DUS aims to deter stranger rape and robbery, but we also recognize that over 80% of sexual assault is committed by acquaintances and for this reason we aim to deter acquaintance rape and sexual harassment by encouraging the campus community to use our safewalk service rather than rely on an acquaintance escort, and by providing students with safe escorts out of potentially dangerous situations.

DUS offers ambulatory transport to any Duke affiliate (student, faculty member or staff) who desires a walking escort. However, we are primarily a student organization, for we are run by students and serve primarily students. The basic structure of our organization is as follows: We provide service on all campuses (East, West and Central), excluding the medical center, on Thursday-Sunday nights from 10pm – 2am. We have 7 volunteers on call per night; there are 2 escorts on each campus and the 7th volunteer is the dispatcher. DUS uses 4 radios (walkie-talkies); each escort pair uses one radio and the forth radio is used by the dispatcher. When our phone number, 684 – WALK is dialed, the dispatcher answers the call and then relays it to the appropriate escort pair.