Dive Brief:
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Three sexual assault cases at Columbia University were profiled by the Huffington Post, outlining a series of missteps and delays.
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While Columbia promises to resolve cases within six weeks, all three cases lasted four months or more, during which time students say they were not allowed to talk about their experiences, according to the article.
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In two cases, HuffPo reports that university investigators did not talk to witnesses identified by the victim, and university policy dictates that they should not transcribe interviews, making it hard for students to appeal their cases based on elements of the investigation.
Dive Insight:
Columbia University has been in the spotlight for its handling of sexual assault cases for more than a year. A student activist spent virtually the entire 2014-15 school year carrying a dorm mattress representing the one on which she was raped two years before, ultimately hauling it across the stage for her graduation in May. Since the U.S. Department of Education clarified in 2011 that higher education institutions were responsible for adequately addressing sexual assault to be eligible for federal financial aid, victims have increasingly taken advantage of the opportunity to file civil cases with their universities following assaults, rather than, or in addition to, going to police. Columbia is certainly not the only institution where policies are being questioned, but it is among those that have received the most attention.