Alec Ward | The best policy

Talking Backward | What a fair-minded sexual assault response policy might look like

By Alec Ward 03/03/15 10:00pm

For the past two weeks, I’ve been criticizing Penn’s new sexual assault adjudication policy and the institution of on-campus sexual assault handling in general. As I’ve said before, when colleges take the place of police and courts, by investigating and trying to decide the truth of claims of violent criminal behavior, everyone seems to lose. Sometimes complaints get hushed up to protect athletes or reputations, sometimes accused students are subjected to absurd kangaroo-court hearings with almost predetermined findings of guilt. Either way, justice goes unserved.

But although colleges must get out of the business of investigating and adjudicating these matters, that doesn’t mean they have no role to play in responding to claims of sexual assault. For better or worse, colleges have accepted some level of responsibility for their students’ well-being outside the classroom and there are, accordingly, appropriate actions a university like Penn could take to assist students dealing with these matters.

I’m not a lawyer, a doctor or a trauma expert, but in researching my last two columns, I think I’ve encountered most of the issues and concerns which arise around sexual assault on campus. Accordingly I’d like to propose, based on what I’ve learned, what a sane, fair and compassionate sexual assault response policy might look like.

Such a policy begins with the involvement of law enforcement. As ever, a victim should never be forced to press charges if they don’t want to, and that decision shouldn’t limit their access to other resources like counseling and medical help. But if the complainant wants action taken against another party, investigation must be handled by police and adjudication by courts. When there are muggings on Pine Street, burglaries in the Quad or a murder at Copa, we don’t ask the Office of Student Conduct to handle it — we turn to the police. Neither should we expect the University to handle rape. Instead, the University should play a part in lessening the stress associated with these processes. A student who comes to the University claiming to have been sexually assaulted could be given a team of advisors drawn from the pool of wide-ranging expertise the school has access to. An advisor from the Law School could be assigned to help assist with the process of pressing charges and participating in investigation and prosecution. Advocates point to cross-examination as an element of the criminal justice system which victims of sexual assault find particularly stressful, and yet it is vital to accurately determining credibility. A University-appointed legal advisor could help prepare complainants for this process with an eye toward mitigating stress. Someone from the health system could be assigned to help manage the complainant’s medical and psychological needs. An administrator could be assigned to help make any reasonable changes to classes and housing necessary for the student’s life to go on as normally as possible.

As for an accused student, the University should ensure that they have access to adequate legal assistance as well. While this may strike some as unsavory, a fair-minded student-assistance system must assume that the accused is innocent even as it assumes the complainant is telling the truth. Without this, assistance provided to the complainant might simply amount to the University using its resources to tilt the scales of justice.

And of course, the University would act on the findings of the courts. A student who is found criminally — or even civilly — liable for any serious crime or civil rights violation, sexual assault certainly included, should not be allowed to remain on campus.

Academia’s role can extend beyond just assisting students involved in the criminal justice system, however. Colleges and universities have a critical role to play in developing best practices for police and prosecutors in areas ranging from community relations to forensic techniques. This certainly includes practices for handling sexual assault investigations in the most fair and compassionate way possible. Advocates often claim that law enforcement techniques are needlessly hostile to complainants. These claims merit research and careful study. Penn, having its own private police force, is uniquely positioned to ensure that its students have access to investigative practices that are fair and optimized, and to be a laboratory of best practices which can be spread far beyond the boundaries of the Penn Patrol Zone.

ALEC WARD is a College sophomore from Washington, D.C., studying history. His email address is alecward@sas.upenn.edu. “Talking Backward” appears every Wednesday.

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