Editor’s Note: This story includes mention of sexual violence or assault. Resources are available here.
Several violent crimes were down for the IU Bloomington campus in 2023, according to the most recent IU Public Safety annual security and fire safety report released Tuesday.
The report includes select crime statistics from 2021-23 on campus, in certain non-campus property controlled by IU and on public property on or adjacent to university campuses. It also features information about university policy procedures related to public safety, security and fire safety.
IU is required to produce annual safety reports under the Jeanne Clery Act, which requires colleges to report campus crime data, support violence victims and outline their safety policies publicly, according to the Clery Center. Because IU has on-campus student housing, it also has to produce an annual report on fire safety policies under the Higher Education Opportunity Act.
Thirty rapes were reported on the Bloomington campus in 2023, with 26 occurring in residential areas. An additional one was reported at a non-campus location. Both numbers are fewer than in 2022, when 38 rapes were reported on campus and five were reported from non-campus locations.
Eighteen instances of fondling, defined as the non-consensual touching of private parts of another person for sexual gratification, were reported on the Bloomington campus in 2023, as opposed to 14 the prior year. Instances of fondling on non-campus and public property decreased from seven in 2022 to one in 2023.
This marks the first year since 2020 that sexual assault — which includes rape, fondling, incest and statutory rape — has declined on campus.
IU Police Department Public Information Officer Hannah Skibba said in an email that the total includes reports made through Title IX.
More than 90% of sexual assaults on campus go unreported, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.
Six incidents classified as hate crimes occurred on campus in 2023. These include three simple assaults — an unlawful physical attack not involving weapons or obvious severe or aggravated bodily injury — characterized by a bias of ethnicity; an instance of stalking characterized by a bias of sex; an intimidation characterized by a bias of country of origin; and one vandalism characterized by a bias of race.
This is an increase from 2022, when two incidents considered hate crimes — a vandalism and an intimidation — took place.
Domestic violence on campus increased from 13 cases in 2022 to 16 in 2023, while cases on non-campus and public property decreased from nine to two.
Dating violence on campus decreased by more than 63%, from 33 instances in 2022 to 12 instances in 2023. Dating violence includes, but is not limited to, the threat or act of physical or sexual abuse committed by someone who is in a romantic or intimate relationship with the victim.
Robbery, aggravated assault and arson all also decreased on campus from 2022 to 2023: from six to two, four to three and four to one, respectively.
Stalking, however, increased by more than 42% on campus, from 73 reports in 2022 to 104 in 2023. Cases in non-campus and public locations also increased from four in 2022 to eight in 2023.
Motor vehicle theft, which includes thefts and attempted thefts of electric bicycles and scooters, rose from eight on campus in 2022 to 18 in 2023. These thefts at non-campus locations decreased from eight in 2022 to five in 2023.
Burglary on campus increased from 15 instances in 2022 to 29 in 2023. Non-campus burglaries decreased from 13 in 2022 to eight in 2023.
Drug arrests on campus decreased about 39%, from 87 in 2022 to 53 in 2023. Alcohol arrests on campus decreased over 66%, from 137 in 2022 to 46 in 2023. These arrests decreased on non-campus and public property, as well.
A list of resources is available here if you or someone you know has experienced sexual harassment or abuse.
