Campus sexual assault and the factors that enable it are a source of near constant debate nationally. A UNC student’s recent allegations that she was sexually assaulted and the University didn’t respond appropriately have reminded many in the area why this is a particularly salient issue in North Carolina.
The problem of campus sexual assault can feel so complex as to be unstoppable. Many universities lack consistent policies for responding to sexual assault, and backlash prevents victims from disclosing their experiences.
These issues will not disappear, but they can be addressed, in part, by appropriate legislation. In North Carolina, that legislation has already been drafted in the form of House Bill 815.
If passed, the bill would require sexual assault policies to meet a statewide standard as a precondition for any college or university receiving state funding. These policies would use the standard of affirmative consent, which requires freely and explicitly given unimpaired consent for sexual activity.
The victim response protocol would require that the university connect the victim to relevant law enforcement and, as feasible, provide “counseling, health care, victim advocacy and legal assistance.”
Perhaps the most important part of the bill is the oversight by the Board of Governors, State Education Assistance Authority and Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee. That oversight is important because outside of Title IX compliance and related lawsuits, it can be very difficult to hold universities accountable on sexual assault.
HB 815 would formalize and standardize sexual assault policies across the state and increase the number of people who would hold universities accountable to those standards. This is not the radical overhaul that might most effectively combat sexual assault, but it would improve the system.
With the list of bipartisan sponsors supporting the bill, HB 815 seems like an easy sell even in the highly contested political atmosphere of N.C. Unfortunately, it’s been stuck in committee since April 2015.
Delays in solving any problem are frustrating, but the failure of HB 815 to pass is particularly galling. HB 815 is part of the 2015-16 session of the state assembly. This means that the same legislators who felt that the threat of sexual assault in bathrooms without gender enforcement required a special session decided sexual assault on campuses was not a pressing issue. While there have been no reported cases of sexual assault committed by trans people evading gender enforcement, roughly one in five women are sexually assaulted in college.
