Many groups that work with sexual assault victims are against or have refused to endorse a bill that would prevent colleges from punishing students for sexual assault in some cases.
Twenty six prominent sexual assault victim advocacy organizations are opposed to the Safe Campus Act, according to the Huffington Post.
The Safe Campus Act is a bipartisan bill supported by the Fraternity and Sorority Political Action Committee that would only allow colleges to punish students for sexual assault if law enforcement is also involved. If a victim did not also file a complaint with police then schools could not take any disciplinary action against the accused student.
Three leaders of sexual violence prevention groups sent a letter to the sponsors of the bill in August outlining what they saw as flaws in the legislation. Victims of other crimes, they pointed out in their letter, are not forced to go to police before filing a complaint with the school.
The leaders also noted that schools have always “exercised authority to sanction their students for policy violations, regardless of whether the conduct also constitutes a crime.” People have also raised concerns about the victims’ civil rights.
Currently Title IX requires schools to investigate and act on reports of sexual misconduct to protect the victim from sexual discrimination.