DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AT WORK ZONE


The University as a Workplace: Addressing Domestic and Sexual Violence on Camput by Maya Raghu


The issue of campus sexual assault has risen to prominence in the past year. Students who have been sexually assaulted by other students have spoken out about their experiences, and decried the lack of response or support from their institutions. In response, the U.S. Department of Education has initiated proceedings against many universities to investigate civil rights violations. The 2013 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act included


amendments to the Clery Act requiring universities to institute policies and programs to address prevention and response to domestic, sexual and dating violence and stalking, and amended the requirements for reporting such violence. In January 2014 President Obama formed a White House Task Force to Protect Students From Sexual Assault.


However, the ways in which university employees are impacted by domestic and sexual violence largely have been absent from these responses. In addition to being educators of students, campuses are employers of large numbers of faculty, staff and student employees. Dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault/harassment, and stalking can occur in many different configurations of relationships on campus, such as between students and faculty, students and staff, between and among faculty and staff, and may involve other nonemployee and nonstudent community members. Colleges should ensure that prevention, intervention, disciplinary and support mechanisms and activities address the rights and responsibilities of the instituti on and its em ployees -- as bystanders, survivors, or perpetrators. All em ployees should receive education and training that includes information on prevention, crisis intervention and advocacy, complaint and grievance procedures, and relevant policies.


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Momentous Supreme Court Ruling Will Save Lives The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) applauds the Supreme Court in ruling that people convicted of minor domestic violence offenses can be barred from possessing guns. They also ruled that this law can be enforced even in states where no proof of physical force is required to support the domestic violence charge.


"This ruling will literally save lives," says NCADV executive director, Rita Smith. "A woman's risk of being killed increases by 500% when a gun is present in domestic violence situations – not fifty percent, not one hundred percent – Five Hundred Percent. Prohibiting convicted batterers from possessing guns is just simple common sense and we are thrilled that the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that federal law supports this."


The ruling stemmed from the case, United States vs. Castleman. Read more


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