Point Park University's Student-Run Newspaper

Point Park Globe

Point Park University's Student-Run Newspaper

Point Park Globe

Point Park University's Student-Run Newspaper

Point Park Globe

Campus assault rates unacceptable

A survey published in early August found that out of 236 colleges and universities, 41 percent had failed to investigate any of the sexual assaults reported to them. 

I am going to say that again. 

Forty-one percent of schools that reported on-campus sexual assaults to the Department of Education did not investigate a single claim. That is 41 percent of schools that did not care what happened to their students. Statistics show up to 19 percent of undergraduate women are victims, which makes that almost a full fifth of the female student body that nobody cared about. 

The current punishment for universities failing to report campus assaults is a $35,000 fine and the punishment for not investigating sex-related crimes is the loss of federal funding. That last one sounds like a big threat, and one might ask, “If the school runs the risk of losing its federal aid, then why would it allow these things to go on?” The answer is simple.

The punishment has never once been enforced.

Enter the Campus Accountability and Safety Act. This bill sets forth fines and provisions regarding sexual assault on campus, and it has finally made its way to the Senate for consideration. 

Schools that are not afraid of retribution downplay sexual assault activity on their campuses – the fewer sexual assaults, the safer the school appears to be, and the more parents trust sending their kids there. Obviously, this is an extraordinary disservice to the victims, whose lives are turned upside down by what has happened to them. 

 Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., one of the bill’s sponsors, says that the current sanction of denying universities federal aid is “not a realistic punishment…. I don’t think universities really feel there are consequences that are meaningful.” 

The proposed bill would increase the fine for failing to report assaults to $150k per violation and fine schools one percent of their operating budgets for failure to investigate incidents. Sponsors feel the changes should give schools a bigger incentive to report crimes.

The bill also lays out provisions that require schools to cease the practice of allowing departmental handling of reports. All cases would be reported to the same entity. To me, this seems like common sense and it is somewhat sickening to think that legislation is just now coming around to enforcing it. How many students have been assaulted by athletes – or even faculty – and had it swept under the rug by a department that wanted to protect its stars?

Each school would be required under the new law to provide a confidential advisor that students can report assaults to. They would also be required to coordinate their actions with local law enforcement and train personnel in sexual assault awareness..  

Schools would also be required to conduct an annual anonymous survey of randomly selected students regarding their experiences with sexual assault. The results of the surveys would be published so that parents and students can make informed decisions regarding what schools to attend based on their safety track record.

These are all huge steps in the right direction, though there is one drawback: an increase in reporting does not indicate an increase in assaults. However, parents and prospective students may view it that way. Many schools may see higher numbers in their sexual assault records based on reporting alone – like Iowa’s Grinell College, which has already made a new commitment to reporting.  This may make parents think schools with suddenly higher numbers may have become more dangerous when, in fact, they have not.

Encouraging reporting was more important to Grinell’s President Raynard S. Kington than his school’s image.  “We know there’s a chance our numbers will be misinterpreted,” he said in an interview with the Washington Post. However, Kington, like the bill’s sponsors, believes that reporting sexual assaults will be the very thing that ultimately reduces the frequency of those incidents. “Our students have played a huge role in changing the culture,” he said.

It is a shame that lawmakers are just now getting around to doing something about an issue as vital as this, but it is better late than never. Schools cannot stop sexual assault altogether, but they can at least reassure students that if they become victims, help will be available and their claims will be investigated – as they should be.

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