A sense of security unraveled

Drake’s classmate approached her, held her in a tight embrace and tried to kiss her. She told him to stop multiple times.

Her attacker, a former De Anza College student who transferred out after winter quarter, had been harassing Drake, 20, film and TV production major, for months prior to the assault, despite her voicing discomfort to him, she said. He was a volunteer assistant to two instructors in the film department, which made him hard to avoid, she said.

“I had late classes, and he was constantly there, so he knew when I would get out of class,” Drake said. “He would follow me to my car when I would go home and he would try to make a move on me.”

The volunteer told La Voz that he attributed his actions to the strong feelings he had for Drake. He tried to leave her alone, but found himself occasionally giving in to “temptation,” he said.

“I asked for a hug and I tried to kiss her cheek, and she strongly tried to pull away from me and she got angry,” the volunteer explained over email. “I apologized over and over constantly saying ‘That’s just how I feel’ and she would say, ‘We talked about this.’”

Drake said her anxiety got so great she didn’t feel safe coming to school, but feels better now that he’s gone.

She attended the Take Back the Night march, an event held on April 20 to promote awareness of sexual violence on campus.

Although Drake said she considers that night to be the most aggressive encounter, it was by no means isolated.

Drake met the volunteer in fall of 2014 and he developed feelings for her almost immediately.like he’s been harassing her, he’s been trying to kiss her on the lips and call her his girlfriend.” Drake wasn’t the only one the volunteer got physical with. Another film student, whom Drake didn’t name, told Drake that she was assaulted by the same person.

“He grabbed another girl’s throat and choked her,” Drake said.

The volunteer, however, denies putting hands on anyone else.

Despite the gravity of his sexual misconduct, no one wanted to come forward and report it because he appeared to be developmentally disabled, Drake said.

De Anza has procedures for students to report such cases.

“There’s no excuse to ever ever ever assault someone,” said Michele LeBleu-Burns, Dean of Student Development & EOPS. “Just because a person has any form of disability, (it) does not exempt them from our policies.”

Most students don’t understand the difference between sexual harassment and sexual assault, said LeBleu-Burns, who handles all sexual harassment complaints.

Sexual assault is when a person puts their hands on another person, LeBleu-Burns said. Sexual harassment could be visual, verbal or environmental. Anything from sexist or sexually inappropriate posters to sexual jokes and innuendos could be considered sexual harassment.

But in an informal survey conducted of 35 students on campus, many students considered “touching someone” to be sexual harassment or weren’t able to differentiate sexual harassment from assault. One student said sexual assault is when someone is physically injured.

None of the students who participated in the informal survey knew how to properly file a complaint.

“Some people joke about it, but it’s really serious,” said 20-year-old business major Ofa Fatai.

Many victims of sexual assault and misconduct do not report the incidents because they don’t consider them “serious enough,” a survey conducted by the Association of American Universities found.

The survey was administered at 27 institutions of higher education and released in 2015.

More than 50 percent of rape victims who participated in the survey said they didn’t think even forced penetration was “serious enough,” according to universities association.

The ease of open enrollment and the freedom to drop out at any time contribute to an environment where students are much less likely to report sexual harassment, according to a report released by the Association for Student Conduct Administration in 2015.

Other student respondents in the conduct association survey said they didn’t want to report the incident because it’s embarrassing, it forces them to relive the trauma, and they don’t think much can be done about it.

The California legislature passed Senate Bill 186 last year, which allows California community colleges to punish students for off-campus sexual assaults.

“These crimes often go unreported on college campuses; in large part due to the victim’s belief that authorities will not take action,” California Assemblyman Das Williams said. “We must ensure that our campuses are investigating crimes, prosecuting perpetrators and providing support and resources to victims.”

Community college students who are sexually harassed or assaulted are more likely to withdraw from a class or the college itself instead of filing a formal complaint, the Conduct Association reported.

The anonymous male source said another classmate was bothered by the volunteer when he tried pursuing her, even after she told him to stop because it was inappropriate.

“Then she transferred and was like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna forget about this; this is community college anyway,’” he said.

This attitude is one of the unique challenges community colleges face in their efforts to monitor and prevent sexual misconduct.