Gillibrand, McCaskill Team Up to Combat College Sexual Assaults - East Idaho News
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Gillibrand, McCaskill Team Up to Combat College Sexual Assaults

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Getty 040414 GillibrandMcCaskill?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1396641875160Douglas Graham/CQ Roll Call(WASHINGTON) — Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY, and Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., were on opposite sides in the highly publicized fight over how to end sexual assaults in the military.  But now the two Democratic women are joining forces to combat sexual assaults in a different setting — college campuses.

The two senators led the charge this week in crafting a bipartisan letter calling for new federal funding to investigate and enforce sexual assault laws at college and universities across the country.

“When our young people go on to higher education, it should be an opportunity to learn, grow, pursue their dreams and prepare for their future careers,” Gillibrand said. “But the price of a college education should not include a 1 in 5 chance of being sexually assaulted. America’s colleges and universities are the best in the world. But it is simply unacceptable that they become havens for rape and sexual assault. It is time to take this crisis head on and end the scourge of sexual assault on our college campuses, hold offenders accountable, and keep our students safe.”

“After being victimized by a crime as deeply traumatic and personal as a sexual assault, no young man or woman should be left to fend for themselves,” McCaskill said. “I fear that, like the U.S. military, we’re going to find systemic problems on our college campuses — including very low reporting due to lack of protections and resources. Our schools must provide the highest level of responsiveness to ensure that victims are protected and empowered, and that perpetrators don’t get a free pass.”

The letter, which was signed by 10 senators, asks the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health, and Human Services to provide additional funding to ensure sexual assault cases on college campuses are properly investigated. The senators specifically ask for $2 million to add 13 additional staff members trained on investigating sexual assault cases as part of the Clery Compliance Team, which works to ensure colleges and universities are disclosing information about crime on and around their campuses. The senators also request $102 million be made available to the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights in FY15 and an additional $5.046 million for the office to hire staff dedicated to investigating and enforcing Title IX provisions regarding sexual violence.

Earlier this year, President Obama signed a memorandum establishing the White House Task Force on Protecting Students from Sexual Assault, an effort to curb the number of sexual assaults on college campuses.

“This is a priority for me, not only as president and commander in chief but as a husband and a father of two extraordinary girls,” the president said.

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