When an updated version of the Violence Against Women Act was finally signed into law a couple of weeks ago it included a number of provisions not previously part of the law originally drafted in 1994 by then Senator Joe Biden. Each time VAWA was updated in 2000 and 2005, protections and provisions were expanded for women who are victims of violence. This time, the law includes landmark measures to give tribal courts more authority when dealing with non-Native American perpetrators of sexual violence on reservations and to provide domestic violence protections for members of the LGBTQ community. One important new provision that is especially relevant to us as UT students is the new Campus Sexual Violence Elimination (SaVE) Act.
The Campus SaVE Act seeks to address all types of violence that women on college campuses face, including stalking, partner violence, dating violence, rape and attempted rape. The new law beefs up the Clery Act of 1990, which requires universities to publicly disclose all crime statistics. The Clery Act was named after Jeanne Clery, who was a 19-year-old college student who was raped, tortured, and murdered in her own dorm room by a stranger in 1986.
The Campus SaVE Act increases transparency of sexual violence at colleges. Students or university employees must be provided with their written rights to be assisted by police when reporting a crime, to change academic, professional or living arrangements to avoid hostile environments, to obtain a restraining order, to have a clear understanding of the institution’s disciplinary policy, and to receive counseling information.
The new law also seeks to make disciplinary procedures at colleges more accountable by making sure proceedings are prompt, fair and impartial, and conducted by officials who receive annual training on sexual violence. Also, both the accuser and the accused may have others present during any meeting related to the case.
The Campus SaVE act also demands colleges include more educational programming for students and employees addressing sexual violence; that includes prevention and awareness programs, information about safe options for bystander intervention, and information about the warning signs of abusive and violent behavior.
Laws like these are absolutely imperative to address issues of violence against women specifically on college campuses. The data shows that 20 to 25 percent of college women will experience rape or attempted rape, but more than 80 percent of victims do not report their assault.
First of all, many women believe and are taught to believe that any sort of violence that happens to them is their fault. But even if they can get past this ever-present idea violently pushed on them by society, many do not wish to report because they think nothing positive will come of it. They fear that they will be publicly shamed or that people think the whole story is made up.
These fears are completely justified. We know that 97 percent of rapists receive no punishment. We know that despite federal rape shield laws that are supposed to restrict how much of a victim’s past can be discussed in trial, details about a victim’s life are used to the rapist’s advantage. And we know that victim-blaming is society’s knee-jerk reaction to sexual assault, even though we know only 3 to 6 percent of cases are false accusations.
This is why we still need the Violence Against Women Act and why the Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act is such an important part of it. All women everywhere should have the right to be safe where they live, study and work, and the right to justice when safety is broken.
— Lindsay Lee is a junior majoring in mathematics and Spanish. She can be reached at [email protected].
