Office on Violence Against Women Listening Sessions on Campus Sexual Assault

OVW to Host Listening Sessions on Campus Sexual Assault

The White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault will hold a series of virtual public listening sessions in February 2014. The Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women (OVW), in partnership with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, will host these sessions, and the White House, the Office of the Vice President, and the agencies serving on the Task Force will also participate.

Register for a listening session at https://ta2ta.org/events/webinars/white-house-listening-sessions.html.

Many people have asked how to provide input into the Task Force, and OVW is eager to hear from you. Your expertise, research, and experiences are invaluable. The Task Force is looking for concrete and creative ideas about how schools can prevent sexual assault and better respond when assault occurs —in terms of both supporting survivors and holding offenders accountable.

In particular, opinions are welcome on:

• Institutional policies and protocols to address sexual assault  
• Responding to diverse, underserved, or historically marginalized victims 
• Prevention programs
• Crisis intervention and advocacy services
• Complaint and grievance procedures
• Investigation protocols
• Adjudicatory procedures
• Disciplinary sanctions
• Training and orientation modules for students, staff, and faculty
• Evaluating and measuring the success of prevention and response efforts
• Sharing information with the public
• Making enforcement activities transparent and accessible
• Promoting greater coordination and consistency among federal agencies
• Maximizing the federal government’s effectiveness in combatting campus rape and sexual assault

To facilitate conversation, the listening sessions are organized by participant groups:

(All times are Eastern Standard.)

• February 12, 3:00–4:00 p.m. — Students and Survivors

• February 13, 4:00–5:00 p.m. — Researchers and National Experts

• February 14, 4:00–5:00 p.m. — Victim Advocates, Rape Crisis Center Staff, Victim Service Providers, including Campus-based and Community Programs

• February 18, 2:00–3:00 p.m. — University, College, and Community College Administrators and Leaders

• February 18, 4:00–5:00 p.m. — Alumni, Parents, and Other Campus Stakeholders

• February 19, 3:00–4:00 p.m. — Civil Liberties

• February 20, 7:00–8:00 p.m. — Students and Survivors

• February 21, 4:00–5:00 p.m. — Campus Law Enforcement, Local Law Enforcement, Student Conduct Personnel, Campus Disciplinary/Judicial Boards, and Title IX Coordinators

• February 25, 5:00–6:00 p.m. — Students and Survivors

• February 26, 3:00–4:00 p.m. — Open Forum

The listening sessions are designed to allow as many people as possible to provide input. OVW will not be answering questions but instead will be listening to you. If you have questions, OVW will gather them for a future response.

There are three different Students and Survivors listening sessions, spread over three weeks, to accommodate the demand within OVW’s webinar capacity. If you are not a student or survivor, please do not join these sessions — you might unintentionally block a student or survivor from participating. If you are a student or survivor, OVW would appreciate you joining one of these three sessions.

Listening sessions will use the Adobe Connect webinar service, which allows participants to queue up to make oral comments. Participants can also type comments in a chat box. A large number of participants is expected, so please plan to keep your remarks brief — about 3 minutes — so more people can have a turn to speak.

Streaming ASL interpretation is available upon request. When you register for your choice of listening session, just select the ASL box.

If you don’t get the chance to speak or still have more to say, don’t worry — you can submit written comments any time from now until February 28, 2014. If you would like to submit comments, please email them to OVW.SATaskForce@usdoj.gov.

Kindly note, these calls will be off the record and are not intended for press purposes.

Please keep an eye on OVW’s website, www.ovw.usdoj.gov, in the coming weeks for any updates. Don’t forget to register for the listening sessions at https://ta2ta.org/events/webinars/white-house-listening-sessions.html.