A new lawsuit is offering a glimpse into how Howard University mishandled multiple instances of rape and sexual assault on its Washington D.C. campus. The lawsuit claims that five current and former female students reported being victims of rape and sexual assault only for school officials to move slowly, if at all, reports Fox 5.

“These young women experienced sexual assault and they were not supported by the university,” said Linda Correia, the students’ attorney.

In one instance, two of the young women realized that they were both assaulted by the same person. It’s appropriate to assume that the assailant wouldn’t have even been in a position to repeat his crime on another victim if the university handled the first reporting appropriately.

“Our client’s perspective is that if the university had taken action on that first report, he may not have been on campus,” said Correia. “He may not have ever met our other client and she may not have been attacked.”

Some of the women claim that they were even confronted by their attackers after filing their report, which should never be allowed to happen. They also state that the school failed to provide appropriate counseling after their assaults, which have led to instances of depression and suicidal ideation.

It should be stated that Howard University is far from alone in the practice of mishandling cases of sexual assault. Unfortunately, these instances are rampant on college campuses and a large part of why is because schools often fail to hold attackers accountable for their crimes.