ROGERS PARK — A 21-year-old woman was followed, sexually harassed and then threatened with a gun while walking through the Far North Side, according reports.
The woman, a senior at nearby Loyola University, told the school's student newspaper that she was walking home from the gym around 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 20 on Devon Avenue near Lakewood Avenue when a black SUV with several men inside began following her.
The men inside "catcalled" her, spouting inappropriate sexual remarks, she told The Loyola Phoenix.
After she confronted the men, someone from the front passenger seat flashed his gun at her, she said.
That day she filed a report with Loyola's Campus Safety officers, but when students were notified of the incident via email, the victim told the Phoenix she was surprised that the university did not mention the sexual aspect of the assault.
The alert Loyola sent out warned students that an aggravated assault occurred "when passengers in a black SUV tried to engage the student in conversation" and that one of the passengers "displayed a handgun to the student."
"The email …didn’t mention the sexual harassment at all,” the woman told the newspaper.
“If I wasn’t female and the people in the car weren’t male, then I don’t think this incident would’ve happened,” she said.
Tim Cunningham, Campus Safety Command Sergeant, did not respond to request for more information from DNAinfo, but told the student newspaper the school does “not include gender in the crime alerts to describe complainants.”
However, past alerts from Loyola have included gender and the sexual nature of crimes — although students have also said the school needs to do a better job when it comes to keeping the campus informed on gender-based criminal reports.
Still, in conjunction with Loyola's policies regarding gender-based misconduct, the school's Title IX office was handed the report. Steve Christensen, a spokesman for Loyola, said the school's Title IX office has followed up with the student.
Anyone with more information is asked to call Chicago Police or Campus Safety at 773-508-6039.
