Hazing is a common initiation rite in college, especially when students attempt to join a fraternity or sorority, or if they are members of an athletic team. Typically, hazing involves forcing new members to engage in embarrassing or uncomfortable activities. Simple and inoffensive examples include having students sing in the campus square or forcing them to carry an older student’s books around for a week. Unfortunately, hazing can also turn dangerous, even criminal. These initiation rituals often cross the line from uncomfortable to violent, with sexual assault a too-frequent ingredient. Call Stewart Miller Simmons Trial Attorneys to speak with an Atlanta sexual assault attorney if you experienced sexual violence as part of a hazing ritual.
How Common is Hazing?
According to the Hazing Prevention Network, hazing is common in both high school and college:
- 1.5 million high school students are hazed.
- 74% of student athletes experience at least one hazing event.
- 55% of students involved in fraternities, sororities, or teams undergo hazing.
Proponents of hazing claim it promotes bonding and a sense of community. Students who survive an embarrassing experience come to trust each other—or so the theory goes.
But hazing often crosses the line into illegal activity. For example, around 47% of hazing incidents involved drinking games and 70% involved alcohol in some capacity, even though the students were probably underage. Hazing often involves dangerous activity like forcing people to spend a night outside without any equipment or climb a mountain in extreme heat.
When Sexual Assault is Part of a Hazing Ritual
Coerced sexual activity is also a common hazing experience. Some examples include:
- Demanding two students make out or have sex.
- Forcing a student to engage in group sexual activity.
- Groping, petting, kissing, and other non-penetrative sexual activity.
- Drinking to the point of losing consciousness and then being raped.
Each of the above examples qualifies as sexual battery or rape. Nobody should engage in non-consensual sexual activity or coerce you to undertake sexual activity.
Other activity might fall short of assault but nonetheless demean someone in a sexual way. For example, someone trying to join a fraternity could be videotaped while naked and the video posted on social media. That is an invasion of their privacy.
Is Hazing a Crime?
Yes. In Georgia, section 16-5-61 of the criminal code makes hazing a crime. It is a misdemeanor offense to coerce a student to consume drugs or alcohol or to undertake any activity which threatens their health.
Sexual battery is also a crime in Georgia. A defendant can face misdemeanor or felony charges for touching another person’s intimate parts without consent. Groping the anus or groin is an example.
O.C.G.A. § 16-6-1 also criminalizes rape, where a woman is forced to have penetrative sex against her will. This is a felony offense.
Receiving Compensation for Sexual Assault
If you were assaulted as part of a hazing ritual, you might request compensation. This type of civil claim is independent of any criminal charges which might be filed. Even if the state chooses not to prosecute a student for assaulting you, victims might still seek financial compensation in a civil lawsuit.
Typically, the defendants in a hazing case might be:
- The students involved who assaulted you or coerced you into sex acts against your will.
- The university or college for failing to provide a safe environment for students.
- A national fraternity or sorority, if you were assaulted as part of initiation activities.
Anyone who touches you against your will is an obvious defendant. Whether we can bring charges against a school or national organization will depend on other facts, such as their knowledge hazing was taking place.
Sometimes, hazing happens frequently enough that a university or college should be on guard and take steps to prevent it from happening. The school cannot simply turn and look away. Based on their knowledge, the university could have liability as well.
How Much Can You Receive?
The amount depends on the facts of your case. Some considerations include:
- The duration or frequency of the sexual assault. The more severe the assault, the more compensation you can typically receive. For example, rape is usually viewed as more serious than being groped.
- Your medical care and needs to deal with the assault, including any therapy. Some assault victims suffer serious bodily injuries.
- Whether the defendant engaged in wanton or willful conduct. Whoever assaulted you has certainly engaged in this type of reprehensible behavior, so we might request punitive damages as punishment.
- The impact of sexual assault, including on your ability to work or continue with school. If you can’t work, we can seek lost income damages.
- Proof of emotional distress flowing from the sexual assault or abuse. Money is poor compensation for dealing with the aftermath of rape or assault. Nonetheless, it can provide some measure of accountability.
Talk with an experienced lawyer at our firm. We can help document the effects of assault when making a claim. We have negotiated sexual assault settlements to hold defendants legally accountable when they perpetrate assault or allow it to happen on their campus.
Talk with an Atlanta Sexual Assault Lawyer
One hurdle many assault victims face is fear that no one will believe them. They hesitate to allege assault because they think other people will call them a liar. When it comes to hazing, however, there are often witnesses to the incident or video of the event which people post online. After all, hazing thrives on embarrassing people, so you can expect there to be some audience for the attack.
Call Stewart Miller Simmons Trial Attorneys. We can discuss the hazing and any steps to take to bolster your legal claim against the defendant. Please share the names of any witnesses, as well as the dates and times when it happened. We also want to know if you went to the hospital for a rape kit or to receive any treatment.Our phone number is (404) 529-3476. You can schedule a meeting with a compassionate sexual assault lawyer in Atlanta to review your case.