Requirements for reporting rape and sexual assault on college campuses would expand under a New York bill introduced in the state assembly on Oct. 8.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
The legislation, sponsored by Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal (Upper West Side-Hell\u2019s Kitchen), is an expansion of New York\u2019s Enough is Enough Law, a 2015 measure that requires all college campuses to establish policies to prevent sexual assault.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rosenthal introduced the legislation last week in response to the ongoing \u201cCornell 7\u201d case<\/a>, a high-profile civil lawsuit filed by a former student at the Ivy League school who was allegedly drugged and raped by a group of university students. Among the allegations, the suit claims the institution failed to punish the alleged perpetrators adequately after the incident came to light.<\/p>\n New York State law currently requires colleges and universities to inform all sexual assault victims<\/a> of their right to file a report with university police, local or state law enforcement, or to not file a formal report at all, Rosenthal explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt is up to the victim to determine how they choose to report the incident, and that is something they may also discuss with the school\u2019s Title IX coordinator,\u201d the assembly member told amNewYork.\u00a0<\/p>\n How would the bill improve rape reporting on campus?<\/p>\n The 2015 law requires all colleges and universities to survey students every other year and report their findings in an online campus climate assessment. However, the assembly member explained that the information that must be collected and published focuses on students\u2019 awareness of campus policies to combat sexual assault, their understanding of affirmative consent, reporting procedures and similar topics.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s missing from these reports is clear data on how often rape and sexual assaults are occurring on college campuses around the state and how those cases are being handled,\u201d Rosenthal explained. \u201cTo tackle this issue head-on, we need to know how many assaults are being reported at each campus, to whom students are reporting most often and what results from these reports.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0\n<\/p>\n Further, she explained, the reports should be easy to find on the state\u2019s website, not buried elsewhere to uncover.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \u201cIt is also important that each institution\u2019s report be clearly accessible on the New York State Education Department\u2019s website and not buried deep in the pages of a university\u2019s website,\u201d Rosenthal said.<\/p>\n How often does sexual assault actually occur on college campuses?<\/p>\n