Ayotte Helps Reintroduce Legislation to Prevent Sexual Assaults on College Campuses

Press Release

U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) today joined a bipartisan group of senators in reintroducing a strengthened version of the Campus Accountability and Safety Act. With added input from survivors, students, colleges and universities, law enforcement and advocates, the bill would flip the current incentives of a broken system to provide real accountability and transparency from institutions of higher education. The legislation would improve the response to and reporting of sexual assaults that occur on campuses to better protect and empower students, while also better protecting the rights of accused students.

"We must stop sexual violence on college campuses, and in order to do that, we need accountability, transparency and uniformity of standards. This bipartisan legislation includes much needed, historic reforms that will ensure greater coordination between schools and local law enforcement officials, with the goal of making college campuses safer and ensuring that survivors receive the support they need and deserve," said Senator Ayotte. "Our daughters and sons deserve a safe campus environment and survivors need to know that they are not alone. This is legislation that has teeth with real consequences for schools that fail to protect their students and it represents an important first step in addressing the threat of sexual violence at campuses in New Hampshire and across the country."

Senator Ayotte helped introduced similar legislation last Congress. During the past year, she has met with students, victims' advocates, campus administration officials and local law enforcement at Dartmouth College, Saint Anselm College and the University of New Hampshire to receive feedback on the bill and discuss best practices in addressing sexual assault on campus.

This legislation includes landmark reforms for how colleges and universities address and report incidents of sexual assault that occur on their campuses. It incorporates feedback from key stakeholders to strengthen how student surveys are conducted and strengthens newly required training standards. The provisions set new notification requirements for both survivors and accused students involved in the campus disciplinary process, thereby safeguarding both parties.

The Senators have been working together for months to examine federal, state, and local policies, collect feedback from stakeholders, and craft updated bipartisan legislation to better protect and empower students, and hold both perpetrators and institutions accountable.

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