Norton Introduces Resolution to Designate September as ‘National Campus Sexual Assault Awareness Month’

WASHINGTON, D.C.- As students return to campus for the fall semester, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) introduced her annual resolution to designate September as "National Campus Sexual Assault Awareness Month" and said that the return to in-person classes highlights the importance of ensuring students have safe campuses, both now and in the future.

"In recent years, sexual assaults on college campuses have been increasing. With many schools now returning to in-person classes, the increase in sexual assaults we have seen points to the continuing importance of our resolution on this issue," Norton said.

Norton has introduced this resolution for the past several years to highlight the problem of sexual assaults on campuses. In the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, the exposure of Jeffrey Epstein and the #MeToo movement, and especially the increase of sexual assaults in campus settings, Norton said her determination to continue to speak out has only grown, and that we must change behavior at the earliest stages of the lives of young men and women.

The resolution follows.

RESOLUTION

Expressing support for the designation of September 2024 as National Campus Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

Whereas colleges are now receiving students in person for the academic year;

Whereas freshmen and sophomores in college are at a greater risk of being sexually assaulted than juniors or seniors;

Whereas college students are at a higher risk of sexual assault during the first few months of school, with more than 50 percent of college sexual assaults occurring in either August, September, October, or November;

Whereas many college students are survivors of ''incapacitated assault'', in which they are sexually assaulted while drugged, drunk, passed out, or otherwise incapacitated;

Whereas these survivors often know their attackers;

Whereas less than 12 percent of rapes and attempted rapes of college students are reported to campus authorities or local law enforcement;

Whereas college sexual assault survivors are likely to tell someone they know, most often a friend, about their experience;

Whereas over 25 percent of college sexual assault survivors fear reprisal by the perpetrator;

Whereas approximately 5 percent of college men account for 90 to 95 percent of the rapes on college campuses;

Whereas many college sexual assault survivors fear poor treatment by campus or law enforcement authorities, or even lack knowledge of the reporting process;

Whereas approximately 10 percent of colleges still do not allow confidential reporting of sexual assaults to campus authorities;

Whereas 22 percent of colleges provide no sexual assault response training for members of their faculty and staff;

Whereas approximately 41 percent of colleges have not conducted a single sexual assault investigation in the last 5 years;

Whereas most colleges fail to provide access to a specially trained Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner;

Whereas law enforcement officials at 30 percent of colleges receive no training on how to respond to reports of sexual violence;

Whereas more than 70 percent of colleges do not have protocols regarding how the institution and local law enforcement should work together to respond to sexual violence;

Whereas 33 percent of colleges fail to provide training to dispel ''rape myths'' to persons adjudicating sexual assault claims;

Whereas 43 percent of the Nation's largest colleges have students assisting in adjudicating sexual assault cases, which creates privacy and conflict-of-interest concerns;

Whereas 22 percent of colleges allow athletic department oversight of sexual violence cases involving student athletes;

Whereas many college sexual assault survivors experience confusion over how to report a sexual assault, are unsure of acceptable standards of sexual conduct and definitions of rape and sexual assault, and fear punishment for activities

preceding some sexual assaults, such as underage drinking;

Whereas 21 percent of the Nation's largest private colleges report not independently investigating all claims of sexual assault that they conveyed to the Department of Education;

Whereas only approximately 5 percent of the perpetrators of college sexual assaults are permanently expelled;

Whereas approximately 10 percent of reported college rape cases result in criminal charges against the alleged perpetrator;

Whereas survivors of campus sexual assaults are more likely to have their lives disrupted, such as by changing a college major, changing campus housing, and dropping a class, than the average student;

Whereas approximately 7 States require colleges to adopt affirmative consent policies; and

Whereas September 2024, when many students begin or return to college, is an appropriate month to designate as National Campus Sexual Assault Awareness Month: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives supports

2 the designation of National Campus Sexual Assault

3 Awareness Month.

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