Howard University Sued, Refused To Help Suicidal Rape Victims + Raped By Campus Police Officer

Howard University Sued

It’s time for Howard University to lawyer up! The Washington, DC HBCU is facing a new lawsuit, claiming that they failed to quickly handle reports of sexual assaults on campus made by female students. In the suit, five female students and former students reported sexual assaults by male students and employees of Howard University. The incidents allegedly took place between 2014 and 2016. See the claims below.

Jane Doe 1 claims she was raped by a male student who was a Resident Assistant in her dormitory in February 2016. Six weeks after reporting the rape, the lawsuit claims Jane Doe 1 received no response or support. After social media posts, the lawsuit says Jane Doe 1 claims she learned Jane Doe 2 had allegedly been raped by the same man in October 2015.

The lawsuit says Jane Doe 2 left the university after she claims her report was not investigated and that she felt unsafe. The lawsuit claims that in response to Jane Doe 1 social media posts, Howard’s Dean of Student Affairs told her,

You embarrassed your family by doing that.

Jane Doe 3 claimed that she had experience sexual and other physical abuse by a Howard police officer in November of 2014, according to the lawsuit. Jane Doe 3 claimed she asked for counseling services because she was feeling suicidal and was having a hard time coping with the alleged incident. He claims she never received the help she requested, and as a result, her grades suffered and she lost her job.

Jane Doe 4 claimed in the lawsuit that a male Howard student raped her in a campus dorm room in March of 2016. She said several days passed before she received a response. Jane Doe 4 said that she continued to see the student she accused of rape on campus. The lawsuit also says she suffered emotionally after learning the accused would be assigned the same dorm room as her. The lawsuit says she requested counseling services and a dorm change. The lawsuit says that in August of that year the school notified her that the accused had been suspended due to a sexual violence violation. Jane Doe 4 then claims she say her accused rapist was back on campus less than two months later.

Jane Doe 5 claimed in the lawsuit that she was sexually assaulted by a male Howard student in April 2015. The lawsuit say that shortly after reporting the assault, she was informed that she was no longer able to graduate that semester as planned. The lawsuit say she requested to take her remaining classes at a community college but was not able to get a response from the school until an outside advocate intervened. The lawsuit says that over seven months later, she was able to graduate and that the man accused of assault was convicted of sexually assaulting another woman in D.C. in October 2016.

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