Making college campuses safer

State and federal governments fighting sexual assault

Posted

Last week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo put forward a bill that would help combat sexual assault on college campuses across New York.

The bill, part of the governor’s Enough is Enough initiative, would make all colleges in the state, which enroll some 1.2 million students, comply with initiatives the governor instituted at SUNY schools last year, including setting up a statewide definition of affirmative consent and creating a Bill of Rights for victims and survivors of sexual assault. Cuomo wanted it to be a model for the country, as SUNY is the largest public college system in the nation.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, there were 388 rapes on college campuses in New York in 2013, the last year for which statistics are available. But federal studies have shown that 41 percent of colleges have not conducted a single investigation of sexual assault in the past five years.

“We must do more to address sexual assault and rape on college campuses, and this law will ensure that students at all colleges in the state are protected by the same uniform policies that SUNY adopted last year,” Cuomo said in a press release. “New York must take a stand to combat the culture of sexual violence in higher education. This is a call to action for everyone who believes students should be protected by their college or university, and New York should be a leader in the fight against sexual violence on college campuses.”

As part of the initiative, the state has already activated a 24-hour hotline for reporting campus sexual assaults. Victims can call (844) 845-7269 and speak to specially trained police operators. The State Police will also develop response protocols and training courses for campus police departments.

The bill that Cuomo is putting forward changes the way sexual assault is managed by colleges. The first part of the bill would create a statewide definition of affirmative consent. The idea is that instead of “no means no,” now “yes means yes.” It means that there must be a clear understanding between two people that they can engage in sexual activity.

Page 1 / 4