Thursday, May 1, 2014
W.H Releases Report on Sexual Assaults on College Campuses
White House Releases Report on Sexual Assaults on College Campuses
Just yesterday, April 28th, the Obama administration released a new 20 page report outlining the prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses, as well as, new steps to combat the issue. The project was conducted by a specialized White House task force called “Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault” geared towards opening college administrations eyes to the violence and bureaucratic injustice that has plagued young survivors across the country.
The report also launched a new website, NotAlone.gov, that provides victims with clear, easy-to-read information about their legal rights and description of how to file a complaint. The new White House report explains how the website “will help students wade through often complicated legal definitions and concepts, and point them toward people who can give them confidential advice — and those who can’t.” The report also contains a multitude of recommendations in how colleges can improve sexual assault prevention. The report mentions the implementation of campus wide surveys measuring students’ and administrations’ awareness of the issue, the promotion of ‘bystander intervention’, and the addition of new, trained first responders on college campuses.
Vice President Biden also released a statement to the Washington Post saying, “Colleges and universities can no longer turn a blind eye or pretend rape and sexual assault doesn’t occur on their campuses. We need to provide survivors with more support and we need to bring perpetrators to more justice and we need colleges and universities to step up.” The report was ultimately driven by the recent outrage that has arisen against some of the country’s most prestigious universities stemming from the lack of action and aid survivors have been given in their recovery and prosecution processes.
Just recently, an anonymous op-ed was released in the Harvard Crimson detailing a student’s horrific sexual assault experience and the school’s extremely outdated policy addressing sexual assault. Stories such as these have brought sexual assault to the center stage of the college reform. Since then, students across the country have launched campaigns at their colleges pressuring the administrations to adopt new sexual assault policies that include the hiring of a trained sexual assault responder dedicated to aiding students in the legal process.
The MWPC recognizes that sexual assault on college campuses is an issue that affects both men and women, and applauds the Obama administration for finally taking action in pressuring schools to adopt more progressive policies against sexual assault.
To read more about the Washington Post or Harvard Crimson articles follow the links below:
