Dems press for details on sexual assault initiative
A pair of senators wants more information from Education Secretary Arne Duncan on the department’s efforts to combat campus sexual assault.
“We are writing in support of your continuing efforts to enforce Title IX and the Jeanne Clery Act (Clery Act) and to ask that you provide additional information about the actions your office is taking to ensure schools receiving federal financial assistance take the necessary steps to prevent sexual assault on their campuses, and to respond promptly and effectively when an assault is reported,” Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) wrote Friday in a letter to Duncan.
The senators are asking the department to turn over the number of Title IX complaints it has received during the past five years. They also want to know how many investigations came from those complaints and how many investigations the department started independently during the same time period.
Boxer and Gillibrand also asked for additional information, including details about how the department decides to conclude investigations, how long, on average, it takes to complete investigations, and, according to the letter, “why some investigations remain open for years.”
Under the Clery Act, colleges have to report the number of campus sexual assaults if they receive federal funding.
The senators want the department, by April 6, to turn over the number of sexual assaults reported during the past five years, how the agency ensures colleges are complying with reporting rules and crime log requirements under the Clery Act, and how many penalties have been handed down, among other things.
Boxer and Gillibrand asked for the information “in order to ensure that your department, our universities, and Congress are doing everything we can to prevent and appropriately respond to sexual assault on college campuses.”
Friday’s letter isn’t the first time the two have worked together to combat campus sexual assault. Gillibrand and Boxer were part of a bipartisan group of senators that asked for more funding to combat assault and enforce laws.
Boxer is also expected to reintroduce the SOS Campus Act next week. The legislation would require colleges that receive federal funding to have an independent advocate responsible for sexual assault prevention and response.
“We commend you for your efforts over the past year and look forward to continuing to work with you to end this epidemic of sexual violence,” the senators wrote in Friday’s letter.
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