Combatting Sexual Assault on Campus

On April 29 the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault issued its first report, which outlines ways to more effectively identify, prevent and respond to sexual violence on campuses.

“Colleges and universities can no longer turn a blind eye or pretend rape and sexual assault doesn’t occur on their campuses,” said Vice President Biden at the report’s release. A study of undergraduate women in 2009 found that one in five are sexually assaulted during college.

The task force recommends that schools issue campus climate surveys to learn the extent of the problem and to implement prevention programs that “engage men as allies in this cause.” When a sexual assault occurs, schools should provide trained advocates, as well as mental health and pastoral counselors, to support victims through the process of reporting and recovery.

The White House has also created NotAlone.gov, a website that provides information about students’ rights, school-by-school enforcement data and resources on how to file a complaint.

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Jonathan James

4 years 5 months ago

Sexual assault is a crime. The American legal system is the correct venue for this. Anything else is a kangaroo court where the rights of the accused and the rights of the victims cannot be met. Someone is raped, go to the police, not a teacher. Someone is assaulted, go to the police,not a school administrator.

Rory Connor

4 years 5 months ago

I strongly agree. There was a case in a UK university several years ago in which a drunken male and female student spent the night together and in the morning the latter claimed that she had been raped. The male student said that sex was consensual. The university authorities investigated and said they would impose some kind of sanction on the male. The man refused to accept the sanctions and insisted - AGAINST the wishes of the woman - that the police be brought in. There was a trial at which he was acquitted of rape. In cases where it is one person's word against anothers and no other evidence at all, the university will probably try for a "compromise" solution. However this won't work in favour of a student who is falsely accused. A criminal trial is supposed to produce a guilty verdict only when the evidence is "beyond reasonable doubt". That is the only way to deal with this issue.

This article also appeared in print, under the headline "Combatting Sexual Assault on Campus," in the May 19, 2014 issue.