White House creates special task force addressing sexual assault on campus

We were excited to hear President Barack Obama announce the creation of a special task force addressing sexual assault on college campuses. The interagency task force, led by the White House Council on Women and Girls, will have 90 days to come up with new recommendations to help colleges prevent and respond to sexual assault. Working in DC, with its large student population, we are eager to hear the task force recommendations and play our part in providing survivors with compassionate care, ensuring that perpetrators are brought to justice, and educating the community about sexual assault.The White House report released in conjunction with the announcement about the task force particularly mentions SANEs as a critical component to improving evidence collection in order to improve the criminal justice response to sexual assault, stating “In addition to improving victim care, SANE programs…enhance the quality of forensic evidence, improve law enforcement’s ability to collect information and file charges, and increase rates of successful prosecutions.”Read more here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/sexual_assault_report_1-21-14.pdf