The number of sexual assault incidents in the city of Eugene has been increasing over the past year. The associated student body at the University of Oregon is creating a task force in hopes of decreasing these incidents. According to a survey taken by the U.S. department of justice, every two minutes, somewhere in America, someone is sexually assaulted. To localize it down to Eugene, the situation becomes even more problematic. Detective Ben Hill with the Eugene Police Department claimed, “Sexual assault is up at 38%, which is an increase from last year.”

The ASUO is taking initiative with their new committee called, “the sexual prevention task force.” President Hinman’s goal for the task force this year is to observe and identify all types of sexual harassments, and once the problems have been identified, to then recognize what procedures of policies need to advance in order to avoid future sexual assaults. The most important goal for the task force is the long-term sustainability of prevention that they hope to develop overtime.