is a “serious, or continuing threat pursuant to the federal Clery Act,” according to Protect IU.
According to IUPD’s crime log, there have been eight sexual batteries and seven rapes reported on campus since Feb 6.
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. It also includes incidents on public property within or immediately adjacent to campus.
In the same year, there were 35 cases of fondling, defined as the nonconsensual touching of private body parts of another person for the purpose of sexual gratification, reported on Bloomington’s campus, with an additional two occurring off campus.
These numbers are increases from previous years. In 2021, there were a combined 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 that year due to the pandemic and did not resume until the fall.
These numbers are most likely the minimum number of cases, as more than 90% of sexual assault victims on college campuses do not report their assaults, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. This is due to fear, shame, uncertainty, guilt and avoidance, according to the Jackson Health System.
A list of resources is available here if you or someone you know has experienced sexual harassment or abuse.
