Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring submitted the report and recommendations from the Task Force on Combating Campus Sexual Violence to Governor McAuliffe Thursday. The recommendations are the product of an 8 month-long initiative to reexamine the current campus safety and preventive measures on sexual assault, in an effort to make substantive improvements.
Herring, who chaired the task force, explained the recommendations are an essential part of changing the culture surrounding sexual assault at college campuses.
“We need to send a clear message that we will not tolerate sexual violence at our schools and we will not accept a societal culture that condones it,” he said.
Herring, along with the Governor, the chancellor of the Virginia Community College System, and the presidents of all 16 public colleges and universities in the Commonwealth also signed a joint declaration pledging to work together to eliminate sexual violence on Virginia’s campuses.
The recommendations fall under five distinct themes which aim to address the many aspects of campus sexual assault. This includes preventative measures, reporting options, coordination of survivor-sensitive and trauma-informed response among all levels of government entities and ensuring policy is properly implemented. There is also an emphasis on transparent survivor-centered response and policies from the top-down.
Input from various members of the state collegiate community, including the Title IX Coordinators, faculty members, student groups and law enforcement representatives were also taken into account.
Emily Renda, alumni and chair of the prevention subcommittee on the Task Force is optimistic about the top-down approach as it encourages a standard of prevention and response across the state.
“I think what the recommendations will hopefully do is to build up an infrastructure on which schools across Virginia can move forward with a plan to change the way they approach the issue,” Renda said.
She also hopes the report will “put in place mechanisms” to maintain and continue the evaluation and improvement of existing programs.
The University in particular should focus on expanding the efforts it has in the realm of prevention, Renda recommended.
“With hiring Nicole Thomas and implementing the early phases of Green Dot we've taken some great steps, but the more coordinated and widespread prevention education is at UVa, the better,” Renda said.
In general, she said, prevention is the key in combatting sexual assault.
“Prevention is what ultimately matters,” Renda said. “You can have the best policies and procedures and resources in the world and that's great--but wouldn't it be amazing if no one had to use them?”
A final report of recommendations will be provided to the Governor from the Federal Communications Commission Bureaus, Secretary of Education, and Department of Health and Human Services, along with community advocates, health professionals, and other appointed representatives and government agencies on June 1, 2015.
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