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This column mentions sexual assault, which may be hard for some readers. If you need support, please call 1-800-871-7741 to talk with an advocate. Maine’s Sexual Assault Helpline is free, private and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Kimberly Simmons is an associate professor at the University of Southern Maine. This column reflects her views and expertise and does not speak on behalf of the university. She is a member of the Maine chapter of the national Scholars Strategy Network, which brings together scholars across the country to address public challenges and their policy implications. Members’ columns appear in the BDN every other week.
Fifty years ago, Title IX of the Educational Ammendments Act became law, prohibiting sex discrimination in education. This changed education in every way, and 40 years ago women surpassed men in earning college degrees. Today, 54 percent of undergraduates identify as women.
Yet colleges remain rife with gendered-based violence. Alarmingly and persistently, 25 percent of undergraduate women experience rape and more than 60 percent report experiencing some form of sexual misconduct. Trans and LGBQ students face unacceptable rates of violence as well, and we know that sexual violence remains significantly under-reported for all groups, including cis men.
Thankfully, we have many potential solutions available to us.
Maine is on the verge of enacting LD 1727: An Act to Address Campus Sexual Misconduct, an exciting end to Sexual Assault Awareness Month. This bill culminates more than two years of work by the Every Voice Coalition, led by students across the state, including India McNeil (Bates), Lotte Parsons (Bowdoin), and Jenna Butler (USM), in partnership with community organizations including MECASA. Senate President Troy Jackson sponsored the bill, and bipartisan support included testimony from many legislators, and community members about the longlasting impact sexual violence has on our lives.
As a faculty member, I am thrilled to know that my campus will have more tools available to improve prevention programming and supportive response. I teach about sexual violence, as a social issue, and students often share stories of their own. Too often, what is indelible in their hippocampus is not just the primary assault, but the hurts that come from the responses they encounter from friends, family, and the school officials they confide in. Addressing sexual violence in our communities requires “institutional courage” and this new law strengthens our capacity to respond.
LD 1727 is also personal. My youngest daughter will enter college in the fall, and I am both fearful and furious that her risk of experiencing sexual violence remains so high. Consequences of campus sexual assault can include PTSD and increased risk of suicide. Survivors often find themselves unable to complete their course work, which can create expensive ripple effects, including loss of scholarships and dropping out of school entirely.
Student survivors generally turn to friends for support, which can develop into secondary trauma for the untrained confidante. Late-night emergency room trips, worries about a roommate’s mental health, classroom conflicts with the accused, undermine equal access to education and student well-being. (Local author Maria Padian captures this in her novel “Wrecked,” offering an opening for good discussion). At the public hearing, a student implored us to provide more access to trained adults who could be trusted for confidential information and support. LD 1727 provides for this essential role.
On college tours with my daughter, I asked about campus efforts to address sexual violence. Almost every school responded with information about late-night security escorts or the presence of blue lights. A dean suggested students create buddy systems when attending parties. These strategies simply ignore the research. Most victims know their assailant, and assaults largely occur in student housing. Prevention programming needs to include increased sex education, changes to social environments and residential life, and more disruption of misogyny, homophobia and transphobia in general. Climate surveys are essential for understanding patterns specific to a particular campus culture – and will now be required bi-annually.
When sexual violence does occur, survivors need access to healing resources and adjustments that allow them to feel safer remaining in school. LD 1727 includes a provision for survivors to access free medical and legal supports, and strengthens partnerships with our existing sexual and domestic violence agencies.
The Every Voice Coalition listened to thousands of students to develop innovative, survivor-centered state legislation. This legislation closes disparities between campuses and encourages higher education to take more responsibility for preventing, intervening and responding to the ongstanding problem of campus sexual assualt. The enactment of LD 1727 is a perfect way to commemorate Title IX’s 50th birthday!