Reporting Sexual Assaults

By Student Media Copy Editor Jacqueline Schafer

When a student files a sexual assault report at George Mason University, the Mason Police Department has a plan. According to Assistant Chief of Police George Ginovsky, once a report is filed they begin to process a report and a detective takes over investigation of the case.

The victim is interviewed and taken to the hospital where a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner test is given. The SANE employee is a forensic nurse who has been specially trained for this procedure. The Mason Police Crime Victim and Witness Assitance Program also assists the victims by connecting them with victim’s rights and support programs such as Sexual Assault Services and Counseling and Psychological Services, both located in Student Union Building I. The detective also begins a criminal investigation and if there is a crime scene available it is processed for evidence as well.

If the Mason Police find out that a report is false, the student making it will be charged. Two sexual assaults reported on the Fairfax campus on Oct. 18, 2008 and Jan. 24 were false reports and were recanted. “The girls were both charged with filing a false police report,” Ginovsky said.

The Mason Police makes a thorough investigation into every report of sexual assault. There have been six reported sexual assaults on the Fairfax campus in 2005, nine in 2006 and 12 in 2007, according to the Mason Police Annual Security Report. There were five reported sexual assaults in 2008 on the Fairfax campus according to Ginovsky. At the Prince William campus there was only one reported in 2006, and no other campus had any reported sexual assaults.

There are several methods to file a report of sexual assault on campus. You can call any of the following resources: Mason Police at 911 for an emergency, (703) 993-2810 for a nonemergency, University Life at (703) 993-8760 and Counseling and Psychological Services at (703) 993-2380. All of these organizations are equipped to help students affected by sexual assault.