Rape reports rise at N.J. colleges in the wake of #MeToo. See the numbers for each campus.

The #MeToo movement caught national attention at the end of 2017 after allegations against media mogul Harvey Weinstein sparked a national conversation about sexual harassment and sexual assault.

The following year, New Jersey’s four-year college campuses saw a 15% increase in rape reports and a 47% increase in fondling allegations, according to an NJ Advance Media review of campus security data.

There were 166 rape allegations at the state’s 28 residential, four-year colleges and universities in 2018, the latest available data in annual campus crime reports published by the schools.

That is 15% more rape reports than in 2017 and 50% more reports than in 2015, according to NJ Advance Media’s review.

New Jersey’s campuses also received 94 reports of fondling, 247 domestic violence complaints, 127 reports of stalking, 45 dating violence complaints and six statutory rape reports in 2018, the data shows.

It is unclear if the increases in rape and fondling allegations are related to the #MeToo movement or to efforts by many college campuses to make it easier for students to file reports and receive counseling.

“The reality of this isn’t that sexual violence on campus is necessarily occurring any more often than it did in years prior, but rather that students on campus are becoming more comfortable reporting the harassment and assault they’re experiencing,” said Marissa Marzano, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

The increase in reports could mean students have more clarity about how to report sexual violence on campus, Marzano said.

Here are the number of reported incidents at each of New Jersey’s four-year colleges with residential campuses in 2018. They are listed from the campuses with the most reported rapes to the least:

Rowan University

Enrollment: 19,465

Rapes: 21 (compared to 13 the previous year)

Fondling: 11

Dating violence: 0

Domestic violence: 70

Stalking: 56

Rutgers University- New Brunswick/ Piscataway

Enrollment: 50,254

Rapes: 15 (compared to 30 the previous year)

Fondling: 6

Dating violence: 0

Domestic violence: 49

Stalking: 5

Stockton University

Enrollment: 9,621

Rapes: 15 (compared to 6 the previous year)

Fondling: 7

Dating violence: 0

Domestic violence: 22

Stalking: 10

Princeton University

Enrollment: 8,374

Rapes: 13 (compared to 12 the previous year)

Fondling: 21

Dating violence: 2

Domestic violence: 1

Stalking: 4

Ramapo College

Enrollment: 6,174

Rapes: 13 (compared to 10 the previous year)

Fondling: 3

Dating violence: 4

Domestic violence: 3

Stalking: 9

Rutgers-Newark

Enrollment: 13,451

Rapes: 12* (compared to 3 the previous year)

*(1 of the 12 reports was determined to be “unfounded,” the school said.)

Fondling: 3

Dating violence: 0

Domestic violence: 19

Stalking: 0

Montclair State University

Enrollment: 21,115

Rapes: 9 (compared to 9 the previous year)

Fondling: 1

Dating violence: 7

Domestic violence: 15

Stalking: 3

The College of New Jersey

Enrollment: 7,686

Rapes: 7 (compared to 5 the previous year)

Fondling: 3

Dating violence: 6

Domestic violence: 0

Stalking: 1

Seton Hall University

Enrollment: 10,162

Rapes: 7 (compared to 4 the previous year)

Fondling: 4

Dating violence: 3

Domestic violence: 0

Stalking: 4

Kean University

Enrollment: 14,056

Rapes: 6 (compared to 7 the previous year)

Fondling: 4

Dating violence: 3

Domestic violence: 2

Stalking: 0

Stevens Institute of Technology

Enrollment: 6,929

Rapes: 6 (compared to 6 the previous year)

Fondling: 0

Dating violence: 5

Domestic violence: 1

Stalking: 3

Drew University

Enrollment: 2,263

Rapes: 6 (compared to 5 the previous year)

Fondling: 5

Dating violence: 1

Domestic violence: 1

Stalking: 3

Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences- Newark campus

Enrollment: 6,900

Rapes: 6* (compared to 0 the previous year)

*(2 of the 6 were determined to be “unfounded,” the schools said.)

Fondling: 5

Dating violence: 0

Domestic violence: 17

Stalking: 0

William Paterson University

Enrollment: 10,198

Rapes: 5 (compared to 4 the previous year)

Statutory rape: 1

Fondling: 6

Dating violence: 5

Domestic violence: 1

Stalking: 4

Monmouth University

Enrollment: 6,167

Rapes: 4 (compared to 9 the previous year)

Statutory rapes: 5 (All involved the same victim at a summer camp, the school said.)

Fondling: 1

Dating violence: 0

Domestic violence: 8

Stalking: 0

Fairleigh Dickinson University- Florham campus

Enrollment: 3,400

Rapes: 4 (compared to 5 the previous year)

Fondling: 1

Dating violence: 1

Domestic violence: 4

Stalking: 1

Georgian Court University

Enrollment: 2,458

Rapes: 4 (compared to 3 the previous year)

Fondling: 0

Dating violence: 1

Domestic violence: 0

Stalking: 0

Centenary University

Enrollment: 1,802

Rapes: 4 (compared to 2 the previous year)

Fondling: 1

Dating violence: 0

Domestic violence: o

Stalking: 0

Caldwell University

Enrollment: 2,189

Rapes: 3 (compared to 1 the previous year)

Fondling: 2

Dating violence: 1

Domestic violence: 1

Stalking: 0

Saint Peter’s University

Enrollment: 3,452

Rapes: 2 (compared to 1 the previous year)

Fondling: 0

Dating violence: 0

Domestic violence: 1

Stalking: 1

Felician University

Enrollment: 2,004

Rapes: 1 (compared to 0 the previous year)

Fondling: 3

Dating violence: 2

Domestic violence: 0

Stalking: 1

New Jersey Institute of Technology

Enrollment: 11,423

Rapes: 1 (compared to 2 the previous year)

Fondling: 0

Dating violence: 0

Domestic violence: 2

Stalking: 2

Rider University

Enrollment: 4,824

Rapes: 1 (compared to 2 the previous year)

Fondling: 4

Dating violence: 0

Domestic violence: 11

Stalking: 3

Fairleigh Dickinson University- Metropolitan campus

Enrollment: 6,464

Rapes: 1 (compared to 0 the previous year)

Fondling: 0

Dating violence: 0

Domestic violence: 1

Stalking: 0

Rutgers-Camden

Enrollment: 7,171

Rapes: 0 (compared to 3 the previous year)

Fondling: 0

Dating violence: 0

Domestic violence: 14

Stalking: 1

Bloomfield College

Enrollment: 1,685

Rapes: 0 (compared to 2 the previous year)

Fondling: 0

Dating violence: 3

Domestic violence: 4

Stalking: 0

New Jersey City University

Enrollment: 7,991

Rapes: 0 (compared to 0 the previous year)

Fondling: 3

Dating violence: 0

Domestic violence: 0

Stalking: 10

College of Saint Elizabeth

Enrollment: 1,186

Rapes: 0 (compared to 0 the previous year)

Fondling: 0

Dating violence: 1

Domestic violence: 0

Stalking: 1

Where do these numbers come from?

Jeanne Clery, a Lehigh University student, was raped and murdered in her dorm room in 1986 in a case that prompted advocates to call for safer campuses and more transparency.

Colleges are required by a federal law named after Clery to publish their campus crime statistics every year. The 2018 numbers were distributed to students this school year.

Several years ago, the law was amended to require colleges to break out how many sexual offenses on campus were classified as rapes to give students a clearer picture of safety at their schools.

Neither the state nor the federal government tracks how many campus crimes there are in New Jersey each year. NJ Advance Media reviewed reports from each of the state’s four-year colleges with residential campuses to calculate the statewide totals.

The numbers include alleged crimes reported on campus, including in dorms. The totals also include the areas immediately surrounding a campus, including public property and land and facilities not owned by the school.

Why do some colleges have high numbers of rapes while others have none?

Rowan University had more rape reports than any other four-year school in New Jersey in 2018, according to the data. The Glassboro-based public university received 21 rape reports in 2018, compared to 13 the previous year.

Rutgers University’s New Brunswick/ Piscataway campus had the second highest number of rape reports with 15, compared to 30 the previous year.

At the bottom of the list, the College of Saint Elizabeth, New Jersey City University, Bloomfield College and Rutgers-Camden had no rape reports in 2018.

Rowan and Rutgers-New Brunswick are among the largest universities in the state, so their numbers could be a reflection of their size and their high number of dorms.

Rowan officials said the 21 rape reports, 70 domestic violence complaints, 56 stalking reports and 11 fondling allegations on their campus in 2018 could also be a result of resources to support alleged victims and encourage reporting.

“At Rowan, we actively raise awareness about the prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses and highlight all of the resources and support available to victims that they can help reduce the rate of incidence and help those affected begin to heal,” said Joe Cardona, Rowan’s vice president for university relations. “Clearly, more work needs to be done at all of New Jersey’s colleges and universities.”

At Rutgers, school officials said they launched a campaign in 2016 to increase student awareness about sexual violence resources. Campus police were given new training and more victim assistance centers opened.

At Rutgers-Newark, a new Violence Prevention and Victim Assistance office opened in 2017. The following year, the number of reported rapes at Rutgers-Newark quadrupled to 12, though one of the cases was later determined to be a false report, according to the campus crime report.

“The university believes the increase in the number of reported sexual assaults at some of our locations and the decreases at other locations since that time reflects our ongoing efforts to raise awareness about sexual violence resources, and we are encouraged that those seeking help have connected with these resources,” Rutgers officials said in a statement.

What is considered ‘rape’ or ‘fondling’?

College campuses are required to use the federal description of crimes when classifying reports of rape, fondling, dating violence and other crimes for their campus crime reports.

A rape of a woman or a man is defined as “the penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus, with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.”

Fondling is defined as "the touching of the private body parts of another person for the purpose of sexual gratification, without the consent of the victim, including instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her age or because of his/her temporary or permanent mental incapacity."

Dating violence is sexual or physical abuse by someone in a relationship, including the threat of violence, according to the federal definition.

Monmouth and William Paterson universities also reported statutory rape cases in 2019. Those cases, which involved people allegedly having sex with minors under 16, are considered non-forcible offenses and are counted in a separate category from rape on the campus crime reports.

Was anyone arrested for these alleged rapes?

The campus crime data provided by the colleges only details how many reports were made on campus. The crime reports do not say if anyone was arrested for the alleged rapes or if the cases ever made it to trial.

Are these numbers accurate?

The colleges self-report the crime statistics and critics say there is no independent reviews to make sure they are accurate. Sexual assault prevention advocates also say campus rape statistics only provide a narrow window into the campus climate.

“Whenever we see official reports, we know it’s often only the tip of the iceberg. Sexual violence remains the most vastly underreported crime. Some students will simply never feel safe reporting their victimization to authorities on- or off-campus," said Marzano, the spokeswoman for the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

“The best thing we can do is continue to create communities where every person feels their reported experience will be handled with the care and attention that it deserves,” she said.

Read more about sexual misconduct in New Jersey:

--Rutgers refuses to investigate some sexual harassment claims. Are students at risk?

--Rutgers finally investigating more sexual harassment complaints. But critics say change is coming slowly.

--#MeToo was supposed to fix things. But women in N.J. politics say they’ve been groped, harassed -- and worse.

--Tell us your stories about sexual harassment in N.J. politics, says new committee looking for solutions

Tell us your experiences with allegations of sexual misconduct in New Jersey: Here’s how to share your story.

Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KellyHeyboer. Find her at KellyHeyboerReporter on Facebook.

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