Senator Claire McCaskill has released the results of a survey on sexual assault that she sent to 440 colleges and universities. The Missouri Democrat plans to introduce legislation to standardize procedures to report, investigate, and prosecute campus sexual assaults and to require training for campus officials who deal with sexual assault cases.
The report based on the survey shows that 20 percent of the colleges and universities that responded to her survey did not provide training for faculty and staff on dealing with sexual assaults on campus. Some 31 percent of the colleges and universities that responded to her survey do not have sexual assault awareness training for students.
The survey also showed that only half of the educational institutions had a hotline where students could report sexual assaults and 44 percent of colleges and universities had an online portal where students could report incidents.
The most shocking statistic in the report is that 41 percent of the colleges and universities that responded to the survey had not conducted a single sexual assault investigation over the past five years.
The report concludes, “Many institutions are failing to comply with the law and best practices in how they handle sexual violence among students.”
The full report, Sexual Violence on Campus: How Too Many Institutions of Higher Education Are Failing to Protect Students,” may be downloaded by clicking here.