Today wraps up the Alliance for Sexual Assault Prevention's fourth annual "Consent is Sexy" Week, part of the group's continuing efforts to prevent sexual misconduct at Bowdoin.
According to Meadow Davis, associate director of student affairs and adviser to the Student Sexual Misconduct Board, there have been five anonymous reports and no formal complaints of sexual misconduct at the College this year.
A survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that approximately one in five college women in the United States will experience some form of sexual misconduct in their college career.
At Bowdoin, formal complaints of sexual misconduct result in a hearing before the Student Sexual Misconduct Board and are recorded in the Judicial Board's (J-Board) annual reports, while anonymous reports are used for statistical purposes in the College's annual Clery Report.
The 2010 Clery Report, compiled by the Office of Safety and Security, recorded seven anonymous reports of forcible sex offenses, while the J-Board's 2010-2011 Judicial Board recorded one formal case of sexual assault.
"In terms of reporting, it's always less than reality," said Georgia Nowers '12, student director of the Alliance for Sexual Assault Prevention (ASAP).
ASAP, which acts as a unifying organization to combine the efforts of multiple campus groups, was formed in 2008 under the direction of Davis.
"There were so many groups working in different ways on the spectrum, from healthy relationships to sexual violence, that we decided to create this umbrella group," said Davis.
In its first year, ASAP was made up of groups such as Bowdoin Men Against Sexual Violence (BMASV), V-Day, and Safe Space. The alliance has since grown to include 16 organizations, ranging from the Bowdoin Outing Club to the Spirituality Circle.
"This year we worked a lot with the spirituality groups because I think ASAP was something that was seen as not really for them because it's very pro-sex," said Nowers.
This year, several organizations have refocused and expanded their efforts to prevent sexual misconduct on campus. In December, V-Day opted to hold a Stomp and Holler rally in place of its annual Take Back the Night event. The former event's nighttime walk around campus was replaced with a community-wide event that featured faculty, staff and student speakers.
"Over the past five years or so, V-Day has become an organization that's less specifically about sexual violence, and has adapted the role of creating strong connections between women from all corners of campus," said Jay Greene '13, one of the co-leaders of V-Day and last year's ASAP director.
Some organizations are working to improve their accessibility to community members. Safe Space is currently in the midst of a campaign encouraging the reporting of sexual misconduct. Its anonymous reporting boxes are available around campus.
"At Bowdoin, I think there's still a disconnect between just knowing that it happens and knowing that it happens on our campus," said Safe Space leader Matt Frongillo '13.
The College has also worked to improve its written procedures. Last August, Bowdoin changed its sexual assault policy to a sexual misconduct policy. The rewriting expanded the policy to encompass sexual harassment and exploitation, according to Davis.
"There are advantages and disadvantages to broadening or narrowing a term, but sexual assault is a far narrower term than sexual misconduct," explained V-Day co-leader Emily Ausubel '13.
"To say that Bowdoin is only going to penalize you, or does not condone only certain types of behavior can be detrimental," Ausubel said, referring to the limitations of the old policy.
While ASAP's primary goal is to prevent sexual misconduct, the alliance also focuses on promoting healthy, positive sex.
On Tuesday, ASAP hosted its Senior Sex Panel, one of the six events comprising "Consent is Sexy" Week. The panel shared the results of a recent survey on sexual norms at Bowdoin. A total of 476 students responded to the survey, with 63 percent of these identifying as women.
Of the respondents, 52 percent said they thought between 20 and 40 percent of Bowdoin students had sex on a typical Saturday night. In actuality, 20 percent responded yes to "usually having sex on a Saturday night," and 26 percent responded yes to having some form of sex on Saturday, April 7. Three-quarters of the respondents reported that Saturday was "a typical night."
"The whole point of this is to bring out stories and discussion to show that, not only is it a good thing to get consent, it can be hot. Very hot," explained Alexander.