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Introduction
Adelphi University is committed to providing an educational atmosphere in which students can pursue serious learning and can achieve their maximum potential. Maintaining a safe environment for students, faculty, and staff has long been recognized as an essential part of University life.

At Adelphi, safety and security are of the highest priority and are considered a shared responsibility, requiring the cooperation of everyone concerned - students, faculty, and staff.

The University has established policies and procedures, and offers comprehensive services, to ensure the well being of members of the University community. Adelphi advises and updates students about security procedures through a variety of means, including the revisions to this and other brochures, on-campus meetings, posted notices, voicemail, and email as necessary.

The following protocol was developed for survivors of sexual assault and rape and for those individuals at Adelphi University who might be called upon to support and advise them.

The Facts About Sexual Violence

• Every minute, there are 1.3 forcible rapes of adult women in America. Every hour, 78 women are forcibly raped. Every day, 1,871 women are forcibly raped.
• One out of eight adult women, or approximately 12.1 million American women, have been victims of forcible rape.
• One out of seven rape victims is male.
• Four in five women who are victims of sexual assault know their attackers.
• Rape has a devastating impact on the mental health of victims, with almost one-third (31 percent) of all rape victims developing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) at some time in their lives.
• Only 16 percent of rapes are reported to the police.

Who is Most Vulnerable to Sexual Assaults?

• Studies indicate that persons between 16 and 24 years of age are most often victims of acquaintance rape. College students, especially first-year students, are most vulnerable for several reasons:
  • They are away from home.
  • They are not sure how to protect themselves in new situations.
  • They may lack the social and emotional skills needed to balance independence and self-preservation.
• National research indicates that one in four women in college campuses have been victims of rape or attempted rape.

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Acquaintance rape is forced sexual intercourse that is perpetrated against the will of the victim by a person who is known to the victim. Survivors of acquaintance rape may not realize that they have been a victim of a crime. When asked if they have ever been raped, they may answer no. But if asked if a date or acquaintance has ever forced them to have sexual intercourse against their will they may answer yes.

Both sexual assault and acquaintance rape are acts of aggression, violence, and power.

If a person is highly intoxicated or unconscious, she or he cannot give legal consent to a sexual act. Therefore, under such conditions a sexual act is considered to be a criminal violation (sexual assault).

Danger Signs of an Abusive Dating Relationship
Your date may be an abusive person if he or she:

• Acts jealously when you talk to others, even friends.
• Criticizes what you do, what you wear, and your friends.
• Pressures you to drink more alcohol than you want.
• Does not listen to what you want to do.
• Controls your body in small ways - holds you too tight, pulls you around by the hand, and ignores it when you pull away.
• Always needs to know whom you will be with and where you are.
• Becomes angry or violent easily.
• Tries to force you into sexual activity that you do not want.
• Calls you names such as "fat," "ugly," "lazy," or "stupid."
• Degrades your sex with jokes or shows interest in others in order to upset you.
• Threatens to hurt you or someone you care about.
• Emotionally or physically harms you and feels remorseful afterwards.

Safeguards Against Sexual Assaults

• Be aware of your surroundings.
  Stay in well lit areas. Be wary of isolated spots. Avoiding walking or jogging alone, especially at night. Walk confidently.
• Trust your instincts.
  If a situation, place, or person makes you uncomfortable, leave! Have your key ready before you reach the door to your home, car, or office. If you think you are being followed, change direction and head for a store, theater, restaurant, or security personnel.
• Know your personal needs and wishes.
  Communicate your thoughts clearly. Be assertive. Set limits and stick to them. Insist on being treated with respect. Don't be afraid to refuse an invitation or a gift. Look for warning signs.
• If you feel that someone you know is trying to sexually assault you, be direct.
  Confront the person and say no! Don't give in to any of the demands made. Get away. If you are in danger, blow a whistle or yell, "FIRE."
• Don't let alcohol or drugs cloud your judgment.
• Consider taking a self-defense course. Adelphi offers one in Garden City through the Physical Education program. There is no right or wrong way to respond to a sexual attack. Each offender and circumstance may be different. Whether to resist an attacker or not can only be your decision.

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• The person asked for it. No one asks to be raped or sexually assaulted. The victim's behavior or appearance is not the issue in question. Consent is the issue.
• It can't happen to me. Anyone is a potential victim, regardless of age, race, educational background, or income level.
• The primary motive for rape is sex. Power, anger, and control are the motives for rape, not sex.
• Rape only occurs among strangers. Only 22 percent of rape cases involve strangers. The rest, 78 percent, are committed by individuals whom the victim knows well - a spouse, father, boyfriend, relative, friend, or neighbor.
• No one can be forced to have sex against his or her will. Anyone can be coerced by physical force or by threat of injury or death. Almost half of all rape victims fear serious injury or death during a rape.
• Most rape victims suffer visible physical injuries during an attack. Over two-thirds of all rape victims, fearing injury or death, do not resist an attack and, therefore, do not sustain any bruises, marks, or other visible physical injuries.

If a Sexual Assault Occurs...

• Go to a safe place, and contact the proper authorities immediately.
• Assist in preserving evidence. Do not change clothes, shower, douche, comb hair, brush teeth, eat, or drink. And, if possible, do not urinate.
• Ask an advocate or rape counselor to accompany the victim to the medical examination. See Support Services.
• Get a medical examination to ensure treatment. There may be hidden physical injuries.
• Ask that a rape examination (rape kit) be performed and that any evidence be stored in case the victim decides to report the crime.
• Inquire about the tests for possible pregnancy, HIV, and other sexually transmitted diseases (STD).
• Arrange for confidential counseling from a qualified trauma counselor.
• Consider legal charges (criminal and/or civil) and University disciplinary options. The victim of an attempted or completed sexual assault can decide not to proceed with charges later.

Reporting Sexual Assault

At the Garden City campus
• On-campus, call Public Safety (press the "5" key).
• Off-campus, call 911.

At the Hauppauge Center
• On-campus, go to the Main Office.
• Off-campus, call 911.

At the Manhattan Center
• Call 911.

At the Hudson Valley Center
• Call 911.

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Crisis intervention and rape counseling services are also provided at the Garden City campus under the auspices of the Nassau County Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Student Counseling Center. The office is located in the School of Social Work (lower level) and is open Monday through Thursday, from 10:00 AM until 8:00 PM, and Friday, from 9:00 AM until 5:00 PM. The Coalition offers its services free of charge to female and male survivors of attempted or completed sexual assaults. Call the Rape Hotline at 516.222.2293, or contact the Student Counseling Center at 516.877.3646 or scc@adelphi.edu for information and assistance.

Support services near other Adelphi sites include:

In the Hauppauge Center area
Victims Information Bureau of Suffolk County
631.360.3607 - 24-hour crisis line

In the Manhattan Center area
Victim Services Crime Victims Hotline
212.577.7777 - 24-hour crisis line

New York City Sex Crimes Report Line
212.267.7273 - 24-hour crisis line

New York City Domestic Violence Hotline
1.800.621.4673 - 24-hour crisis line

In the Hudson Valley Center area
SAFE Project/Rape Crisis Hotline
845.452.7272 - 24-hour crisis line

Legal Options
The victim of an attempted or completed sexual assault has the option of pressing charges against the assailant in any or all of the following ways:

Criminal Prosecution
Reporting a sexual assault or an attempted sexual assault to the authorities does not mean that the victim has to press charges. However, it does begin the legal process should the victim decide to pursue prosecution at a later date.

The sooner an assault is reported, the more likely that valuable evidence can be collected.

Civil Suit
The victim of an attempted or completed sexual assault has the option of consulting an attorney to initiate a suit in civil court for damages against the assailant for the tort of battery. The purpose of a civil suit is to compensate the victim for the wrong done to her or him.

Civil action may be brought against the assailant regardless of whether criminal charges are pursued.

University Judicial Options
Under the Adelphi University Student Judicial Policy, a member of the University community who alleges that a student or group of students has committed non-academic misconduct on the campus has the right to file a formal notice of complaint. Such complaints must be filed with the Student Judicial Officer no later than six months from the date of the alleged misconduct.

Both a student complainant and a student respondent are entitled to the advice and counsel of Faculty Judicial Advocates from the date a complaint is filed until the case is concluded.

Cases involving allegations of sexual misconduct are adjudicated by the Special Issues Hearing Board, which is comprised of faculty and administrators. Sexual assault is viewed by University officials as a very serious offense and can result in a range of sanctions, including removal from the University.

Both the complainant and the respondent in such cases shall be informed of the outcome of any campus disciplinary hearing.

All proceedings against the alleged offender are independent of civil or criminal actions.

To discuss possible changes in academic and living situations after an alleged sexual assault incident, the student should contact the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs, 516.877.3660.

Student complaints of sexual misconduct against employees of the University are to be filed with the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs.

Maximum Penalties