Lady Gaga and Gov. Cuomo co-write op-ed to combat sexual assault on New York college campuses
Lady Gaga and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo co-wrote an op-ed for Billboard Monday, imploring state legislators to pass the Enough is Enough bill for comprehensive improvements to sexual assault policies in the state's public and private colleges.
Their activist essay comes ahead of the June 17 deadline for this year's legislative session. Gov. Cuomo introduced the bill in February and then launched the Enough is Enough campaign, which has already affected reforms at New York public university campuses. But there are many schools at which the sexual assault and harassment policies are inadequate, the singer and governor wrote.
Their purpose in writing the editorial is to urge lawmakers to extend the legislation to the private institutions that have avoided reform.
"Without changing New York's laws, private colleges don't have to live up to the same standard. That's why the state legislature must pass the proposed bill. Without it, students at private institutions are more likely to be left at risk."
They argue that "too few of the assailants are prosecuted" and that survivors are often not provided the appropriate resources and accommodations they need to recover. In New York, they said, "fewer than five percent of the rapes that occur on college campuses are reported to the police, and only 16 percent of survivors receive support from a victim services agency."
"Making a bad situation worse, college officials sometimes fear negative publicity against their school if assaults are reported to the police. Instead of involving law enforcement, these cases are often handled as campus disciplinary issues and many offenders avoid meaningful consequences," Lady Gaga and Gov. Cuomo indicated.
Earlier this year, the sexual assault and harassment policies at Columbia University came under fire when a female student's rape accusations were dismissed, leading the student to become her own activist; in addition to filing a lawsuit, she carried a mattress around campus in protest for the remainder of her academic course. She even took it to commencement. Columbia is among 95 colleges being investigated by the U.S. Department of Education for issues regarding sexual assault policies.
"As a result [of private schools resisting reform] these victims are not only deprived justice, they are denied the opportunity to tell their stories publicly. Being able to speak about such difficult experiences openly is fundamental to easing a survivor's recovery and to removing the shame that still shrouds sexual assault," the op-ed reads.
The piece also cites statistics from the Center for Public Integrity that found only about 25 percent of "individuals responsible for sexual assault" were permanently removed from campuses and in some cases as few as 10 percent of perpetrators faced expulsion for their crimes of public endangerment.
"This situation is unacceptable," explained Lady Gaga, who has said she was raped by a producer when she was 19. "The likelihood that college students are not getting the assistance and support they deserve is heartbreaking, and the knowledge that sexual predators are left free to attack again is criminal."
Go here to read the entire piece.