Despite three sexual assaults being reported on campus in the first two weekends of the semester, the UW-Madison Police Department said these numbers are not shocking.
“All of these cases are troubling, but I don’t think it’s fair to say this year is exceptionally different than previous years,” said UWPD Public Information Officer Marc Lovicott. “Unfortunately this is an issue that we have to deal with every single year and we tend to see an increase in these types of crime every year at this time of year.”
He added that, although Madison is a relatively safe community, UWPD has to deal with a lot of the same crime trends that other communities see and that various factors contribute to an increase in sexual assaults at the beginning of a school year.
“There’s lots of different reasons why we see increases, but I think it’s mainly because students are back and we have a lot of new students on campus and for a lot of them it’s the first time they’ve ever been away from home,” Lovicott said. “So they’re experimenting with alcohol and drugs, and it unfortunately goes hand-in-hand with some of the sexual assaults we’ve seen.”
Lovicott said two of the assaults were reported directly to UWPD, so the department is still working to collect as much evidence as possible.
He also echoed the advice sent out with every UWPD crime notice, which is to know what consent means, be active in a positive atmosphere and speak up about being in or witnessing uncomfortable or troubling situations.
