H.R. 3403, or the Safe Campus Act (SCA) of 2015, was introduced in the U.S. House Education and the Workforce Committee on July 29 of this year by Rep. Matt Salmon of Arizona.
The SCA states that it aims to “protect victims of sexual violence” and “improve the adjudication of allegations related to sexual violence.” The provisions of this bill explain that the victim of a sexual assault would need to file a report with the police before the university would be allowed to investigate the crime, and the university could not punish the perpetrator until they are convicted of the crime.
The National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) said that “sexual violence occurs when someone is forced or coerced into unwanted sexual activity without agreeing or consenting” and said that it includes “forced intercourse, sexual contact or touching, sexual harassment, sexual exploitation, and exposure or voyeurism.” Also according to the NSVRC, 90 percent of sexual assaults will go unreported by the victim, and in 2014, 40 percent of universities admitted to not investigating a single report within the past five years.
Craig Russell, director of Public Safety, said that the SCA initially attracted many supporters because the provisions were thought to encourage the reporting of sexual assaults. After further consideration, he said, the bill would not encourage reporting.
“You know, a lot of victims of sexual assault don’t want to go to law enforcement,” Russell said. “The university wouldn’t be able to do much of anything until they went to the police to file a report. In many cases, that’s going to discourage reporting of sexual violence.”
According to Assistant Vice President of Student Life Zach Neal, the SCA would severely inhibit and lengthen the response process of universities in order to make accommodations for the victims.
“First of all, we’re always very sensitive to the needs and concerns of a victim, so no matter what happens moving forward with this law, we will continue to make that our primary effort,” Neal said. “However, the law might change the chronological order of when we find out. Forcing the victim to report the matter to the police first before any investigation or action by us would make the process longer. It won’t change how we approach things once we know about it, but it might affect if or when we know about it.”
According to the NSVRC, one in every five women and one in every 16 men will be sexually assaulted during their years at college. Senior Rachel Moran said that the bill does not promote safety or protect victims of sexual assault.
“Violence against women is a huge issue on college campuses, especially those with fraternities and sororities,” Moran said. “The SCA would prevent universities from investigating sexual assault until the victim reports the crime. This is working against keeping campuses safe. It is protecting the accused, instead of protecting the victim.”
On Nov. 13th, the National Pan-Hellenic Conference and The North-American Interfraternity Conference withdrew their support from the SCA and further action is pending. Many other college organizations continue to speak out against the bill.
