Yesterday, Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy “signed legislation into law that will strengthen sexual assault prevention and response procedures at institutions of higher learning in Connecticut.” Today, an editorial in The Courant asserted that the legislation should be a national model. So, what exactly does the legislation accomplish?
Here are a few of the high points:
•”The new law requires all institutions of higher learning to immediately provide concise written notification to each victim regarding his or her rights and options under the institution’s policy or policies and allows all institutions to permit anonymous reporting. It also requires all higher education institutions to enter into a memorandum of understanding with at least one community-based sexual assault crisis service center and one community-based domestic violence agency, and ensure that victims can access free and confidential counseling and advocacy services, either on or off campus.”
•”All higher education institutions will be required to establish a campus resource team to review their policies and recommend protocols for providing support and services to students and employees who report being victims and establishes membership and education requirements for the team. It establishes additional education requirements for the institution’s Title IX coordinator and special police force, campus police force, or campus safety personnel and training requirements for members of the state or local police who respond to campus incidents.”
•”All higher education institutions will also be required to report annually to the General Assembly’s Higher Education Committee concerning their policies, prevention and awareness programming and campaigns, and the number of incidents and disciplinary cases involving sexual assault, stalking, and intimate partner violence. It also requires institutions to include information about stalking and family violence in their annual uniform campus crime reports.”
The full language of the legislation can be found here.
-Colin Miller
