Washington, DC – Last week, Representatives Lois Frankel (D-FL-22), Ro Khanna (D-CA-47), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-01), and Greg Landsman (D-OH-01) introduced the Campus Accountability and Safety Act (CASA), which would reform the way institutions of higher education address and report incidents of sexual assault, sexual harassment, domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking that occur on campuses and ensure a uniform and fair process for investigating and conducting campus disciplinary proceedings.

“Students can't learn if they don't feel safe. Sexual harassment, sexual violence, and stalking are widespread issues on college campuses, and survivors of these traumas must have access to resources to support them and hold abusers accountable,” said Rep. Frankel. “I'm proud to co-lead this effort to make our colleges a safer place for all.”

“One in five women and one in sixteen men experience sexual assault on college campuses. Due to stigma and complex systems, many survivors don’t report sexual violence, much less pursue justice through their university’s system, and many perpetrators are never held accountable,” said Rep. Khanna. “I’m proud to lead this bipartisan bill with my colleagues to increase transparency, provide resources for survivors, and reduce barriers in the reporting process.”

“Sexual assault on college campuses continues to be a crisis that demands our immediate action. And, as with all crimes, weak enforcement and insufficient accountability only embolden perpetrators to act with impunity,” said Rep. Fitzpatrick. “This bipartisan, bicameral legislation is a commitment to our students that we are taking action: action to ensure their safety and action to hold our educational institutions accountable by transforming how sexual assault and violence are handled and addressed. By demanding greater transparency, enforcing stringent accountability measures, and providing essential resources and support to victims, we can eliminate the toxic culture of inaction that has plagued our campuses for too long and create a safer environment for our students.”

“Sexual assault on college campuses remains a major and pervasive problem, but Congress has not taken the necessary action to address it,” said Senator Gillibrand. “The bipartisan Campus Accountability and Safety Act would reform how institutions of higher learning address and report incident of sexual assault and would dedicate new resources to survivors. This important measure would increase accountability and ensure a fair process for campus disciplinary action.”

Specifically, this bill would:

• Create Sexual and Interpersonal Violence Specialist positions at each institution to serve as a confidential aide to survivors and provide information and guidance for reporting the event to campus authorities;
• Increase transparency and reporting requirements under the Jeanne Clery Disclosure Act by mandating that the institution’s website include campus safety policies, instructions for filing a complaint, and statistics of sexual misconduct allegations on campus;
• Ensure that individuals who report sexual misconduct in good faith are not punished for any physical violence or assault as a defense, or alcohol or drug use that is revealed by that report;

• Require that each institution use a uniform disciplinary process, prohibiting the use of separate and disparate processes based on the status of students involved in a report, such as their membership on an athletic team;
• Expand the VAWA Campus Grant Program to address sexual harassment; and
• Require the Comptroller General to study the effectiveness of VAWA grants and submit a report to Congress within 2 years of enactment.

Incidents of sexual assault, sexual harassment, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking are a critical public safety and health issue that impacts many people, particularly college and university students. According to the most recently available data from the U.S. Department of Education's Campus Safety Survey, there were 12,225 sexual criminal offenses reported on college campuses in 2022. Additionally, approximately 16,600 offenses under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) were reported by college campuses in 2022 – this includes incidents of stalking, domestic violence, and dating violence. However, the number of cases reported is said to be significantly underestimated due to individual and institutional barriers to reporting and the stigma encompassing sexual assault.

Sens. Gillibrand (D-NY) and Grassley (R-IA) are co-leading the Senate version of this bill.

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