Bill Text: HI HCR44 | 2015 | Regular Session | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Women's Legislative Caucus Package; Sexual Violence

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-4)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-02-20 - Referred to HED, JUD, referral sheet 22 [HCR44 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2015-HCR44-Introduced.html

---

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	44
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII TO AFFIRM ITS COMMITMENT TO ENDING ALL FORMS OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE, SEXUAL HARASSMENT, DATING VIOLENCE, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, AND STALKING ON HAWAII CAMPUSES.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, Title IX of the Education Amendment Act of 1972 (Title IX), also known as the Patsy Takemoto Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act, 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, 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, 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, data shows that our nation's young students suffer from acts of sexual violence early, and the likelihood that they will be assaulted by the time they graduate is significant:  nineteen per cent of undergraduate women experienced attempted or completed sexual assault since entering college, and college campuses reported nearly five thousand forcible sex offenses to the United State Department of Education in 2012 alone; and

 

     WHEREAS, nevertheless, these sexual acts of violence are vastly under-reported; less than five per cent of completed and attempted rapes of college students are reported to campus authorities or law enforcement; and

 

     WHEREAS, as a result of growing concern by students and parents across the country and recent guidance from the United States 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, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 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, the provisions of Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 have been carefully crafted with the input and assistance of more than two thousand advocates and experts from around the country to:  ensure that survivors of sexual assault have access to necessary services; improve institutional responses to violence; provide access to services for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender survivors who frequently are excluded from services; and ensure that survivors of sexual assault in Native American communities and in the United States Territories have access to justice; 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; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2015, 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 the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 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)  Take steps to increase campus safety and improve campus climate by:

 

          (A)  Publishing and widely disseminating notice of nondiscrimination on the basis of sex;

 

          (B)  Publishing and widely disseminating notice of on-campus and public resources available to victims of sexual violence;

 

          (C)  Designating an employee to coordinate Title IX compliance;

 

          (D)  Adopting and disseminating information on appropriate complaint and investigation procedures;

 

          (E)  Implementing evidence-based preventative, education, and victim resource programs;

 

          (F)  Examining existing internal programs and available community resources that provide services for victims;

 

          (G)  Providing training to the campus community on how to identify and report sexual harassment, sexual violence, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking;

 

          (H)  Providing training to students and employees about how to investigate allegations of sexual discrimination, including harassment and violence; and

      

          (I)  Providing training to students and employees about how to increase campus and public awareness about sexual violence, University of Hawaii policy and protocols, and the harmful culture that perpetuates sexual violence; and

 

     (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 the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013; 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 Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 policies, procedures, staffing, and statistics, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature not later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2017; 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.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Women's Legislative Caucus Package; Sexual Violence