On Monday, MIT announced the results of a campus-wide survey that was launched in spring 2014. Of MIT's 10,831 students, 3,844 responded, or 35%. One in six female undergraduates, who had responded anonymously, said they had been sexually assaulted (defined in the survey as unwanted sexual contact, from touching to penetration, "involving use of force, physical threat or incapacitation")
but only five percent reported the crime to any campus official. Further, five percent of male undergraduates who responded said they had been sexually assaulted. University President L. Rafael Reif was clearly troubled by the results and said he was "disturbed by the extent and nature of the problem."

MIT is the highest-profile university to conduct such a detailed campus climate survey although others, such as Harvard, Yale, Rutgers and Emerson are planning to conduct similar ones. The MIT results coincide with national statistics on sexual assault and violence on college campuses, which states that approximately 19% of female students have been victims of sexual violence.

In light of the survey results, MIT has announced new measures to address sexual assault on its campus including: increasing staffing to respond to those who experience sexual assault; finding new ways to let students know where to turn for help; removing barriers to reporting and addressing complaints by revamping procedures and processes; launching a Sexual Assault Education and Prevention Task Force; and increasing education for students, especially through peer-to-peer programs, on bystander intervention and on the connection between alcohol, drugs, and unwanted sexual behavior.

You can read the official MIT news article here. The full MIT survey results, survey tool is accessible from MIT's Health & Wellness Survey Site.