Nearly 1 in 4 College Women Report Unwanted Sexual Contact

If you know four college-age women, there is a likely chance that one of them has experienced unwanted sexual contact.

According to a report from the Association of American Universities, 23.1 percent of female students said they've experienced unwanted sexual contact at some time during college.

More than 150,000 students at more than 25 universities answered survey questions. Of that number, 1 in 10 reported being raped.

The findings from the Campus Climate Survey come at a time when colleges across the United States are taking more initiatives to raise awareness against sexual violence.

Why has this become such a big problem on college campus? Dr. Linda Mintle answered this question and more - click play to watch.

The survey found that overall rates of reporting to campus officials and law enforcement is low.

"The most common reason for not reporting incidents of sexual assault and sexual misconduct was that it was not considered serious enough," the survey listed as a key finding. "Other reasons included because they were 'embarrassed, ashamed or that it would be too emotionally difficult,' and because they 'did not think anything would be done about it.'"

"How many surveys will it take before we act with the urgency these crimes demand?" Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said. Gillibrand supports a bill that would address how college campuses handle sexual assault cases as well as providing more resources to help students.

"Our universities are working to ensure their campuses are safe places for students," AAU President Hunter Rawlings said in a statement. "The primary goal of the survey is to help them better understand the experiences and attitudes of their students with respect to this challenge."

Researchers cautioned against drawing generalizations from the results. Experiences of different students and at different schools could vary widely, they said.

Twenty-six participating institutions were AAU member research universities: Brown; California Institute of Technology; Case Western Reserve; Columbia; Cornell; Harvard; Yale; Iowa State; Michigan State; Ohio State; Purdue; Texas A&M; and the universities of Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota-Twin Cities, Missouri-Columbia, North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Southern California, Texas at Austin, Virginia, Wisconsin-Madison; and Washington University in St. Louis. One non-member, Dartmouth College, also participated.