SUNY Backs Sexual Assault Victims Bill

SUNY has joined U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand in her fight to end sexual assault on college campuses. 

State University of New York officials joined Gillibrand today to announce SUNY's support of the "Campus Accountability and Safety Act," which Gillibrand is pushing for in the Senate. SUNY is the first university to support the bill. 

Gillibrand says women who attend college are much more likely to be the victims of assault than women who do not attend college. She says things need to change. 

"Under the current system, colleges lack incentives to investigate or properly handle violent sexual crime that occur on their campuses," Gillibrand said.

SUNY Canton President Zvi Szafran says its already begun making changes to help assault victims.

"Right now, there's training that every new faculty member, any new staff member, and even me as the new President went through in terms of the reporting procedures, how to handle situations, and what the victims rights are," said Szafran

The bill will require students to take an anonymous survey about their experiences with sexual violence. It'll also penalize colleges if they do not disclose information about campus crimes.

College campuses nationwide reported about 5,000 sexual assaults in 2012.