Nearly One-third of Maryland Schools Reported a Forcible Sex Offence in 2012, According to Report Last Year

Today Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen joined Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA), Congressman Patrick Meehan (R-PA), and a bipartisan group of colleagues in introducing the Hold Accountable and Lend Transparency (HALT) Campus Sexual Violence Act, which would strengthen prevention and enforcement efforts to combat campus sexual violence.

“College campuses should be safe havens where young Marylanders are empowered with knowledge and skills to build successful lives and careers, but the threat of sexual violence is still a troubling reality in our state and across the country,” said Congressman Van Hollen. “This bipartisan bill will create safer learning environments by strengthening prevention efforts and increasing accountability by making sure laws already on the books are stringently adhered to.”

Under federal law, students are entitled to a safe educational environment free of sexual harassment. But statistics show that 20 percent of young women and 6 percent of young men will be victims of attempted or actual sexual assault on campus, and the National Institute of Justice estimated that 63 percent of universities shirk their legal responsibilities to respond to these violent crimes.

A report released last year by Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler showed that between 2009 and 2013, there were 340 forcible sex offenses on Maryland campuses. In 2012, 27 schools – nearly one-third of all Maryland schools – reported having a forcible sex offense, according to the report.

The bipartisan HALT Campus Sexual Violence Act strengthens prevention and enforcement efforts by:

• Requiring the U.S. Department of Education to issue penalties for noncompliance with civil rights requirements under its authority, including Title IX;

• Increasing penalties for violating the Clery Act from $35,000 to $100,000;

• Creating a private right of action for students harmed by institutions that fail to meet campus safety requirements

• Instituting biennial climate surveys;

• Requiring public disclosure of a list of institutions under investigations, the sanctions (if any) or findings issued pursuant to such investigations, and a copy of all program reviews and resolutions agreements entered into between higher education institutions and the Department of Education & the Department of Justice under Title IX and the Clery Act;

• Increasing funding for Title IX and Clery investigators by $5 million;

• Expanding institutional requirements for notifying and publicly posting students’ legal rights and institutions’ obligations under Title IX; and,

• Creating an interagency task force to increase coordination between agencies and enhance investigations.

The HALT Campus Sexual Violence Act is the legislative approach to combating campus sexual violence that garners the most support from advocacy groups, including the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), American Association of University Women (AAUW), National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV), National Alliance to End Sexual Violence (NAESV), Know Your IX, End Rape on Campus, and SurvJustice, Inc.