JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Colleges across the country are warning their students to protect themselves from sexual assaults during a high-crime season.
The Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network reported more than 50% of sexual assaults occur during the first six weeks of classes. They refer to it as "the red zone."
Experts said this could be linked to the vulnerability of students on a new campus. Typically, they said new students are unfamiliar with the school's policies, resources, and culture on campus.
Action News Jax found nine rapes were reported on the University of North Florida Campus in 2017. This is more than the previous two years.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, Florida State College at Jacksonville had one rape case reported on campus. This compares to the 24 cases reported at Florida State University, which is a much larger campus.
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Action News Jax requested the latest numbers for the 2018-19 UNF academic school year, as well as the date of each case to compare the start to the end of the academic school year. A UNF spokesperson said they are working to get the results.
"I feel very safe," UNF student Maddox Fillmur said. "I lived in the Crossings last year and I felt really safe to go on campus at nighttime if I was coming home from a club and it was dark out. The blue lights are everywhere and UPD is always around."
The blue lights are referred to as "mobile blue lights." These are emergency response buttons that will immediately notify police. Action News Jax found more than 100 scattered through UNF's campus.
The university has an alert system and will notify its students when a sexual assault is reported. Their mobile phone app lists other safety features on campus, including the phone number for campus police.
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