Sexual Assault - Needed Attention

Today President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden spoke to the issue of sexual assault. One of the statistics that they presented was that 1 in 5 women identify that they were sexually assaulted in college. The President challenged college Presidents to step up and identify what they are doing relative to sexual assaults. What systems and reporting mechanisms do they have in place to support people who may be victems of sexual assault? What are they doing to prevent sexual assault on their campus? The challenge was also given to men and a culture that has allowed these assaults without anyone speaking up. It was also noted that women themselves need to support each other in standing up to these issues and speaking up when necessary. The President signed an administrative memo creating a group to come up with additional recommendations to deal with the issue within 90 days.

All of this caught my attention because just yesterday Governor Andrew Cuomo in his budget presentation, spoke to the issue of sexual harassment (assault in some cases) as a growing and continuing problem in the NYS Legislature. That's right, elected officials and staff members in the NYS Legislature, involved in more and more instances of sexual harassment, to the point where Cuomo is trying to get ethics legislation with some teeth in it to deal with these issues. And guess what? The leadership is balking, dragging their feet as it were. The Governor is proposing a hotline for people to report issues with legislators or legislative staff. Imagine. Within the past week a western NY Assemblyman resigned due to continuing allegations about his behavior in this area. He's denying any guilt but he's gone. He's just the latest.

So, the President is on the right track and should be commended but as he discusses college presidents and students, elected officials are being called out in NY. Obviously the issue is a big one and everyone has a responsibility to report, stop and support. It will be interesting to see where both initiatives go.