VAWA Implementation and the Potential Impact of Proposed Massachusetts Bill S.650

Topics

• VAWA Implementation and the Potential Impact of Proposed Massachusetts Bill S.650 on Colleges and Universities
   

The Violence Against Women Act amendments to the Clery Act, which afford additional rights to campus victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking went into effect on July 1, 2015.  As a result, institutions of higher education must now comply with certain additional campus safety and security-related requirements – including compilation of statistics for incidents of dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking, and inclusion of policies, procedures, and programs pertaining to these incidents in the institutions’ annual security reports.  In addition, pending Massachusetts legislation, Bill S.650, would create a sexual assault climate survey for Massachusetts colleges and universities to determine the prevalence and perceptions of sexual assault on their campuses. The panel discussion will focus on these and other issues:

• General overview of the Clery Act and VAWA Amendments

• Implementation in theory and in practice

• Impact of Proposed Massachusetts Bill S.650