UCLA welcomes input on UC sexual harassment policy update

Some student leaders are working to collect input from the UCLA community about proposed changes to the University of California‘s sexual harassment policy, which will also affect UCLA’s current policies.

The UC Office of the President is updating the UC-wide policy on sexual harassment and violence to comply with recent revisions in the Violence Against Women Act, saidUC spokeswoman Dianne Klein.

Klein says the act was reauthorized by President Barack Obama in March of this year and goes into effect in March 2014. Revisions to the act strengthened federal laws and grant program policies concerning domestic and dating violence, sexual assault and stalking.

The changes to the act that will affect the UC-wide policy on sexual harassment include amendments and updates about how to address campus sexual violence, domestic and dating violence, and stalking education and prevention, said Pamela Thomason, Title IX coordinator for UCLA.

A draft of the proposed UC-wide policy was sent out Nov. 1 to UC campuses. The policy will be finalized after Dec. 2, the deadline for campuses to respond to the draft, Thomason said.

Students, faculty and administrators can now suggest changes to the policy before Nov. 22, Thomason said.

Based on the UC-wide policy changes, the UCLA Student Conduct Code may also be modified, but it is not clear what specifically will change, Thomason said.

Members of the UCLA Undergraduate Students Association Council said they are trying to gather input from students and student groups about the policy and compile student feedback into a single response to the changes, said Savannah Badalich, Student Wellness commissioner.

Several different areas of campus can give feedback on the UC policy, which Thomason will compile into a single UCLA-wide response. Some members of USAC have posted a Google Doc of the proposed changes to Facebook and emailed the draft to multiple student groups to collect input.

“The student response has been fairly successful, but this issue has a niche market within the student body,” Badalich said.

Badalich said her recommendations for changes to the policy stem partially from the responses she has collected from people outside UCLA, including sexual assault survivors.

She said she thinks the UC-wide policy should include an Amnesty or Good Samaritan Clause, which would protect survivors of sexual assault and witnesses, respectively, from being punished for being under the influence of illegal substances.

Some student leaders, including Badalich and USAC President John Joanino, have voiced concerns about UCLA’s current sexual harassment policies, including the definition of “consent,” outlined in the UCLA Student Conduct Code.

The UCLA Office of the Dean of Students already updated the conduct code on Oct. 24 to comply with the changes in the Violence Against Women Act. UCLA’s Student Conduct Code currently defines “effective consent” as“words or actions that show a knowing and voluntary agreement to engage in a mutually agreed-upon sexual activity.”

But UCLA’s definition might be changed to reflect the one in the proposed UC-wide policy, where consent is defined as “an affirmative, conscious decision by each participant to engage in mutually agreed-upon sexual activity.” It is further defined as voluntary, and given only when the person is not impaired or incapacitated.

Badalich said she thinks the UC-wide definition of “consent” is clearer than the current UCLA Student Conduct Code definition, but she thinks additions to the UC definition would still make it clearer.

She also wants UC students, faculty, staff, professionals and administrators to have more frequent mandatory trainings about sexual assault.

Joanino said he believes this is a critical component included in the policy.

“As students we need to be able to follow up with how (educational and training programs) are implemented on our campus,” he said.

As of now, some student leaders said they are focused on getting as much student input and perspective as possible.

“There’s only a certain reach that I and my friends have, and I might be missing something that fresh eyes with different experiences might not,” Badalich said.