There has been a long string of news stories about the problems of dealing with sexual assault on college campuses. Recently the New York Times did a big Sunday feature on one such incident that got widespread attention. Up until now the administrative efforts of the Dept. of Education have relied on the authority under title IX. Now there is a bipartisan group of senators attempting to pass a more robust law.
Campus sexual assault bill unveiled with bipartisan backing in Senate
A bipartisan group of US senators plan to offer a bill to combat sexual assault on college and university campuses, after investigations, lawsuits and surveys across the country appeared to show systemic mishandling of victims’ claims.
The Campus Safety and Accountability Act would require colleges and universities to create a confidential adviser to guide victims through the sexual assault reporting process, require colleges and universities to conduct sexual assault surveys, create uniform investigation processes and increase fines associated with violating existing campus safety law.
“We are done with the days of asking victims why they drank too much or wore the wrong thing. Those days are done,” said bill co-sponsor Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, at a press conference on Wednesday. “Students are embracing a new culture of accountability that will be a force for this measure.”
The bill is the latest in a series of efforts to prop up investigations of sexual misconduct on colleges campuses, including investigations by the US Department of Education.
A Senate survey released earlier this month showed that 41% of schools have not conducted a single investigation in the last five years, and 21% of institutions conducted less investigations than the number of assaults they reported to the Department of Education, based on a sample of 440 campuses.
A 2007 study by the Justice Department estimates as many as one in five women are targets or victims of sexual assault on colleges campuses, but less than 5% report the assault to campus authorities or law enforcement.
Obviously a bill getting introduced is a long way from something getting signed into law. It doesn't take a long memory to recall what happened when congress attempted to grapple with the problem of sexual assault in the military. Ultimately they were unwilling to makes changes that would shake up the traditional military culture. College administrators may find it a bit more difficult to lay claim to being vital to the protection of national security.
The power of the federal government to deal with acts that are ultimately a matter of state criminal law is limited. Their main point of leverage is the federal funding that goes to colleges. There are inherent difficulties in creating an alternative system for dealing with sexual assault complaints separate from the public criminal justice system.
One thing does seem clear. The advocates for justice for victims of sexual violence have made some progress on the public attention front. One of the biggest problems has been the tendency to try to sweep the problem under the rug and pretend that it doesn't exist.