Colleges across America may soon be required to reform how they report sexual assaults that occur on campus.

If enacted, the Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act, or SaVE Act, would require colleges to provide victims of sexual assault with contact information for legal, health or counseling services on campus.

The SaVE Act is a provision of the Violence Against Women Act, which is currently awaiting congressional action in the U.S. House of Representatives. The SaVE Act would be a significant policy change of how college assaults are handled since the Jeanne Clery Act of 1990 and the Campus Sexual Assault Victim’s Bill of Rights of 1992, according to a Feb. 19 article by The Huffington Post.

“Creators of the SaVE Act worked with colleges across the country to try and come up with a better language about the prevalent issue that is campus sexual assault,” said Randi Bregman, executive director of the Vera House, a domestic and sexual violence service agency based in Syracuse. “The natural result of improved dialogue on these issues is better reporting.”

The SaVE Act would attempt to teach disciplinary officials how to better respond to sexual assault incidences through annual training. It would also require that crime reports include instances of stalking and domestic violence.

Syracuse University’s Department of Public Safety currently includes stalking and domestic violence in its documented incidents of sexual assault, according to its Campus Safety brochure. The SaVE Act would require safety departments, such as DPS, to build upon current procedures by providing victims of stalking and domestic violence access to the same resources as victims of other sexual assault incidences.

“We need to trust that those who work in disciplinary bodies on college campuses will do their best at gathering and strengthening these reports,” Bregman said. “Incidences like these are far too common to go unnoticed.”

At least 75 cases of sexual assault were reported on college campuses within the first six weeks of the current academic year, according to a survey of media reports by The Huffington Post. Still, many instances continue to go unreported. More than 54 percent of incidents of sexual assault went unreported between 2006-2010, according to the U.S. Department of Justice’s website.

Universities are currently required to take action once a sexual assault is reported and provide resources for victims, but are not obligated to provide a prevention policy, according to The Huffington Post article. To increase awareness of sexual assault among students, the SaVE Act would require schools to hold informational prevention programs for all incoming students and new employees.

“By going beyond traditional risk reduction alone and covering primary prevention, consent, bystander intervention and reporting options, we will begin to change the culture of tolerance for sexual violence and the silence that surrounds it,” said S. Daniel Carter, director of Public Policy for Security on Campus, Inc., in a Sep. 19 article by The Huffington Post.

Bregman, director of the Vera House, said the SaVE Act would directly address the misconceptions about sexual assault on college campuses. The SaVE Act may also help improve elements of trust between a victim and legal officials.

“Once this act is passed, I think we will definitely see a lot more improvement in how these instances are reported,” Bregman said. “It’s really important that people know that a safe environment exists to hold defenders accountable.”

Published on February 27, 2013 at 11:11 pm

Contact Annie: apalme05@syr.edu