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Key Elements of Addressing Gender-Based Violence on Campus
All college students have the right to learn and live in an educational environment where they are safe and treated equally. This is the overarching spirit of federal and state legislation, like Title IX, governing campus gender-based violence response and prevention efforts. It is also a core belief of the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance and our partners on Virginia’s Campus Task Force.
This resource can be used as a starting place, or a set of benchmarks, for campus advocates, police, Title IX coordinators, and administrative staff and partners who are considering how Virginia's colleges and universities can engage in comprehensive, trauma-informed, and effective responses to gender-based violence.
The Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance offers the following recommendations based on more than 35 years of work with students, campuses, community advocates and national leaders dedicated to building an effective response to gender-based violence and sexual assault.
National Women’s Law Center - Mythbusting Title IX and Sexual Assault
Nearly one in five undergraduate women experience sexual assault or attempted sexual assault while in college, as do too many men and gender non-conforming students. Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments requires that schools prevent and respond to reports of sexual harassment, including rape, to ensure survivors can continue to learn in the wake of violence. Despite significant evidence to the contrary, some critics argue that survivors of sexual misconduct on college campuses have too many rights. Myths like these are inconsistent with the law and ignore the real experiences of students subjected to sexual harassment. Below are other myths and facts about sexual assault and Title IX.
Responding to Campus Sexual Assault Key Issues (May 2017) from the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence
Several studies of campus sexual assault have confirmed that the incidence is high with significant consequences for survivors including high rates of PTSD, depression, and drug or alcohol abuse, which can hamper both their ability to succeed in school and future employment. At the same time, only a small percentage of these cases are reported, sanctioned by campus judicial boards, or prosecuted, allowing offenders, who will often have multiple victims, to go without punishment as well as creating an unsafe environment for students. Responses to campus sexual assault must support survivors, uphold current available protections, and improve upon prevention.
RSP Preventing and Responding to Campus SA Infographic
In this ReShape, the Resource Sharing Project created an infographic for coalitions about federal rules and regulations around campus sexual assault.
SAFE RETURN: Working Toward Preventing Domestic Violence When Men Return from Prison
The Safe Return Initiative focuses on strengthening domestic violence services for African American women and their children when they are facing the return of an intimate partner from prison. It does this by building culturally specific technical capacity within and cooperation among justice institutions and community-based and faith-based organizations. Its goals are to keep women and their children safe and improve the odds of successful reentry by offering peer-based learning, training, information sharing, and on-site assistance designed to help criminal justice and community-based
organizations better serve African Americans dealing with prisoner reentry.
