WUNRN
AAUW - American Association of
University Women
USA - Colleges & Universities
Must Take New Steps to End Violence on Campus
October 20, 2014 - After years of hard
work, the Violence
Against Women Reauthorization Act is law and its campus safety provisions,
sometimes called Campus SaVE, have final regulations requiring colleges and
universities to take new steps to end sexual violence. AAUW
documented the development of these regulations this spring, a step that
provides additional details to help schools implement new laws. The Department
of Education recently announced that these regulations are now final.
Here are
examples of some of the things schools must do this year to follow the law:
This is in addition to the longstanding requirement to disclose
sexual assault incidents, along with other crimes.
·
the institution’s programs (available to all students and
employees) to prevent dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and
stalking;
·
the procedures, steps, and time lines that the institutions will
follow when one of these crimes is reported;
·
all of the sanctions that the school imposes following these
proceedings;
·
and training for all those involved in the proceedings.
All
of this is great news for student safety. But what’s missing? The Department of
Education opted not to provide a federal definition of consent for every
college and university to use. That means schools can develop their own; we
know that more than 800 currently use an affirmative consent
definition and that
The
DOE acknowledged that some of these steps will take time and energy for schools
to follow, and it included new resources with the release of the regulations. In
addition, NotAlone.gov/schools
continues to provide model policies, programs, and guidance to help schools
make improvements on their campuses.
Schools should already be making a “good faith” effort to follow these new provisions. Have you ever checked your school’s annual security report, which explains its compliance? Consider stopping by the website of your alma mater, local college or university, or the school your kids/friends/relatives attend, and type in “annual security report” in the search bar. The report should show up and have been updated on or by October 1. It should include these new statistics and mention the steps the school is taking to comply with the new law. Checking up on institutions is a great way to help implement this strong new law that you helped make a reality.
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