Colleges should be required to disclose annually the number of sexual-assault hearings on their campuses, as well as the outcomes of the proceedings and any sanctions, the watchdog group Security on Campus said on Friday at a Congressional Victims' Rights Caucus forum in Washington.
The group, which regularly lobbies for legislation it says will make campuses safer, proposed several "enhancements" to the major federal crime-reporting and anti-sex-discrimination laws known as the Clery Act and Title IX.
Beyond the annual disclosures, Security on Campus recommended extending the fine for colleges that violate the Clery Act, $27,500 for each offense, to those that fail to comply with Title IX. The federal government should consolidate enforcement of the two laws, the group said.
"The primary purpose of these provisions is to put in place a framework that will protect sexual assault victims and better enable them to continue with their education," S. Daniel Carter, director of public policy for Security On Campus, wrote in an e-mail message.
Sexual-assault hearings and their outcomes are inconsistent both within and across campuses, Mr. Carter said. His group proposed that colleges develop "comprehensive protocols for addressing sexual assaults" and use a "preponderance of the evidence" standard, rather than a stricter one, in hearings.
"This outline will help create a process that is fair to all involved and will help minimize the need for costly litigation brought by both victims and accused students," Mr. Carter said.
Security on Campus also proposed that colleges run education programs for students, to define sexual assault and consent.
The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights has announced that it will step up enforcement of Title IX, but Mr. Carter said its measures would probably not be enough.
"We need things that go beyond that," he said in an interview. "This is too serious a problem."
Comments
1. kymac - April 18, 2010 at 02:40 pm
This sounds like a great plan. When I first attended college the number of reported sexual assualts was 2. In the first few months there were a string of rapes on campus by a serial rapist. Since it was only one individual it appears that they counted all his rapes (at least 5) as one because next year the number was 2 again.
2. brstr - April 19, 2010 at 10:46 am
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3. traneman - April 27, 2010 at 02:59 pm
This is absolutely ridiculous! Sexual assault is a CRIME, not some bad prank that can lead to, at worst, expulsion. Colleges should not be holding sexual assault "hearings." All of the cases on my campus lead to an arrest by our police. The accused can then have the case adjudicated in a court of law, where it belongs--not before some campus judicial board.
If the accused wins in court, then he can ask to be reinstated after a campus judicial hearing. That is not double jeopardy, by the way. Colleges should stop protecting and encouraging serial rapists. Just think: commit a rape on campus and it's just really bad behavior and you avoid a criminal record, as well as possibly getting some treatment. Step off the campus and commit the very same act; it's now a crime. No wonder campus rapists operate with impunity. What are we teaching our students?