McCaskill announces hearings on sexual assaults in US campuses

Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill has shared her plans to hold hearings later this yer as part of her surveying of sexual-assault policies of 350 colleges in the US. She also said that she will be calling victims, administrators and college presidents to give their testimonies at the planned hearings, Bloomberg said.

The Democrat from Missouri, who has been interviewed by the news agency over the phone, is questioning why there are so few sexual-assault and rape cases that occurred in campuses that are prosecuted. She is eyeing for colleges, their police forces as well as municipal law enforcement to explain the measly number of cases prosecuted in light of the recent surge of complaints filed by students across the US.

According to the complaints filed by college students, their universities have allegedly violated Title IX by failing to respond and prevent sexual assaults. Title IX is a statute that prohibits gender discrimination in education, Bloomberg said. McCaskill told the news agency that majority of the administrators might have incorrectly telling students that they would unlikely obtain convictions in rape cases should a dispute of whether the sex was consensual arises.

"I prosecuted a lot of cases where consent was the defense, and there are a lot of ways you can build these cases. It's rare that you can't find corroborating evidence if you try," McCaskill added.

Pointing to a case involving Florida State University quarterback Jameis Winston, who was slapped with sexual assault charges last year, McCaskill said that officials may have missed opportunities to figure out whether sex was consensual over the course of its investigation.

Bloomberg noted that any college that was found to have violated Title IX could lose eligibility for federal student grants and loans aside from fines. McCaskill had said that the planned hearings will be held by the Subcommittee on Financial and Contracting Oversight of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, of which she currently chairs.

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US Senator Claire McCaskill, Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, sexual assaults in colleges

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