In the last few years, fraternities, which have a national membership of 400,000 male students on 800 U.S. college campuses, have had to use one third of their budgets to pay liability costs for claims involving rape, robbery, and serious injury. An informal campus survey conducted by a graduate student at the University of Georgia, Athens, found that nearly 11 percent of fraternity men admitted to forcing sexual activity after a partner said “no,” and nearly 20 percent had engaged in sex with someone they felt was reluctant. District Attorney offices and rape crisis centers across the U.S. report similar findings.
Colleges and universities, which are legally required to report crimes that take place off campus as well as on campus, have been harshly criticized by police and state criminologists for underreporting sexual assault cases and failing to discipline fraternities.
