Senators propose bills to help end rape culture

Texas higher education institutions need a culture change and fast.

The Baylor sexual assault scandal has shined a light on something survivors already knew — campus sexual violence is a prevalent crime that few people want to face honestly.

Naysayers stress that assault victims have protections and avenues to report the crime — which is true, but those protections never fully account for the rape culture that thrives on many campuses.

Title IX, a federal higher education discrimination law, has offices at all campuses for students to report sexual violence, a type of discrimination.

Each office should the biggest deterrent of rape culture, but as the Baylor scandal shows, it’s tough for the Title IX office to do its job if school officials and culture keep students away.

And this isn’t just a Baylor problem. Sexual violence at higher education institutions happens everywhere, and to a horrific degree.

The National Sexual Violence Resource Center says one out of five college women is sexually assaulted. Just last week, a survey of University of Texas at Austin undergraduates revealed about 15 percent of women reported being raped while enrolled.

The center says more than 90 percent of such assaults are never reported.

Luckily, a few Texas lawmakers are championing bills this session that will make the complicated and stressful reporting of sexual violence easier and safer for the victim.

Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, proposed bills to fix well-known trouble areas in reporting these crimes:

Senate Bill 968 would allow anonymous, electronic reporting of sexual violence on each college and university website.

Senate Bill 969 would exempt sexual assault victims and witnesses from being held accountable for school code violations, like under-age drinking, when they report a crime.

Senate Bill 970 would implement an “affirmative consent” policy at higher education institutions.

A “no means no” policy has too many gray areas when it comes to consent, so many advocates, education institutions and organizations are shifting to a “yes means yes” policy.

Watson is also laying the ground work to eliminate campus rape culture before it starts.

He wants to add a “human sexuality” class to the grade school curriculum that would promote strategies to “develop healthy, age-appropriate relationships” and “effective communication and responsible decision making about sexuality and relationships.”

Watson also proposed Senate Bill 966 to exempt minors from underage drinking violations when reporting a sexual assault.

Other lawmakers have also joined the fight. Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, proposed Senate Bill 576 to hold employees and student leaders accountable if they fail to report a sexual crime to the Title IX coordinator within 48 hours.

Senate Bills 576, 968, 969, 970 are all left pending in the State Affairs committee.

Our higher education institutions desperately need a culture change, and these bills are the way to start.

This story was originally published March 27, 2017 at 6:26 PM with the headline "Senators propose bills to help end rape culture."