As we've noted, the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault released a report this week that makes recommendations to universities for assessing and preventing sexual violence. One of the
report’s key recommendations in this area is that colleges and universities conduct climate
surveys to better identify the scope of the problem on
individuals campuses. Sexual assault is notoriously
underreported by survivors, so the Task Force recommends a more comprehensive
climate survey to provide more meaningful information about prevalence of
sexual assault as well as students’ attitudes and awareness. The Task Force has provided colleges and
universities with this survey toolkit and
encourages them to conduct climate surveys next year. The Task Force will also explore legal
options for requiring schools to conduct these surveys.
With respect to prevention, the Task Force report seeks to
identify best practices for reducing the sexual violence incidence rate on
college campuses. Toward this end, the report
links to findings by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from its systematic review of
primary prevention strategies.According
to these findings, the most effective strategies are “sustained (not brief, one-shot educational
programs), comprehensive, and address the root individual, relational and
societal causes of sexual assault." The
report also outlines promising bystander intervention
strategies, as well as support for further prevention-focused research. Of particular interest (and source of pride) to the Title IX Bloggers, the bystander intervention material cited in the report was produced by our alma mater, the University of New Hampshire (see also). UNH was also one of three institutions -- along with Johns Hopkins and the University of Texas at Austin -- singled out for leading the future of research in the area of sexual assault prevention.
As an additional component of its prevention effort, the White House has
released this public service
announcement that speaks directly to men about consent and bystander
intervention.
The report also contains recommendations to improve universities' response to reported assault, as well as government enforcement. I've summarized those recommendations in an earlier post.
