The study also tracked other serious crimes reported by the 31 schools, including aggravated assault, robbery and burglary. There was no similar increase in those crime statistics during federal audits compared to the dramatic jump in reported sexual assaults.
Under the Clery Act, universities and colleges may face fines of up to $35,000 per violation of crime reporting requirements. Yung said he believes those fines should be higher because they haven't deterred undercounting of sexual assaults. "Even schools that were fined didn't have a long-term compliance effect," he said. "They seemed to behave the same as schools that weren't fined or those that didn't have any findings of wrongdoing."
A bill introduced last year in Congress, the Campus Accountability and Safety Act, would raise maximum fines to $150,000 per violation and create a public database of campus sexual assaults from information provided by student surveys. Based on the study findings, Yung believes probation for violators and more frequent audits also are needed.
Article: Concealing Campus Sexual Assault: An Empirical Examination; Corey Rayburn Yung, JD; University of Kansas; Psychology, Public Policy and Law; Vol. 21, Issue 1; online, Feb. 2, 2015.
Corey Rayburn Yung can be contacted by email or by phone at (785) 864-4152.
Editor's Note: Resources provided by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's site:
Key Resources & Info
Text of Campus Accountability & Safety Act(pdf)
Campus Accountability & Safety Act 1-pager(pdf)
Senator McCaskill's Sexual Violence On Campus Survey
Dept. of Education's Office Of Civil Rights
Summary Of The Jeanne Clery Act
Gillibrand Bipartisan Letter With Recommendations To White House Task Force
Gillibrand & McCaskill Lead Bipartisan Letter Urging New Resources
Senator McCaskill Campus Sexual Assault Roundtables
Editorials & Op-Eds Urging Reform
Resources For Students & Survivors
32 National Campus Safety Initiative
Clery Center For Security On Campus
National Alliance to End Sexual Violence
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