Women who attended Liberty University are accusing the administration of not taking rape accusations seriously in recent years.
“I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach,” Elizabeth Axley told ProPublica of how photos documenting alleged sexual assault were not included in a Liberty University file investigating the 2017 incident. “I had been relying on them all these months to take my evidence into account when considering my case, and it wasn’t even in my file.”
Liberty was hit with a multi-plaintiff lawsuit in July, when 12 women accused the school of making it “difficult or impossible” to report instances of sexual violence, ProPublica reported in an article on the university’s handling of sexual assault allegations.
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About 50 former students and staffers told ProPublica that the school dissuaded students from reporting sexual assault accusations. They alleged that school officials did not sufficiently provide them with options about contacting police to file reports with law enforcement.
Axley recounted to ProPublica that she was a freshman at the school in 2017 when she was allegedly raped while attending a Halloween party off campus. She recounted that she had eight shots of vodka and some mixed drinks that night, and woke up to a male student on top of her with his hands allegedly covering her mouth.
She said she called the campus police department after returning to her dorm, and an officer drove her to the hospital. A nurse then documented 15 bruises, and other injuries on her arm, face and torso, she said. Axley also had photos of the injuries.
A sign marks the entrance to Liberty University, Tuesday March 24 , 2020, in Lynchburg, Va. Officials in Lynchburg said Tuesday they were fielding complaints and concerns about the hundreds of students that have returned from their spring break to Liberty University, where President Jerry Falwell Jr….
Source : foxnews
