On July 30, the Campus Safety and Accountability Act was introduced by a group of bipartisan senators in an effort to distribute harsher penalties to colleges and universities if they fail to comply with the standards of the act. Although this act may not be passed before the year is up, it is a step in the right direction. It is a sign that some of our nation’s leaders are beginning to stand behind college students to shift the rape culture on college campuses, when for some time, it felt like many students were alone in their efforts.

One of the requirements of the Campus Safety and Accountability Act include an anonymous survey for colleges to administer to their students about their experiences with sexual assault. The results of the survey would be published online, for prospective students and their parents to compare across universities. For schools who do not comply with the standards of the new law, they could potentially lose up to 1% of the school’s operating budget. The current penalty is the loss of all financial aid for that institution, established by the Clery Act — a law that requires colleges receiving federal financial aid to disclose information about campus crimes.

Colleges and universities would have to strengthen their on-campus resources for sexual assault survivors by encouraging them to come forward and by designating them a confidential advisor for guidance. On-campus staff who may be involved in disciplinary proceedings for sexual assault cases will also have to undergo specialized training. Local law enforcement agencies would also have to be incorporated in school disciplinary proceedings, and athletic departments and other subgroups would no longer be allowed to handle cases of sexual assault for members of those groups.

When the White House created a task force earlier this year to begin pressuring colleges and universities to address the national issue of sexual assault on college campuses, it was found that one in five female college students have been sexually assaulted. This statistic has become more than just a number, but represents the many lives that have been affected by rape on college campuses, an issue that is all-too-often swept under the rug and dismissed. It represents our peers, our friends, our classmates, our floor mates, our roommates. It hits home. It makes us wonder what is being done to protect and provide justice to survivors. The Campus Safety and Accountability Act may begin to change the tide of this crisis, at a time where a woman in college is more likely to be sexually assaulted than anywhere else in the country.

With a new class of students now preparing to enter colleges and universities across the country, the thought that this new law could potentially change the culture of sexual assault on campuses is promising. It would no longer be up to schools to decide for themselves whether a sexual assault case should be reported or not. It is important now more than ever for colleges to ensure that they have the proper resources to guide and protect their students; not simply for the sake of avoiding a fine or bad review, but to act in the best interest of survivors.