The 2002 statistics also reveal a changing dynamic in the breakdown of sexual assaults by how they are reported.

Almost half of the offenses—12 out of the 25—were formally reported to HUPD. In previous years a higher percentage of the offenses was reported to senior tutors, deans or University Health Services. The campus officials notified HUPD only of the occurrence of an alleged offense.

But Kathryn E. Nielson ’05, who is a peer counselor specializing in issues of sexual assault, said that although more students are reporting offenses, the numbers still reflect only a small portion of the total.

“Sexual assault is such a sensitive issue, there’s such a stigma attached to it,” she said, adding that students might not be willing to report rapes because of the “guilt and self-blame” that follow the incidents.

Levit-Shore pointed to several reasons why sex offenses could go unreported.

“Survivors might not be expecting anything to come of [reporting to HUPD],” she said. “Or they’re not labeling the experience as a rape or sexual assault. There’s also a fear you won’t be believed.”

Stealing Harvard

Beyond the continued rise in reported sexual assault, few of Harvard’s crime statistics revealed marked trends.

The rise in campus theft runs counter to a 1 percent decrease in property crime in Cambridge. According to the Cambridge Police Department, violent crime rose by 6 percent in 2002.

A small minority of campus thefts—155 out of 632—occurred in residence halls. According to Catalano, a majority of the crimes were believed to be committed by individuals from outside the Harvard community.

Harvard’s theft levels appear to be astronomical when compared to other area schools as well as the other Ivies. According to the Clery Act statistics, in 2001, Tufts University reported 23 campus thefts; Boston University, 58; and New Haven’s Yale University, 72.

But according to Catalano, Harvard is far more inclusive in its reporting. Harvard includes both burglaries and larcenies—thefts committed by trespassers and community members, respectively—in its report, where only burglaries are legally mandated.

Other schools label many more of their thefts as larcenies, Catalano said.

“We’re in a position where our theft rate looks much higher than every other school around,” Catalano said. “Ours is probably not much different if [other schools] included the larcenies. But the reason we put in both numbers is so you can get a feel for the true nature of theft at Harvard.”

“We’re putting ourselves under closer scrutiny,” Catalano said.

In 2002, Harvard reported no homicides, manslaughter or arson on campus. There were six drug law violations and two bias crimes, both of which involved a victim’s sexual orientation.

—Hera A. Abbasi contributed to the reporting of this story.

—Jenifer L. Steinhardt contributed to the reporting of this story.

—Staff writer Hana R. Alberts can be reached at alberts@fas.harvard.edu.