Nearly every college student is aware that sexual assault on college campuses is rampant and since 1994, the government has taken measures to combat this issue.

President Bill Clinton signed the Violence Against Women Act which provided $1.6 billion toward the investigation and prosecution of sexual crimes, required mandatory sentences for convicted rapists and punished prosecutors who would look the other way on particular rape cases.

The Clery Act signed in 1990 requires colleges to disclose campus safety information and imposes basic requirements for handling incidents of sexual violence. An amendment to this act in 2013, the Campus SaVE Act, required schools to dedicate money and effort to sexual assault prevention training on campus. Even though we still see issues of sexual assault on college campuses, these laws have made sense so far. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elura-nanos/the-safe-campus-act-a-bil_b_8316646.html RB

The ironically named “Safe Campus Act,” however, proposed in 2015, is a different story. It will change how universities go about handling accusations of rape and the subsequent punishment that is givenRB.

This legislation would actually block colleges from investigating sexual assault cases or punishing sexual predators unless the alleged victim also reports to law enforcement. Even then, a school couldn’t fully adjudicate until a criminal investigation concludes. http://www.nicindy.org/uploads/2/6/7/5/26758262/safe_campus_final_bill_text.pdf RB

No other forms of misconduct are treated this way. Schools can still investigate and discipline drug dealers, thieves and harassers. The only criminals that will be protected are sexual offenders.

Laura Uribe, co-president of Miami’s Women Against Violence and Sexual Assault, feels that supporters of this bill are protecting the wrong people by allowing the police to investigate the claim firstRB.

This bill sends the message that if a potential rape victim didn’t go to law enforcement, then what happened to them wasn’t real or important. This mindset is the opposite of the culture that needs to be fostered on college campuses.

“[She] told a nurse, a rape crisis counselor, a campus therapist, two doctors and an athletic department administrator that she was raped, but no one did anything about it. Sixteen months after the attack, she killed herself,” The Washington Post said of University of Missouri swimmer, Sasha Menu Courey’s negative, victim-blaming experienceRB.

This situation is one example of many that explains why people wouldn’t want to report rape accusations to the police. Under this new bill, a victim would have to be especially courageous in order to protect themselves from their attackers and go to the police.

Both the National Panhellenic Council and the North American Interfraternity Conference endorsed this bill, but this past Thursday, the Alpha Phi sorority broke from this backing.

Friday, they were followed by the Phi Mu, Alpha Gamma Delta, Alpha Chi Omega, Delta Phi Epsilon, Alpha Omicron Pi and Gamma Phi Beta sororities. Then, late Friday night, the entire North American Interfraternity Conference and National Panhellinic Council withdrew their support. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/nic-safe-campus-act_56469994e4b08cda3488eed7 RB

Alpha Phi wrote in their statement, “We believe universities should remain accountable for the safety of their campuses, and should continue to raise the bar to ensure that they report and respond to crimes and keep students safe. Their ability to do so should not be diminished.”http://www.teenvogue.com/story/alpha-phi-drops-safe-campus-act-support RB

People have argued that our current legal system could create situations for false rape accusations, which would harm the accused for the rest of their lives. However, a study led by University of Massachusetts Boston associate professor David Lisak found that only two to eight percent of rape accusations were false. http://www.icdv.idaho.gov/conference/handouts/False-Allegations.pdf RB

Given the rarity of false accusations, it makes no sense to enact the Safe Campus Act, which would further ease investigation on those accused instead of providing protection and help for potential victims.

No one wants to see actual guilty sexual offenders go free. Only 20 percent of female student survivors ages 18-24 report rape allegations to law enforcement – this Act will discourage even more victims from saying anythingRB.

As the first sorority to oppose this bill, Alpha Phi stood up for what was right at the risk of poor public perception: Students who only read the headlines about Alpha Phi discouraging the Safe Campus Act likely thought the sorority’s intentions were less honorable.

Hopefully Alpha Phi’s example will show that people need to educate themselves on future bills with misleading titles and encourage them to read into bills before blindly following others.

A quick read-through of the Safe Campus Act would show that the bill does no justice for victims of sexual assault who are often already hesitant about coming forward. Any legislation regarding sexual assault should ensure the victims are protected above all else.

Leah is a freshman in Media.?

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