> > if sexual harassment occurs on-campus, or involving staff or students, surely that is a University matter?
> No, I think that's a police matter.
I think it depends on who the victim reports it to, and which channel they want to impose consequences.
I've heard that going through the legal process can be stressful enough for some victims of sexual violence / harassment that they refuse to go through with it. From the standpoint of police / prosecutors, investigating / prosecuting crimes where the victim isn't cooperative or isn't willing to testify at trial, and there is little other evidence, isn't an effective use of limited government resources.
Whereas the university discipline process to suspend or expel a student for misconduct is essentially a private administrative proceeding which may be a more attractive forum for victims to pursue: There's a lower standard of proof, so the process is more likely to be successful; and the accused does not necessarily have a right to face the accuser in such a setting (it's clear that Constitutional rule in criminal proceedings is supposed to make it harder for a person to ruin someone else's life with a false criminal accusation, but it also creates a big psychological problem for some victims to overcome.)
My understanding is that university and police investigations are independent processes with different standards of proof.
> No, I think that's a police matter.
I think it depends on who the victim reports it to, and which channel they want to impose consequences.
I've heard that going through the legal process can be stressful enough for some victims of sexual violence / harassment that they refuse to go through with it. From the standpoint of police / prosecutors, investigating / prosecuting crimes where the victim isn't cooperative or isn't willing to testify at trial, and there is little other evidence, isn't an effective use of limited government resources.
Whereas the university discipline process to suspend or expel a student for misconduct is essentially a private administrative proceeding which may be a more attractive forum for victims to pursue: There's a lower standard of proof, so the process is more likely to be successful; and the accused does not necessarily have a right to face the accuser in such a setting (it's clear that Constitutional rule in criminal proceedings is supposed to make it harder for a person to ruin someone else's life with a false criminal accusation, but it also creates a big psychological problem for some victims to overcome.)
My understanding is that university and police investigations are independent processes with different standards of proof.