VAWA Act Reauthorization and Clery Regulation Updates
The Clery Act is not the only campus safety legislation to which institutions must adhere if they receive Title IV funding.
VAWA, FERPA, and DFSCA are among the laws that govern institutional reporting and policies around campus violence — not withstanding state and local law. The Secretary amends the Student Assistance General Provisions regulations issued under the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), to implement the changes made to the Clery Act by the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA). These regulations are intended to update, clarify, and improve the current regulations. These regulations are effective July 1, 2015.
Resources
Clery Center at the heart of campus safety
On July 22, 2015, the Department of Education issued a Dear Colleague Letter providing an overview of the final regulations to the Clery Act, released in October 2014. The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act amended the Jeanne Clery Act to afford additional rights to campus victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking.
Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)
A landmark piece of legislation that sought to improve criminal legal and community-based responses to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking in the United States.
President Biden Delivers Remarks on the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)
Fact Sheet: Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)
The week of March 16th, President Biden signed into law the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022, bipartisan legislation passed by Congress as part of the Omnibus appropriations package.
Measuring Criminal Justice Success in Responding to VAWA Crimes
In 2020, OVW funded VAWA MEI and the Justice Information Resource Network (JIRN) to develop and pilot test a set of indicators for gauging success in the criminal justice system’s response to VAWA crimes. Many of the products developed as a result of this project can help victim service providers, law enforcement, and researchers start thinking about measuring the benefits of their work.
Glossary of Terms
Any sexual act directed against another person, without the consent of the victim, including instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent.
- Rape – The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.
- Fondling – The touching of the private body parts of another person for the purpose of sexual gratification, without the consent of the victim, including instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her age or because of his/her temporary or permanent mental incapacity.
- Incest – Sexual intercourse between persons who are related to each other within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by law.
- Statutory Rape – Sexual intercourse with a person who is under the statutory age of consent.
An offense that meets the definition of rape, fondling, incest, or statutory rape as used in the FBI’s UCR program.
A felony or misdemeanor crime of violence committed
- By a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim;
- By a person with whom the victim shares a child in common;
- By a person who is cohabitating with, or has cohabitated with, the victim as a spouse or intimate partner;
- By a person similarly situated to a spouse of the victim under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction in which the crime of violence occurred;
- By any other person against an adult or youth victim who is protected from that person’s acts under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction in which the crime of violence occurred.
Violence committed by a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim.
- The existence of such a relationship shall be determined based on the reporting party’s statement and with consideration of the length of the relationship, the type of relationship, and the frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship.
- For the purposes of this definition, dating violence includes, but is not limited to, sexual or physical abuse or the threat of such abuse.
- Dating violence does not include acts covered under the definition of domestic violence.
- Any incident meeting this definition is considered a crime for the purposes of Clery Act reporting.
Engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to
- Fear for the person’s safety or the safety of others; or
- Suffer substantial emotional distress.
For the purposes of this definition:
- Course of conduct means two or more acts, including, but not limited to, acts in which the stalker directly, indirectly, or through third parties, by any action, method, device, or means, follows, monitors, observes, surveils, threatens, or communicates to or about a person, or interferes with a person’s property.
- Reasonable person means a reasonable person under similar circumstances and with similar identities to the victim.
- Substantial emotional distress means significant mental suffering or anguish that may, but does not necessarily, require medical or other professional treatment or counseling.
- Any incident meeting this definition is considered a crime for the purposes of Clery Act reporting.
Comprehensive, intentional, and integrated programming, initiatives, strategies, and campaigns intended to end dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking that:
- Are culturally relevant, inclusive of diverse communities and identities, sustainable, responsive to community needs, and informed by research or assessed for value, effectiveness, or outcome; and
- Consider environmental risk and protective factors as they occur on the individual, relationship, institutional, community, and societal levels. Programs to prevent dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking include both primary prevention and awareness programs directed at incoming students and new employees and ongoing prevention and awareness campaigns directed at students and employees.
Safe and positive options that may be carried out by an individual or individuals to prevent harm or intervene when there is a risk of dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking;
Bystander intervention includes:
- Recognizing situations of potential harm
- Understanding institutional structures and cultural conditions that facilitate violence, overcoming barriers to intervening, identifying safe and effective intervention options, and taking actions to intervene
A proceeding that is completed within reasonably prompt timeframes designated by an institution’s policy, including a process that allows for the extension of timeframes for good cause and with written notice to the accuser and the accused of the delay and the reason for the delay;
Conducted in a manner that:
- Is consistent with the institution’s policies and transparent to the accuser and accused;
- Includes timely notice of meetings at which the accuser or accused, or both, may be present; and • Provides timely and equal access to the accuser, the accused, and appropriate officials to any information that will be used during informal and formal disciplinary meetings and hearings; and
- Conducted by officials who do not have a conflict of interest or bias for or against the accuser or the accused.
All activities related to a non-criminal resolution of an institutional disciplinary complaint, including, but not limited to, fact finding investigations, formal or informal meetings, and hearings.
Proceeding does not include communications and meetings between officials and victims concerning accommodations or protective measures to be provided to a victim.