Denver Post
Rape reports down at college attended by Bryant's accuser
Friday, October 17, 2003 - GREELEY - Sexual assault reports have decreased at the University of Northern Colorado, where the woman who accused Kobe Bryant of rape once studied, prompting speculation here that the high-profile case has made victims fearful of coming forward.
At UNC, 12 women reported being sexually assaulted through mid-October in each of the past two years, according to the campus Assault Survivors Advocacy Program (ASAP). Three anonymous reports were made in the same time period this year by women who said they were attacked, but those women did not want to offer details or seek help. Campus police have not received any sexual assault reports this term but received four during the spring semester. "If I were a victim of sexual assault, and I heard and saw things going on in the media with Kobe Bryant, it would certainly make me think twice about reporting it," University of Northern Colorado Police Chief Wendy Rich-Goldschmidt said this week. "These cases are tough enough already and if you throw something high profile on top of it, it becomes explosive." Bryant's attorneys have attacked the accuser's credibility by questioning her sexual history and bringing out evidence to imply she had sex with another man shortly before the alleged attack. Deana Davies, interim coordinator of UNC's ASAP program, said the Bryant case can confirm victims' fears that they may not have community support or that their reputations will be smeared in public if they report the attacks. Nationally, well-publicized sexual assault cases like those involving the Roman Catholic Church are credited with raising the average reporting rate from the 30 percent range in the 1990s to 52 percent in 2002, the most recent federal figures available, said Jamie Zuieback, a spokeswoman for the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network. Allegations in those cases were taken seriously and the victims' reputations were not smeared, she noted. The Eagle woman who accused Bryant of rape attended UNC earlier this year but did not return for the fall term. In addition to the graphic details revealed during Bryant's preliminary hearing, two men have been charged with threatening to kill the woman. There also have been news reports quoting her friends who say she attempted to commit suicide twice this year. Eagle County Judge Frederick Gannett said he hopes to decide by Monday whether Bryant should stand trial. Bryant, 25, is accused of raping the woman June 30 at an Edwards resort where she worked. The Los Angeles Lakers guard has said the sex was consensual and remains free on a $25,000 bond. The fall is usually the busiest time for date rape cases at UNC as freshmen away from home for the first time meet people at large parties in off-campus houses, ASAP graduate assistant Kimberly Chambers said. Anpeytu Raben, director of Sexual Assault Survivors, Inc., said sexual assault reports have dropped by about one-third in Greeley and the surrounding area. In nearby Fort Collins, the number of reports was unchanged but there was an increase in the number of calls from people who said they have been assaulted in the past, said Nancy Meginness, director of the Sexual Assault Victim Advocate team. She said she received up to four such calls on some days during the late summer and early fall compared with an average of three to five a month. No one has mentioned the Bryant case, but she suspects it could have prompted some calls. "I think anytime you get something where there's so much coverage, it's going to be affecting a lot of people with long-range issues," Meginness said. Reporting remains unchanged at crisis centers in other Colorado cities, and the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault has not heard of other decreases. "I'd hope it would be that it's not happening as much but I don't think that's the case," said Jordan Reck, 20, a UNC junior and ASAP volunteer. |