PA state bill would require sex assault education

Bill to initiate program on sexual assault
Sara Ganim
STATE COLLEGE — Rep. Scott Conklin hosted a hearing Thursday in which sexual assault awareness advocates voiced the need for increased sexual assault education for incoming university students.

The hearing before the State Education Committee focused on legislation introduced by Conklin, D-Philipsburg, that would mandate a sexual violence training program that is similar to the one Penn State gives to its incoming students.

Freshmen are at an increased risk for becoming the victims of sexual assaults, Penn State’s Center for Women Resources director, Peggy Lorah, testified Thursday.

The bill, known as the College and University Sexual Violence Education Act, would use Penn State’s current 45-minute interactive program as a template for implementing an awareness program across the state, Conklin said.

The goal is to educate incoming students, who may be otherwise naive to the effects of alcohol, the laws regarding consent and ways to avoid situations that may lead to an assault, Conklin said.
Of the 250 sexual assaults reported to the Centre County Women’s Resource Center last year, 49 were from Penn State students, and about 20 were reported within the first two months of the fall semester, director Anne Ard said.

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Ard said Penn State has provided the students access to resources, opportunities to stay informed, and help for victims of assault that “makes them more likely to come forward.”

Still, rape is a crime that most often goes unreported, and more can be done, Ard said.

After public hearings, the committee will vote on whether to move the bill out of committee. Conklin hopes to have a House vote this fall, chief of staff Tor Michaels said.

Taken From Centre(PA) Daily
Bill to initiate sex assault prevention