McCaskill Launching 'Claire on Campus' Tour Across Missouri

Oct 01, 2014

WASHINGTON – Dubbed her “Claire on Campus” tour, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill is launching a series of discussions at colleges and universities across Missouri next week to talk directly with students, educators, advocates, and law enforcement on ways to combat sexual violence on campuses. McCaskill will also use the events to collect feedback on her bipartisan legislation to protect and empower students, and strengthen accountability and transparency for institutions.

McCaskill will travel to schools in cities including St. Louis, Cape Girardeau, Rolla, Columbia, Kirksville, Maryville, St. Joseph, Warrensburg, Springfield, and Kansas City. Additional details for each of McCaskill’s events will be announced in advance.

“One message I’ll deliver to every student, every educator, every cop and prosecutor, who are working to curb these crimes—is that they are not alone,” said McCaskill, a former sex crimes prosecutor. “We can build a stronger system on our campuses to help prevent these crimes—and to effectively confront them when they do occur. None of our kids should be left on their own after being victimized, and our schools and law enforcement must provide the highest level of responsiveness to ensure victims are empowered, and perpetrators are held accountable.”

McCaskill will not discuss any specific case or investigation during her tour—but instead, will rally support for, and seek feedback from the state’s higher education community on her bipartisan bill, and on how best to combat sexual violence.

In July, McCaskill and a bipartisan group of Senators introduced the Campus Safety and Accountability Act, to take aim at sexual assaults on college and university campuses by protecting and empowering students, and strengthening accountability and transparency for institutions—including establishing stiff penalties for non-compliance with the legislation’s new standards for training, data and best practices.

Earlier this year, McCaskill announced the results of her unprecedented nationwide survey of how sexual assaults are handled on college campuses, which demonstrated a disturbing failure by many institutions to comply with the law and with best practices in how they handle sexual violence against students. The survey found that more than 40 percent of schools have not conducted a single investigation in five years, 21 percent of schools provide no training to faculty and staff, and 31 percent provide no training for students. The 440 institutions represented in the survey are currently educating more than five million students across the country.

McCaskill also held a series of Senate roundtable discussions, which convened stakeholders from across the country to focus on the Clery Act and the Campus SaVE ActTitle IX, and the Criminal Justice System & the Administrative Process. See video highlights of the previous roundtables HEREHERE, and HERE.

Visit mccaskill.senate.gov/violence to see more about McCaskill’s work to curb domestic and sexual violence.