Two dorms account for a quarter of all reports of sexual assault at Arizona State
There have been 24 reports of sexual crime at Vista Del Sol and Taylor Place in the past six years
Sexual assaults and other sexual crimes have been mapped at Arizona State for the first time.
The Tab ASU undertook this project to give the student body a clearer picture of where most sexual crimes take place.
The data is based on six years' worth of police logs, which the university is obliged to disclose. Incidents logged on this heat map show reports of assaults clearly focused around student dorms.
A heat map showing reports of sexual assault focusing on ASU dorms
While most people fear walking to their car, armed with pepper spray while holding their car keys, the most dangerous place maybe the building where they sleep at night. Within 2016 – based on data up to July – seven of the eight rapes reported occurred in dorms.
A fifth of the reports occurred in the first two months of school beginning (August and September) with significant spikes at the end of the school year.
Overall, 63 percent of all rapes were reported at ASU dorms. Freshman dorms are reported to have 17 percent, upperclassman with 19 percent. Dorms that are neither just for freshmen or upperclassmen account for further 27 percent of reports.
Vista Del Sol and Taylor Place combined accounted for a quarter of the reported assaults.
A large proportion of reported rapes at ASU – where locations are disclosed in police reports – occurred in Vista del Sol. The dorm is home to Barrette honors upperclassmen. Many of the incidents took place on days of the week with low student activity – Sunday and Monday.
Taylor Place is also home for a significant amount of reported sexual crimes at ASU. Located at ASU's Downtown campus, the dorm houses both freshmen and continuing students with most incidents taking place on party days – Thursday and Friday.
46 percent of reports are made on the weekend with Saturday being the highest day of reports.
Reports of rape on campus – locations such as streets, stadiums, campus buildings, and parking lots – make up 28 percent of the remaining sexual assaults at Arizona State. The majority of these incidents happened on campus rather than at empty crossroads and abandoned streets.
A density map showing sexual assault reports clustering at ASU dorms
The remaining 10 percent of reports are spread across various locations, five percent of which occurred off-campus while only three percent of the locations are connected to locations affiliated with Greek life. Two percent of the locations are housing areas that are not affiliated with ASU.
Most of the reported sexual crimes rise within the first few months of school, with August and September being the highest. It declines until the end of the school year in March and April.
The full heat map of all reports at ASU
It is worth adding that many incidents of rape and sexual assault go unreported, and students may report crimes to other law enforcement agencies in Tempe and Mesa – not just ASU PD – meaning this data set does not offer the definitive picture of crime on campus.
Jasmine Lester, founder of Sun Devils Against Sexual Assault, told The Tab: “Despite media attention and federal investigation, the same administrators who have protecting both faculty and student sexual predators for decades remain in power today.
“It is difficult for students to trust that ASU administrators prioritize student safety over the reputation of the institution, given students continued experiences with hostility when reporting sexual violence. We are not surprised by your findings."
If you are or know of someone who is the victim of sexual assault, visit the Sun Devil Support Network.
Mapped is an investigative data journalism project from The Tab, looking into where sexual assaults are reported on college campuses.