The statistics are often shocking:

Nearly one-fourth of college females have been or will be raped or sexually assaulted before they graduate.

As many as 90 percent of victims will know their attacker.

As little as 1 to 10 percent report their experience.

These statistics were compiled by several organizations including the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the Rape Treatment Center at Santa Monica Hospital in Santa Monica, Calif., and specialists dealing in acquaintance sexual assault from Cornell University, Kent State and the University of Georgia.

While the sources are credible, the numbers are difficult to believe.

At NIU, 20 sexual assaults were reported to the Sexual Assault Response Team last semester, and 12 of the victims knew their attackers.

Since its establishment in 1986, SART has had 63 reported sexual assaults: 12 in 1986, 31 in 1987 and 20 last semester.

NIU’s statistics are lower than the national averages. But SART Coordinator Blanche McHugh said the cases of sexual assault at NIU are highly underreported.

Karen, not her real name, is a 21-year-old NIU senior who was raped by a friend of her roommate in October 1987. Karen did not report the crime to the police or to SART.

“I was afraid to tell anyone because of what they might say or think. He (the attacker) was friends with a lot of people I knew, and I couldn’t help thinking that people wouldn’t believe me. I thought they would say it was my fault when I told them he held me down and brutally raped me until I bled.”

Sue, not her real name, is a 19-year-old NIU sophomore. In March of 1988, she was forced to perform oral sex on a man who lived in her dormitory while a friend of the man watched. Sue also did not report her assault to authorities at NIU or DeKalb.

“I always told myself ‘if it ever happened to me, I would go to the police and have the guy arrested.’ But you don’t know how you’ll react until it actually happens to you.”

Kathy Guimond, a sergeant and SART coordinator for the University Police, said she believes the estimate that only 1 percent of all sexual assaults are reported is probably more accurate than others. “There’s no real way to tell what is not being reported,” she said.

Determining exactly how many assaults are reported at NIU can become complicated because of the involvement of three separate police agencies, she said.

SART, which relies on cooperation between the University Health Service, Counseling and Student Development, the University Police and the Judicial Office, defines a sexual assault as “any unwanted contact, however slight, by force or the threat of force between the sex organ of one person and the sex organ, mouth or anus of another person.”

The SART definition is based on Illinois legal definitions and statutes, McHugh said.

The terms date rape and acquaintance rape are sometimes used interchangeably. However, there is a difference, McHugh said. While there is a “fine line” separating the two, date rape refers to a sexual assault committed while two people are on a date and acquaintance refers to a sexual assault committed by someone not necessarily well-known but known to the victim, McHugh said.

Rape, regardless of who the attacker is, is a form of sexual assault. However, forced oral and anal intercourse and penetration of the sex organ or anus by any part of another person’s body or a foreign object also are considered forms of sexual assault, Guimond said. All are considered felonies in Illinois.

McHugh said the type of coercive force used by an attacker can be either physical, psychological or a combination of the two. Guimond said the type of physical force reported in most cases consisted of an attacker holding down the victim. However, other types of physical violence are not excluded, she said.

The type of psychologically coercive behavior can vary from case to case. Many victims believe they are at fault or feel obligated in certain situations, maybe because their attacker paid for a date, she said.

“‘I took you out to dinner, therefore you have to sleep with me.’ You usually see that sort of behavior,” Guimond said.

McHugh said she believes there is no just provocation for rape. “A man gets to choose, and a woman should also have the right to choose how far she wants to become sexually involved at any time.”

Thursday: The emotional trauma associated with sexual assaults.