Last Friday, as Washington DC shut down for “Snowzilla,” the White House celebrated the two-year anniversary of the Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault. Since its creation, the Task Force has accomplished a great deal, developing a number of resourcesfor schools to adapt and use as they address the unique circumstances and needs of their distinct campus communities. In its 2014 Not Alone report, the Task Force shared these resources and sample documents, and also urged schools to conduct their own campus climate surveys, so that each school could measure the prevalence of sexual assault among students and enhance prevention and response efforts. We hit another major milestone last week when the Bureau of Justice Statistics, with RTI International, partnered with the Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women (OVW), and published a major study in which they further refined the Task Force’s 2014 toolkit for conducting sexual assault climate surveys. The complete report on the results of this new study, the Campus Climate Survey Validation Study (CCSVS), can be found here. The CCSVS: Finding a Solution Requires Understanding the Problem The CCSVS report provides data on prevalence of sexual harassment, sexual assault victimization, and intimate partner […]
Courtesy of Principal Deputy Director Bea Hanson of the Office on Violence Against Women Yesterday morning, the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) released a groundbreaking report: the Campus Climate Survey Validation Study (CCSVS) Final Technical Report, a key deliverable of the White House Task Force to Protect Students From Sexual Assault (Task Force). Established by President Obama on Jan. 22, 2014, to develop a coordinated federal response to campus rape and sexual assault, the Task Force recommended in its first report that schools conduct climate surveys to gauge the prevalence of sexual assault on campus, assess students’ perceptions of the climate at their school on the issue and obtain valuable information to develop solutions. The Task Force also released a toolkit and sample survey, which the BJS study – funded by the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) – revised and pilot tested at nine diverse colleges and universities, including public, private and community colleges. A total of over 23,000 students completed the survey, and the results were incredibly informative. This study showed that each of the nine schools had unique “climate” factors – perceptions and beliefs related to sexual assault and sexual harassment. The BJS study […]
Courtesy of Vanita Gupta, Head of the Civil Rights Division A new Justice Department report released last week provides valuable guidance and instructive insights to help us better understand the threat of sexual violence on college campuses. Released by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and funded by the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW), the report includes a Campus Climate Survey Validation Study (CCSVS), which employed behaviorally-specific questions to survey thousands of students across nine schools. The figures highlighted in the pilot survey portray a disturbing, but not surprising, picture. President Obama has rightfully described sexual assault as “an affront to our basic decency and humanity.” Two years ago, he launched the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault, which highlighted the important role of campus climate surveys to identify troubling trends and implement effective solutions. And through guidance, outreach and enforcement, this administration has prioritized its response to the heinous crime of sexual assault. In the Civil Rights Division, we continue to help play a leadership role in this administration-wide effort by enforcing Title IX to ensure that colleges and universities receiving federal funding protect students from sexual assault before it occurs, guarantee a fair […]