Many of us have this image in our heads, what we imagine a sexual assault looks like in college. Often that image is a man taking advantage of a woman at a party or bar. Maybe even when we talk about about the issue or how to solve it, we look at it through the lens of this stereotypical sexual assault scenario.

But sexual assault is far more complicated than that. Sexual assault survivors are diverse and face very different challenges from one another, especially when it comes to the LGBTQ+ community. When our university and community members discuss prevention, resources and possible solutions, we should make sure that we’re talking in a larger scope that considers this community of people.

In Iowa State’s Sexual Assault Climate Survey report released last month, the report categorized students into three gender groups. For gender identity groups, students were categorized as female, male or in a third group which included transgender, genderqueer or nonconforming, questioning or not listed. The report called this third group of people TGQN students.

Considering those who identify as something other than man or woman is important because, according to the survey, they report more concerning numbers in almost all of the survey’s categories than those who identify as men and women. There are not exact numbers for this group, as the report said there were not enough TGQN students who answered the survey to provide an exact percentage for each response. However, the report did make an estimate for this group of students based on the responses received.

Perhaps the most tell-tale number of the report is the number of students who believe that sexual assault is “very or extremely problematic” at Iowa State. About 10 percent of male undergraduates believe that sexual assault is “very or extremely problematic” while 15.7 of women do. The report said “overall, a higher fraction of TGQN students” believed that sexual assault was this severe of a problem at Iowa State.

TGQN students also reported seeing more sexually violent or harassing acts than men or women as well as suspecting one of their friends as been sexually assaulted. In addition, TGQN students are less likely to believe that campus officials would take their report of sexual assault seriously, that there would be a fair investigation if they were a survivor of sexual assault and less likely to believe campus officials would take action against the offender.

The report includes even more and still shocking numbers for TGQN students. This report shows these students do not feel as safe or supported on our campus, especially when it comes to sexual assault.

Obviously, we would all like to solve the issue of sexual assault on our campus. We would like to support the survivors here and prevent any more sexual assaults from occurring. But that will not happen until we include some of the marginalized and victimized groups on our campus when it comes to sexual assault in our thought process.