COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine will channel $3 million a year in federal victim-assistance money help universities and private colleges respond to allegations of sexual assault on students in a more uniform and transparent way.
READ MORE: In the Columbus Dispatch
Schools should respond properly across the state, DeWine said, “It should not matter where the sexual assault occurred.”
Colleges and universities can apply for the competitive grants immediately, and DeWine encouraged them to create new programs that not only deal with how allegations are handled but also aim to change the culture that leads to rape. Assaults on campus often involve drinking, which can eliminate a person’s ability to provide legal consent to sex.
“We have a culture problem in Ohio,” DeWine said. The problem is undoubtedly worse than the statistics imply, because many rapes go unreported, he said.
DeWine announced the grants during a news conference at Columbus State Community College Wednesday.
The grants are part of a three-pronged approach under which DeWine is encouraging universities and colleges to adopt a model agreement with their local law enforcement agencies spelling out everyone’s responsibilities after learning about a potential sexual assault. It would call on schools and police to “promptly engage services to provide support to victims,” such as rape crisis centers, and set up protocols for gathering evidence.
Many campuses already have such agreements in place to meet their obligations under state and federal law.
In addition to those resources, The Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy in London will be hold training sessions this summer focusing on successful procedures for investigating reported assaults.
The training sessions have been scheduled at five campuses:
July 21, Bowling Green State University
July 23, The Ohio State University
July 27, Ohio University
July 30, The University of Akron
August 5, Miami University