Flurry of new legislation targets sexual assault on campus
Lawmakers in both the Senate and House of Representatives are introducing legislation aimed at combating campus sexual violence this week, building on a series of recent federal initiatives aimed at tackling the issue — the focus of a landmark Center for Public Integrity investigation.
At a morning press conference attended by students and victims’ advocates, a bipartisan group of senators unveiled a bill designed, they say, to better protect those victimized by campus sexual assault, as well as to hold colleges and universities more accountable. Known as the Campus Accountability and Safety Act, the measure targets what the senators call “a scourge of sexual violence against students.” The group — led by Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and including Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Dean Heller, R-Nev., and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, among others — has been drafting the legislation for months, collecting information by hosting three Senate hearings for students and advocates, as well as conducting a survey of nearly 450 colleges and universities nationwide.
Following the event, Senator McCaskill said in a statement that “students need to be protected and empowered, and institutions must provide the highest level of responsiveness in helping hold perpetrators fully accountable.”
“That’s what our legislation aims to accomplish,” she stated.
In the House, Rep. Jackie Speier, a California Democrat, is today introducing her own bill, dubbed the Hold Accountable and Lend Transparency on Campus Sexual Assault Act, or HALT. That proposal represents the first of two anticipated pieces of legislation: this morning, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., announced that, following the August summer recess, she will file a House version of the newly filed Senate bill.
(Update, August 1, 2014 at 1:23pm: Maloney's office announced on July 31 that the Congresswoman had filed the House companion version before the August summer recess instead.)
“Sexual assault on our college campuses has reached epidemic proportions,” said Maloney in a statement. “And more must be done to address the ambiguities in the law, beef up protections, improve reporting, and strengthen enforcement.”
Related: Schools under investigation for possible Title IX violations
There’s more to this story. Click here to read the rest at the Center for Public Integrity.
This story is part of Sexual Assault on Campus. Click here to read more stories in this investigation.
Related stories
Report details lives ruined for children put on sex-offender registries
One-fifth of female veterans from Iraq, Afghanistan show signs of sexual trauma
Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act headed for President's signature
White House group releases recommendations on fighting campus sexual assault
Notre Dame case highlights complexities of campus sexual assault investigations
Copyright 2014 The Center for Public Integrity. This story was published by The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington, D.C.
