Many props to Joe Biden for taking the lead with this:
Vice President Biden plans to announce the initiative Monday at the University of New Hampshire, making public a 19-page letter of regulatory guidance to schools from the Education Department. It specifies for the first time that rape, sexual assault and sexual battery should be considered not only crimes but also instances of discrimination covered by the federal rules that bar sexual harassment. [...]
The administration's letter cites data that show nearly 3,300 forcible sex offenses were reported on college campuses in 2009. In addition, there were reports of 800 rapes and attempted rapes and 3,800 incidents of sexual battery at public high schools in 2007-08.
Unfortunately, universities have a notably poor history of dealing with sexual assault. A few years ago, in an investigative piece for the Center for Public Integrity, Kristen Lombardi used an assault at the University of Virginia (my alma mater) to illustrate the secrecy and inaction that characterizes the approach to sexual assault at institutions around the country:
[O]ne national study reports that roughly one in five women who attend college will become the victim of a rape or an attempted rape by the time she graduates. But while the vast majority of students who are sexually assaulted remain silent — just over 95 percent, according to a study funded by the research arm of the U.S. Justice Department — those who come forward can encounter mystifying disciplinary proceedings, secretive school administrations, and off-the-record negotiations.
At times, policies lead to dropped complaints and, in cases like Russell's, gag orders later found to be illegal. Many college administrators believe the existing processes provide a fair and effective way to deal with ultra-sensitive allegations, but alleged victims say these processes leave them feeling like victims a second time.
I really recommend reading the whole thing.
