Rape is the most under-reported violent crime, even though students at Harvard have a number of resources to turn to for help, panelists said last night at a "Take Back the Night" event.

Sgt. Kathleen M. Stanford, a member of the Harvard University Police's sensitive crimes unit, said she believes that most rapes at Harvard are unreported.

She said she hopes to make the Harvard Police Department more approachable to students.

"We have an image of being sterile and mechanical," said Stanford. "We're not."

One third of the Harvard police department has been trained to deal specifically with sexual assault, Stanford said.

As of July 1, federal funding will be removed from schools that fail to have a clear policy on sexual assault and rape prevention and education, said Laura X, director of the National Clearinghouse on Marital and Date Rape, based in Berkeley, Calif.

While Harvard meets these requirements, Stanford believes that the university must do more to prevent rape and aid victims.

"Education has to be mandated," she said.

Stanford said that she is working with student organizations like Radcliffe Union of Students and Response to educate the police department on what they can do to help prevent rape and increase the number of rapes reported.

"If the law is involved with education, men may take it more seriously and realize that date rape is a crime and that you're a rapist if you do it," Stanford said.

Stanford stressed that students who have been sexually assaulted need to report the crime.

Although they may not wish to prosecute at that time, she said, reporting the crime to police and getting a medical examination will "keep choices open."

"We're not going to strong arm you into prosecuting. We want to give you your choices back," Stanford said.

"Students who have been raped wrongly assume some of the guilt," said Stanford. "They think that they would be ruining another student's life. The fact is, he's a rapist."

Panelists said that in addition to police officers, volunteer counseling centers are ready to help. Elise A. E

Leaf, co-director of Response, a student run counseling group; and Tina M. D'Elia, of the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, emphasized that their organizations are available to students who have been raped or assaulted. "We'll believe you. We offer a non-judgmental ear," said Leaf.

About 30 people attended the panel yesterday afternoon in Boylston Auditorium. It was sponsored by the Radcliffe Union of Students as part of a week-long series of events aimed at stopping violence against women.

Laura X advocated making marital rape a crime, arguing against the perception that withholding of sex within marriage is an obstruction of marital rights.

The advocate of women's rights began using "X" as her last name in 1969 to emphasize the anonymity of women in the law and to protest against the legal ownership of women. The lack of recognition of acts of sexual violence within marriages underlines the fact that "husbands own their wives," said Laura X