What does the Coalition Against Sexual Violence want Harvard to do?
Sexual assault has been acknowledged as a campus-wide “calamity.” Harvard must address the crisis by providing an adequate forum for cases of sexual violence to be heard. First, any disciplinary board that hears cases of sexual assault should receive mandatory training from professionals regarding sexual violence. Such training should encompass the symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, common characteristics of perpetrators of sexual assault, the myths surrounding rape and sexual assault, the role of alcohol in sexual assault cases, and other aspects of sexual assault which are necessary in order to make informed judgments. A disciplinary decision should always be based upon careful consideration of evidence, and “evidence” encompasses the statements of the victim, the accused student, and any fresh complaint witnesses (the first person the victim talked to after the assault). Thus, a disciplinary board must have special training on the issue of sexual violence in order to better
