Review of Student-Victim Sexual Assault Claims With Losses

From 2011 through 2015, UE received notice of approximately 1,000 higher education incidents in which a student allegedly was a victim of campus sexual assault. This publication reviews the recurring factors in those losses and provides recommendations that were designed to help institutions avoid or address similar problems.

UE’s claims studies are snapshots of claims received in a defined time frame. This report addresses claims from 2011-2015. As a result, this report does not take into account the 2020 Title IX regulations issued by the Department of Education and contains references to, and recommendations based on, prior guidance in effect at the time of the study.

• Factors that contributed to losses included failure to ensure Title IX coordinators and investigators had appropriate training, employee confusion over reporting obligations, poor student understanding of consent, and negligent security.
• Even when perpetrators were found responsible, victim dissatisfaction with sanctions helped generate losses.
• Victims pursued costly legal action based on retaliation after they filed complaints.