TABLE 2—

Prevailing Attitudes, Investigative Methods, and Preventive Strategies Toward Campus Sexual Assault: Current and Projected (if Recommended Changes Are Implemented)

Common Attitudes and Practices	Current	Projected
Prevailing attitudes about use of alcohol	Alcohol “blurs the lines,” complicating assignment of blame for a sexual assault	Perpetrators held legally responsible for sexual assault, regardless of whether they or their victims are intoxicated
Prevailing attitudes toward sexual-assault perpetrators	Sexual assault attributed to “miscommunication” Tendency to excuse perpetrator’s behavior	Awareness that sexual assault is often premeditated, and that alcohol, physical violence, and threats are often used
Prevailing attitudes toward victims	Victim blaming:  She wore a short dress  She drank too much	Awareness of long-term physical and mental-health consequences for victims
Mobilization of citizen messengers	Student activism on some campuses; nationwide initiatives lacking	Nationwide student-mobilized activism
Investigative norms	No uniform standards for training police and prosecutors Interaction with law enforcement can be revictimizing	Mandated training, standards, and protocols for campus and community police
Federal mandates for colleges and universities	Timely investigation of Title IX violations	Uniform mandates:  Comprehensive prevention strategies  Standards for police response  Policies to assist victims  Policies to ensure due process  Fines for noncompliant campuses (without cutting aid to low-income students)
Community engagement	Nascent awareness that prevention is a community responsibility	Prevention strategies that engage entire communities
Acceptable forms of consent	Varying definitions of consent	Consent in the form of a voluntary “yes” at each stage of a sexual interaction
Prevention education	Rarely addressed in high school	Age-appropriate mandated K–12 curriculum
Data-collection efforts	No uniform system to collect data on unreported campus assaults	Mandated uniform collection of data on the prevalence of campus sexual assault