“We have more work to do,” President Alan Garber ’76 wrote, describing the results of the 2024 Higher Education Sexual Misconduct and Awareness (HESMA) survey in an Oct. 21 message to the Harvard community. Conducted in April, the survey polled 10 universities and gathered responses from 8,439 Harvard undergraduates and graduates, representing 35.1% of the University’s total student body.
2,862 undergraduates and 5,577 graduate students completed the survey, with a gender breakdown of 4,789 students identifying as women, 3,287 students identifying as men, and 363 students identifying as gender-diverse. 3,241 respondents were white, followed by 2,432 Asian respondents, 1,037 Hispanic or Hispanic multi-racial respondents, 650 Black respondents, and 1,026 other or multi-racial. 5,907 respondents identified as heterosexual or straight, and 2,171 identified as gay, lesbian, or other or multiple.
The survey revealed some promising trends, showing an overall decline in sexual misconduct at Harvard since 2019. “Penetration and or/sexual touching by force, inability to consent, coercion, and/or without voluntary agreement” dropped from 12.4% to 9.0%. “Penetration and/or sexual touching by force and/or inability to consent or stop what was happening” dropped from 8.7% to 6.5%. And “penetration by force and/or inability to consent or stop what was happening,” the HESMA definition of rape, dropped from 3.5% to 2.8%.
But as the 2024 results demonstrated, “even one incident of sexual assault is too many,” said Kathleen McGinn, principal investigator for Harvard’s HESMA survey and Baker Foundation Professor at Harvard Business School, in an interview with The Harvard Gazette.
Undergraduate respondents with gender-diverse identities reported the highest rates of nonconsensual sexual contact, with 26.1% experiencing penetration and/or sexual touching through force, inability to consent, coercion, or without voluntary agreement. Additionally, 13.5% reported penetration and/or sexual touching by force and/or inability to consent or stop what was happening, while 9.4% indicated penetration by force and/or inability to consent or stop. Among undergraduate women, the rates for these three types of nonconsensual sexual contact were 22.1%, 17.5%, and 7.8%, and for undergraduate men, they were 8.7%, 6.7%, and 2.9%. 80% of the perpetrators in these reported incidents were fellow students.
The most frequent leadup locations were on-campus housing (30% penetration, 40% other sexual contact) or a final club or other on-campus social event (24% penetration, 22% other sexual contact). The large majority of the incidents occurred at on-campus housing (65% penetration, 55% other sexual contact). In 79% of the penetration incidents and 81% of the other sexual contact incidents, alcohol was involved for undergraduates. This compares to 17% of penetration incidents and 10% of other sexual contact incidents involving drugs.
“We hope sharing and talking about the survey results communicates that every single incident of sexual assault experienced by students at Harvard is serious and unacceptable,” said McGinn. “As a community, we need to speak more frequently and openly about sexual assault and harassment to change long-standing cultural factors that normalize unacceptable, damaging behavior.”
The large majority of students did not access any support services after their reported incidents: 63.5% of students did not for penetration, and 81.4% of students did not for other sexual contact. Yet, 84.8% of undergraduates of gender-diverse identities, 81.3% of undergraduate men, and 78.8% of undergraduate women reported that they were “somewhat knowledgeable,” “very knowledgeable,” or “extremely knowledgeable” about where to get help at Harvard if they experienced sexual misconduct.
The students’ reasoning for not seeking support services following these incidents of sexual misconduct varied: The majority of respondents said they would “handle it themselves,” or the incident was “not serious enough.” These students also said that they chose not to seek help because they were not injured in the act, and the fact that “events like this seem common.”
Most students were aware of services such as Harvard Counseling and Mental Health Services (84.5%) and Harvard University Police Department (77.65%). Some of these services students were less aware of, like the Undergraduate Peer Counseling Group (26.3%) and the Harvard College Office for BGLTQ Student Life (20.9%).
56.2% of students reported a familiarity with the Title IX Team, Office for Gender Equity. Only 45.0% of undergraduate men, 25.8% of undergraduate women, and 13.6% of undergraduates of gender-diverse identities said that it would be extremely or very likely that “Harvard officials would conduct a fair investigation of reported sexual misconduct.”
McGinn emphasized in The Gazette interview that Harvard must improve its support for students who experience sexual assault. Following the release of the survey results, Harvard will implement several initiatives to engage the community.
In the coming weeks, 750 posters will be displayed in residence halls, bathrooms, and other communal areas across campus. Garber added that a required eLearning training course for faculty and staff will be updated. The University will also organize additional forums for community members to discuss the findings. Furthermore, individuals will have the chance to request a “Community Conversation” to share insights and ideas regarding the results.
For questions about harassing behavior and sexual harassment, students were asked if inappropriate comments, sexual jokes, or repeated attempts to go out despite being told “no” were made toward them (harassing behavior), and if these experiences “interfered with their academic or professional performance,” “limited their ability to participate in an academic program,” or “created an intimidating hostile or offensive social, academic or work environment”—the HESMA definition of harassment. The results of these numbers also decreased from 2019: 39.3% of Harvard students experienced harassing behavior compared to 32.8% in 2024, and 17.7% in 2019 experienced harassment compared to 15.7% in 2024.
Among undergraduates, 72.3% of those with gender-diverse identities, 54.7% of women, and 34.9% of men reported experiencing harassing behavior. Specifically regarding harassment, 52.9% of gender-diverse undergraduates, 28.9% of women, and 11.2% of men were affected. Most of these incidents were reported to be committed by fellow students, with 43.9% for harassing behavior and 19.6% for harassment.
The University hopes that this data will allow it to adjust how it supports its students. Students are encouraged to contact the SHARE team, Title IX, or the Office for Gender Equity.
“Each of us has a role to play in ensuring that Harvard is a welcoming and safe community for all. The results of the HESMA survey show us where we can improve,” Garber said. “I hope that we will seize the opportunity to engage in the important and necessary work ahead.”
Layla Chaaraoui ’26 (laylachaaraoui@college.harvard.edu) is the Managing Editor of the Independent.