U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is renewing her call on her fellow senators to pass a law reforming the way sexual assaults are handled on campus.
Gillibrand joined sexual assault survivors and Republican U.S. Senate leaders Tuesday in Washington, D.C. to promote the Campus Accountability and Safety Act.
The bipartisan-supported national law would streamline the processes for responding to and reporting assaults on campus. The law would also provide incentives to colleges and universities for lowering the number of sexual assault cases that occur.
“The bipartisan Campus Accountability and Safety Act would create historic transparency requirements and give colleges and universities an incentive to take campus sexual assault seriously,” said Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.
Gillibrand also touted similar laws that have been enacted in New York State, and she acknowledged work New York colleges and universities have done to reduce assault on campus.
“Some schools, like the SUNY system in New York, have shown leadership by acknowledging that sexual assault is a problem on their campuses, and they’re beginning to fight it," said Gillibrand.
While New York has set a strong example, Gllibrand says other colleges are "stuck in defensive mode" and are worried about what acknowledging the problem of on-campus assault would do to their application numbers.
"We need to pass this bipartisan bill and finally start holding our schools accountable for how they deal with this crime,” Gillibrand said.
