Hawkeye Reporter

Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) have reintroduced the Campus Accountability and Safety Act (CASA), a bipartisan bill aimed at addressing sexual assault on college and university campuses. The legislation seeks to improve how higher education institutions handle and report incidents of sexual assault, while also providing protection for both survivors and accused students by ensuring a uniform and fair process for investigations and disciplinary proceedings.

The bill includes provisions to create new resources and support services for survivors, as well as new notification requirements for all parties involved in campus disciplinary processes.

“Across America, inconsistent enforcement mechanisms are failing to treat sexual assault crimes with the seriousness they deserve. We’re taking action to change that. Our legislation creates a coordinated approach to address incidents of sexual assault on college campuses. It would inform university protocols for handling reports, and it would strengthen recovery resources for survivors and empower them to know their rights,” Grassley said.

“Sexual assault on college campuses remains a serious and persistent problem, and it is up to us in Congress to protect survivors and make sure these crimes are handled with fairness,” Gillibrand said. “The bipartisan Campus Accountability and Safety Act would strengthen the support network for survivors and increase accountability for schools by creating a standardized process for investigating instances of sexual assault. This will help survivors get the justice they deserve and ensure a fair process for everyone involved. I’m proud to lead this legislation and committed to working across the aisle to get it passed.”

CASA proposes several measures: increasing transparency by requiring institutions’ websites to include safety policies, annual security reports, instructions for filing complaints, and statistics on campus sexual misconduct; directing colleges to hire trained specialists as confidential aides for victims; protecting those who report sexual misconduct from punishment related to information revealed in their reports; expanding the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Campus Grant Program; and mandating an evaluation of VAWA grant effectiveness within two years of CASA’s enactment.

Grassley and Gillibrand first introduced CASA in 2014. They have previously worked together on related legislation such as the Speak Out Act, which was passed in 2022 to clarify that nondisclosure agreements cannot prevent survivors from speaking out about sexual assault or harassment.

In recent years, both senators have led efforts in Congress aimed at reforming military justice regarding sexual violence cases by shifting certain prosecutorial decisions from military command structures to professional prosecutors. They also sponsored legislation ending forced arbitration in cases of sexual harassment or assault.

Grassley has been active in supporting survivors more broadly, including chairing a congressional hearing after allegations against USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar surfaced, authoring bipartisan legislation strengthening federal sex tourism statutes—later signed into law—and advocating other reforms intended to protect vulnerable populations.