WASHINGTON — A fraction of campus sexual assault victims go to police. Senators on Tuesday grappled with the thorny issue of why some just let their college handle it — or don’t report it at all.
Some victims have said they prefer to work within their university system to seek disciplinary action against the perpetrator, such as expulsion, without the stress of pressing criminal charges.
But there have been complaints that universities have encouraged victims not to seek criminal action. Some victims aren’t told they can pursue a criminal case, testified Peg Langhammer, executive director of the Day One organization in Providence, R.I.
The Senate hearing focused on the relationship between police departments and campuses. It comes following a Rolling Stone article that described a gang rape alleged to have occurred in a fraternity house at the University of Virginia. The magazine has acknowledged mistakes in its reporting.
About a third of schools said campus police and security guards weren’t required to be trained to respond to reports of sexual violence, according to a survey released this year by Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. She and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., are sponsoring a bill that would force colleges to have a memorandum of understanding with local law enforcement over such cases.
