Huffington Post
11.2.15 | Tyler Kingkade
Advocates told Congress the GOP bill would make colleges less safe.
A coalition of 220 organizations working with sexual assault victims sent a letter Monday to all members of the House of Representatives in opposition to a bill that would limit college sexual assault investigations.
The Safe Campus Act "will not help in solving these problems and will, in fact, make campuses less safe for survivors," opines the letter, organized by the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.), would restrict colleges from investigating sexual assault cases unless police are involved. It would allow schools to use higher standards of proof in determining guilt, making it more difficult to remove a student accused of sexual violence on campus. No other student misconduct would be held to the same standards.
Colleges are required under the gender equity law Title IX to respond to all reports of sexual harassment and assault, regardless of police involvement. Both higher education officials and advocacy groups often say requiring that all cases be routed to police would make victims less likely to report their rape to anyone.
