"As the new school year gets underway, Gov. Tom Wolf and a group of bipartisan lawmakers are looking to build on their 'It's on Us PA' campaign efforts begun last year aimed at ending sexual assaults in public schools and college campuses.
Standing in the Capitol Rotunda on Wednesday before a large gathering of students from at least 12 different Pennsylvania public and private colleges, Wolf and lawmakers called for swift passage of a package of six bills aimed at strengthening the reporting requirements of sexual assaults and improving the response.
...Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Luzerne County, and Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny County, are offering companion bills that would require all colleges to offer online, anonymous reporting options for students to report sexual misconduct. Baker said this would help to overcome the barriers to reporting sexual assaults caused by the stigma and privacy concerns surrounding this crime.
Other bills in the package would expand the support the Office of Safe Schools offers to schools and colleges and monitor their compliance with state and federal rules regarding sexual violence prevention and response; call for publishing an annual report on sexual violence in schools and colleges; creating a comprehensive anti-violence and anti-harassment policy for K-12 schools; and requiring college to adopt affirmative consent standard for responding to sexual violence allegation."
Read the full article here.
