To the Editor:
We are in the middle of a wide range of legislative issues currently and one specifically that concerns our state colleges. Throughout the past couple of years, sexual assault on campuses has heavily increased. While there are some agencies that focus on supporting survivors of sexual assault, there are no specific bills or services that support college students going through these events. Maine’s colleges are the center for our upcoming youth, and those youth deserve to feel protected.
There are no current laws that protect this vulnerable population. College students today do not report sexual assault crimes because they do not feel safe doing so. Approximately 90 percent of survivors do not come forwards with what happened to them. This equals out to 1 out of every 5 women or 1 out of every 16 men are sexually assaulted while they are in college. These students do not feel that their abusers will be held accountable and often worry about the negative consequences that they may face coming forward.
Famous cases have shown that the abusers are able to get away with these heinous crimes, it is time that they are held accountable for their actions. It’s time to advocate towards changing the laws to put the people who commit these times where they deserve. Reform is urgently needed for the current laws in place.
With a law such as LD 1727, I hope that college students will feel safer coming forward. If we do not advocate for bills such as this, then Maine’s college students will continue to be abused and assaulted without the aggressors being held accountable.
We encourage local, community, and state leaders to address the root causes of these issues that are occurring on our college campuses. The first step towards making changes is pushing a change to the current laws in place.
Students have the right to feel safe, to be heard, and to be respected. These are basic human rights that everyone deserves, and it is our job to make sure that they are safe on campus. As a college town, this is essential to keeping our youth safe. We can, and we must advocate for this change.
Angelica Levy
Graduate Social Work Student
Farmington
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