The number of rapes at Florida A&M dropped last year after spiking the previous year, according to a recent report. The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics report shows that in 2007 there were two reported rapes, six in 2008 and five last year.
The color of a woman's skin does not determine the likelihood of her being raped. However, ethnicity is a factor in the number of rapes or sexual assaults reported each year, according to Yolanda K.H. Bogan, director of counseling services at Sunshine Manor.
Black women are least likely to speak out against their attackers. Bogan said the pressure of reporting the rape and the attention is too much.
"Rapists will go for anyone who appears vulnerable," Bogan said.
There is a misconception that rape victims tend to be petite, Caucasian, middle-aged women because of the media's extreme coverage of missing Caucasian women. This is far from the truth.
"Black women receive false hope of security if she feels rape only happens more to white women," Bogan said.
Females, of all racial backgrounds, entering college are more likely to be raped their first year. According to the Women's Rape Crisis Center study in 2008, 41 percent of rape victims had been victimized by an acquaintance and 27 percent of victims were assaulted by a current or former partner.
"I don't think I've ever been stalked," said Leslie Morales, 19, a second-year business administration student from Philadelphia. "Thank God I have never been assaulted or attacked on campus."
According to guardian-security-products.com, only 10 percent of college women who are raped report their attacker.
Another rape myth is that rapes are more likely to happen at night, but rapes can occur at any time of the day. It is recommended that female students walk in groups of three or more at night.
"Most of the time [at night] I take the V2 home…but after meetings and after attending activities, I usually ride home with friends," Morales said.