The strict student conduct code at Baylor, which bans alcohol, drugs and premarital sex, may have led to female rape victims remaining silent for fear of being punished themselves.

The Associated Press reports that some students at the school, those who attempted to report their assaults to the university, were told by Baylor that their parents would be informed of their drug and alcohol abuse, and they could be charged with conduct code violations.

"A number of victims were told that if they made a report of rape, their parents would be informed of the details of where they were and what they were doing," said Chad Dunn, an attorney representing six women who have sued Baylor.

From the AP's report:

One woman said her case began when she called police to report a physical assault on another woman at an off-campus party. Police demanded to know if she was underage and had been drinking, then arrested and reported her to the school office that investigates conduct code violations, she said. She told Baylor officials her drinking was a result of being raped a month earlier and detailed what happened in person and in a letter.

She received an alcohol code violation and told to do 25 hours community service, and when she tried to appeal, the woman said Baylor officials urged her to drop it. The school never pursued her rape claim.

"I was told by many Baylor staff that they couldn't do anything for me because my assault was off campus, yet they had no problem punishing me for my off-campus drinking," the woman said. Schools are bound by federal law to investigate on- and off-campus sex assault allegations.

Stefanie Mundhenk, a former Baylor student, told the AP that she was "grilled" by the school after reporting a sexual assault even though she hadn't violated any code of conduct rules. Instead, she was repeatedly questioned about her sexual history.

"I was alarmed," Mundhenk told the AP. "It was biased and it was unfair. They were trying to gauge if I was a loose woman. They were looking to attack my reputation."

Baylor, a private Baptist university and the oldest school in Texas, has long been one of the most conservative campuses in the country. Simply dancing on campus was banned until 1996, and it wasn't until May 2015 that fornication, adultery and homosexual acts were removed from the official list of student misconduct. The school's current conduct policy states that "physical sexual intimacy is to be expressed in the context of marital fidelity."

All of this comes in the wake of Baylor firing its head football coach and eventually watching its athletic director and university president resign after it was learned that the school failed to properly address and handle numerous sexual assault allegations against members of the football team.