One in four women in college will be sexually assaulted. One in eight will be raped.
College campuses are supposed to be havens of academia and learning, but the statistics present a troubling reality. A freshman’s first year is the most likely time for him or her to be sexually assaulted. Only 5 percent of college women who are raped report the incident.
Something needs to change.
A new act presented in the Senate seeks to improve safety on campus and decrease sexual violence. The Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act, or SaVE, requires colleges and universities to include all incidents of alleged sexual violence in their annual crime reports and to create and distribute policies that outline sexual violence prevention programs and procedures for dealing with instances of sexual violence.
While aspects of the bill would likely improve the sexual violence status quo on campuses, others are troubling.
The SaVE Act functions on the principle that all accounts of sexual victimization are true and accurate. As such, it requires schools to use the lowest possible standard of proof in disciplinary hearings. If a school thinks there is as small as a 50.001 percent chance that the person accused of sexual violence is guilty, the accused needs to be disciplined. That means even if there is a reasonable doubt the accused is not guilty, he or she will face disciplinary action if the school feels he or she is likely more guilty than not.
Perhaps more worrying, students found guilty could be expelled and face criminal and civil liability without the protections that a criminal defendant usually receives, including representation.
The bill also makes schools provide prevention and awareness programs for all new students and employees, which would include rules on matters that tend to be highly subjective, such as the “elements of a healthy relationship.” Additionally, individual schools would have to define consent as it relates to sexual activity, and students would be required to abide by these rules every time they were in a sexual scenario. They might, for instance, have to ask for consent using specific language every time they moved to a new level of sexual activity.
School officials do not belong in a student’s bedroom.
The SaVE Act, while well intended, creates more problems than solutions. Congress must rethink the act to create new legislation that decreases campus sexual violence without attacking personal liberties.
