McCaskill: New Survey Underscores Need for Campus Assault Bill

Statement

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill today released the following statement in response to the Association of American Universities Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Sexual Misconduct:

"This survey further underscores the need for our bipartisan legislation--including climate surveys, which are one of the strongest tools for understanding and helping curb sexual violence," said McCaskill, a former sex crimes prosecutor. "The results should be a wakeup call for all colleges and universities about this widespread, underreported crime on our campuses, and we've got to do a better job combating it. I'm pleased that so many schools participated in the survey and are committed to understanding and battling this crime, but we've got to continue working to get these surveys on every campus in this country."

According to the Association, the survey assessed the "incidence, prevalence and characteristics of sexual assault and misconduct," as well as the "overall climate of campuses with respect to perceptions of risk, knowledge of resources available to victims and perceived reactions to an incident of sexual assault or misconduct." 23 percent of female undergraduate student respondents reported sexual assault and sexual misconduct due to physical force, threats of physical force, or incapacitation, while rates of reporting to campus officials and law enforcement ranged from 5 to 28 percent.

McCaskill has led a bipartisan coalition of Senators in advancing the Campus Accountability and Safety Act--bipartisan legislation to combat sexual assault on college and university campuses by protecting and empowering students, strengthening accountability and transparency for institutions, and holding perpetrators accountable. The legislation is informed by feedback McCaskill heard when she traveled across Missouri last fall, visiting 10 different campuses and speaking with representatives from nearly 50 colleges and universities--and by an unprecedented national survey McCaskill conducted of colleges and universities.

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