"Mimicking rules enacted in the wake of the Earl Bradley cases, this bill would require universities to follow mandatory reporting procedures for sexual assaults to law enforcement. Sexual assaults disclosed to university employees in positions of trust are currently required to be reported to a Title IX coordinator. This bill would expand that existing reporting requirement to include the Department of Justice and appropriate police agencies." --- www.dehousedems.com/press/slate-bills-advances-cause-women-delaware 

As members of Delaware College Campuses and allies of sexual violence survivors we oppose House Bill NO.1 to amend the Delaware code related to sexual assault reporting . We fear that this legislation will silence sexual assault survivors and stop them from coming forward and speaking about their assault. We want our survivors to know they can reach out for help and resources without their story being reported to the DOJ without their consent. We want our survivors to be able to assert their agency surrounding the process they choose in the aftermath of their assault. We fear that this legislation will reduce the number of students who seek help through the paths currently available on our campuses. 

It should be every survivor's choice whether to report their assault to law enforcement. Under this bill, confiding in a university employee, like a trusted professor or a friendly Resident Assistant, takes away that choice. We want this campus to welcome stories, enable healing, and honor the decisions of survivors. Enacting a mandatory reporting policy would severely limit universities from creating such a community.

View the bill at: http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/lis148.nsf/vwLegislation/HB+1/$file/legis.html?open

-Photo: Kirk Smith-