Bill Text: HI HCR12 | 2014 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: None
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 16-3)
Status: (Passed) 2014-04-24 - Resolution adopted in final form. [HCR12 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2014-HCR12-Amended.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.C.R. NO. |
12 |
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TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2014 |
H.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
S.D. 1 |
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HOUSE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
REQUESTING THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII TO AFFIRM ITS COMMITMENT TO UPHOLDING THE TENETS OF TITLE IX OF THE EDUCATION AMENDMENT ACT OF 1972 AND THE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN REAUTHORIZATION ACT 2013 AND THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII'S DEDICATION TO ENDING ALL FORMS OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE ON HAWAII CAMPUSES THROUGH A REPORT ON THE STATUS OF TITLE IX OF THE EDUCATION AMENDMENT ACT OF 1972 AND VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN REAUTHORIZATION ACT 2013 POLICIES, PROCEDURES, STAFFING, AND STATISTICS.
WHEREAS, Title IX of the Education Amendment Act of 1972 (Title IX) prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in the administration of any education program receiving federal financial assistance and bans sexual harassment, discrimination against pregnant and parenting students, and the use of stereotypes and other barriers to limit a person's access to a particular educational field; and
WHEREAS, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act 2013 (VAWA) is aimed at ending violence against women and girls and remedying laws and social practices that, in the past, have fostered and justified violence against women and girls; and
WHEREAS, Title IX protects all people regardless of their gender or gender identity from sexual harassment and violence, which are forms of discrimination; and
WHEREAS, since its inception over forty years ago, Title IX has been instrumental in increasing educational opportunities for women and girls and fostering equality between men and women; and
WHEREAS, Title IX has made progress in fostering equality between women and men in educational and workplace settings; and
WHEREAS, Title IX has been renamed the Patsy Takemoto Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act in recognition of the late United States Representative Patsy Mink's tireless efforts to develop and pass Title IX; and
WHEREAS, sexual violence is prevalent on college campuses with some statistics estimating that one in five college women will be raped before graduation; survivors of these sexual assaults are often full-time students; and approximately one-third of these sexual assaults are perpetrated on women who are first year students between the ages of seventeen and nineteen; and
WHEREAS, in the last five years, there has been increasing media attention surrounding allegations of sexual misconduct on college campuses focusing on universities' perceived "deliberate indifference" and lack of institutional response to a growing number of incidents and allegations of sexual violence and sexual harassment; and
WHEREAS, the United States Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, the administrative office enforcing Title IX, published a document providing guidance concerning sexual harassment in 2001 ("Revised Sexual Harassment Guidance: Harassment of Students by School Employees, Other Students, or Third Parties") and more recently provided guidance concerning sexual harassment in an April 4, 2011, "Dear Colleague" letter focused on sexual violence; and
WHEREAS, as a result of growing concern by students and parents across the country and recent guidance from the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, many universities have made organizational and policy changes to better address student allegations and safety; and
WHEREAS, college campuses should not tolerate sexual violence or any form of sex discrimination, but instead seek to foster a culture that rejects sexual violence and educates community members about how best to prevent and respond to a sexual assault; and
WHEREAS, the provisions of VAWA have been carefully crafted with the input and assistance of more than two thousand advocates and experts from around the country; and
WHEREAS, VAWA ensures that survivors of sexual assault have access to necessary services; improves institutional responses to violence; provides access to services for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender survivors who frequently are excluded from services; and ensures that survivors of sexual assault in Native American communities and in the United States Territories have access to justice; and
WHEREAS, violence against women is a continuing problem that must be addressed; and
WHEREAS, stereotypes, discrimination, and barriers still exist for women and girls in various fields of study, including science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; and
WHEREAS, educators and students are often not aware of Title IX protections against sex discrimination and sexual harassment; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2014, the Senate concurring, that the University of Hawaii, in consultation with its student governing bodies, faculty governing bodies, and the unions representing its workers, is requested to:
(1) Affirm the University's commitment to following the tenets of Title IX and VAWA and to preventing all forms of violence against women and girls;
(2) Ensure that the University is committed to increasing resources and strengthening the institutional infrastructure of all its campuses to more effectively address and prevent sexual violence and other forms of gender violence and discrimination;
(3) Meet the mandates of Title IX by:
(A) Publishing and widely disseminating notice of nondiscrimination on the basis of sex;
(B) Designating an employee to coordinate Title IX compliance;
(C) Adopting appropriate complaint and investigation procedures;
(D) Implementing education and victim resource programs;
(E) Providing training to the campus community on how to identify and report harassment; and
(F) Providing training to appropriate employees about how to investigate allegations of sexual discrimination, including harassment and violence;
(4) Formulate plans to address and prevent gender discrimination and gender violence given the unique aspects of each campus and strengthen the institutional response of the University of Hawaii campuses to ensure compliance with Title IX and VAWA, particularly at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and disseminate information regarding the steps, if any, that have been taken to revise relevant University of Hawaii policies and procedures to comply with Title IX and VAWA, and to develop best practices to respond to victims of sexual violence; and
(5) Conduct a study on the prevalence of sexual violence on all campuses of the University of Hawaii System and disseminate copies of this study to appropriate parties; and
(6) Identify critical stakeholders and offices to handle complaints of sex-based violence, harassment, and discrimination and develop streamlined policies and procedures to ensure that complainants are able to find information, make formal complaints, and access University resources with ease and to ensure that the University is able to respond to complaints in a timely and effective manner; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the University of Hawaii is requested to submit a report of its guidelines and the status of its Title IX and VAWA policies, procedures, staffing and statistics, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2015; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the University of Hawaii Board of Regents, Office of the President of the University of Hawaii, and each Chancellor on the Council of Chancellors of the University of Hawaii System.
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