Voices: How the U is trying to prevent sexual violence

This year, the University of Utah reported a shockingly high number of sexual assaults on campus . Again.

Last year, it was 174, with 150 of those cases reported in a single relationship plagued by a history of coercion and interpersonal violence. The other 24 were reported by multiple victims over the course of 2023.

This year, that number is 146. Of those, 110 were reported, retroactively, as part of a toxic relationship that ended in 2024. Both students have graduated and left the U.

To the unfamiliar, this may look like an indictment of safety protocols, reporting methods, victim advocacy and our very educational mission. But let me explain why that’s not the case.

Each year in the fall, the U, along with other colleges and universities in the country, releases its annual safety