New Jersey Task Force Issues Recommendations For Preventing Campus Sexual Assault
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A year after it was first convened, New Jersey's Task Force on Campus Sexual Assault released its report and recommendations.
Task force co-chair Patricia Teffenhart says the report is broken into nine areas for campus administrators and policymakers to consider, primary among them, campus climate surveys.
"We know that it's important that campuses get a real understanding of the impact and prevalence of sexual violence on their campuses, and that crime data just doesn't tell an accurate or comprehensive enough picture," Teffenhart said.
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Teffenhart stressed the importance of early education in middle and high school.
"By building safer communities and having conversations at younger ages, we will then be able to create safer campus communities," she said.
To that end, Assemblywoman Valerie Huttle says they're recommending the formation of a primary prevention task force focused on middle and high school students.
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"Because, by the time students get to college, we want to try to change that culture, and we think education is key," she said. "The main goal is to have these students, as they enter college, feel safe."
And Huttle says the task force found that there's no evidence that on campus alcohol bans work.
"Sexual assault is the result of ingrained behavior, and unacceptable cultural norms," Huttle said. "Better education and awareness, and sharing of information and the promotion of safe behavior are the most important recommendations that would be coming out of the task force."
