WHERE WE STAND
Campus Sexual Assault
Campus Sexual Assault
Policy Statement
June 2014
The National Alliance to End Sexual Violence (NAESV) is the
voice in Washington for the 56 state and territorial sexual assault coalitions
and 1300 rape crisis centers working to end sexual violence and support
survivors. Every day, local rape crisis centers see the devastating impact of
campus sexual assault and the increasing occurrence of the crime. According to
the Campus Sexual Assault Study, one in five women has been sexually assaulted
while in college. The aftermath of rape can hamper both educational attainment
and future employment for survivors. College survivors suffer high rates of
PTSD, depression, and drug or alcohol abuse, which can hamper both their
ability to succeed in school and future employment. At the same time, only a
small percentage of these cases are reported, sanctioned by campus judicial
boards or prosecuted, allowing offenders, who will often have multiple victims,
to go without punishment as well as creating an unsafe environment for
students.
NAESV applauds the recommendations advanced by the White
House Task Force to Protect Students From Sexual Assault and supports a
continued legislative and administrative focus on five key areas: partnerships,
prevention, advocacy and confidentiality, training, and climate surveys.
• Partnerships: Postsecondary institutions have a prime
opportunity to make significant and lasting change by integrating comprehensive
sexual assault prevention throughout all aspects of campus life. State sexual assault
coalitions and community-based rape crisis centers are experts in sexual
violence with decades of experience doing sexual assault training and
prevention as well as building an evidence base founded in practice and the
real experiences of communities. Rape crisis centers can help schools better
serve their students. These centers provide crisis intervention, 24-hour
services, longer-term therapy, support groups, accompaniment to hospital and
legal services, and community education and training. They stand ready to work
with colleges and universities to design and implement prevention and training
programming.
NAESV urges campuses to develop MOUs with state sexual
assault coalitions and/or community-based rape crisis centers and to prioritize
partnerships with local and state not-for-profit experts rather than
partnerships with out-of-state and/or for-profit entities. NAESV believes that
each community has unique characteristics and that state sexual assault
coalitions and community-based rape crisis centers know first-hand the
available medical, legal and support services. MOUs should include fees for
services rendered or a mutually agreed upon plan to fund activities. If a given
community lacks a rape crisis center, or the local center is unable to take on
additional responsibilities, the state sexual assault coalition may be able to
serve as a partner for some purposes. Reimbursing rape crisis centers and
coalitions for their services is a best practice.
State sexual assault coalitions and/or community-based rape
crisis centers can be partners on a broad range of campus activities to address
sexual violence and comply with federal law including:
- Providing training to campus judicial officials, campus police and/or security, residence life, and Title IX coordinators;
- Providing or consulting on ongoing prevention programming and initiatives now required by the Campus SaVE Act;
- Providing guidance and acting as a liaison on a campus task force/sexual assault response team;
- Providing confidential advocacy and counseling to student survivors; and
- Providing training on sex offending behaviors and effective sanctions, or facilitating partnerships with those with expertise in sex offending.
• Prevention: Primary prevention strategies are focused on
stopping the violence before it happens. Institutions must assess their
readiness for prevention and measure the effectiveness of programs. State
sexual assault coalitions and community-based agencies, often funded by the
federal Rape Prevention and Education (RPE) Program, are essential partners to
help provide training and technical assistance about evidence-based and
evidence-informed strategies to prevent sexual violence. We also recommend that
state boards of regents have access to the prevention strategies institutions
utilize and the frequency of interventions, as well as collect annual reports
on outcome data regarding the effectiveness of programs.
• Advocacy & Confidentiality: Sexual assault is a unique
crime: victims often blame themselves; the associated trauma can leave memories
fragmented; and insensitive or judgmental questioning can re-traumatize the
victim. It is imperative that survivors’ confidentiality is guarded. If a
survivor chooses not to report the assault, this choice must be honored and her
or his anonymity protected for the purpose of Clery Act reporting. Guidance
provided to universities regarding their obligations to disclose survivor or
incident information must reinforce the value of privacy for survivors. Title
IX and Clery both reference survivors’ rights related to privacy and
confidentiality. All advocates, whether working on a campus or in the
community, must be able to honor the confidentiality needs of survivors. The
cornerstone of rape crisis advocacy is empowering survivors to regain control
of their lives by making their own decisions following sexual assault. Campuses
are tasked with preventing these crimes, supporting survivors, creating a safe
learning environment, and holding offenders accountable. In doing this, we must
keep the needs of survivors central to this process by granting advocates
confidentiality when supporting survivors of campus sexual violence.
At the same time, it is essential for campuses to rigorously
investigate reported sexual assaults and proactively look for patterns of
perpetration. Campuses must be clear which employees have a duty to report and
which employees can guard confidentiality. NAESV believes the White House Task
Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault recommendations appropriately
balance survivor confidentiality and public safety concerns. NAESV would
support legislation to codify this policy.
Conversely, NAESV could not support a blanket mandatory
reporting policy requiring campuses to report sexual assaults to local law
enforcement even with an opt-out provision. Survivors must be apprised of the
avenues and procedures for reporting as well as advocacy assistance in making
and following through with reports. However, the act of reporting must be the
survivor’s decision.
• Training: Central to training for supporting survivors and
changing the culture of sexual violence is providing trauma-informed services
and response systems. Institutions should provide new campus security and
police officers with training on sexual assault investigations, and annual
policy reviews for quality assurance. Title IX officers should be required to
attend annual trainings and partner with community-based rape crisis centers
and/or state sexual assault coalitions. Additionally, campuses should include
local rape crisis centers and/or state sexual assault coalitions in identifying
plans for resolution agreements and compliance reviews between higher education
institutions and the Department of Education. Campus personnel need training on
sex offending behaviors and effective sanctions, training that can be provided
by state coalitions, local rape crisis centers, and/or their professional
allies.
• Climate Surveys: NAESV supports a requirement that
postsecondary institutions conduct climate surveys to better ascertain the
extent and nature of sexual violence on individual campuses. It will be
essential that climate survey questions are developed using the strongest
scientific data available and with the help of experts, informed by experience
conducting surveys of sexual violence victimization, as well as experienced
advocates from rape crisis centers. Climate surveys must be developed in a
spirit of mutual collaboration and teamwork, and just as survey development
will require collaboration, so too will the process of interpreting results and
developing action steps. Sexual violence is a crime and an endemic social
problem with complex causes. There is little to be gained from simplistic
finger-pointing. No institution should be incentivized to further hide areas
where improvement is needed.
The recommendations of the White House Task Force to Protect
Students Against Sexual Assault marked a historic commitment at the highest
levels of leadership to address this entrenched and unpalatable social problem,
and we are hopeful. It will take a concerted and ongoing commitment from all
postsecondary institutions to truly turn the tide of campus sexual violence. We
commend Congress for its diligent work to craft legislation that is
victim-centered with a focus on prevention, and focusing on partnerships with
local rape crisis centers and state sexual assault coalitions as the experts
poised to best assist campuses in addressing this problem.
HAVE ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS?
Contact Terri Poore, Policy Consultant at (850) 228-3428 or
terri@endsexualviolence.org.
The National Alliance to End Sexual Violence is the voice in
Washington for state coalitions and local programs working to end sexual
violence and support survivors.
Source: http://www.endsexualviolence.org/where-we-stand/campus-sexual-assault
