Ms. Magazine: Kirsten Gillibrand: Taking On Military Sexual Assault, One Bill at a Time
Ms. Magazine reports:
In the wake of recent high-profile cases of the mishandling of military sexual assaults, widespread public outcry over sexual violence against women in the media, and rampant sexual assault at the fore of discussion on college campuses, Gillibrand’s bill couldn’t be more timely—or necessary.
Despite President Obama’s omission of sexual assault as a talking point from this year’s State of the Union address, Senator Gillibrand maintained her stance on supporting survivors of sexual assault, whether on a university campus or otherwise. She brought anti-rape activist and performance artist Emma Sulkowicz as her guest to the speech, calling her “a woman of great courage who got no justice,” following Columbia University’s decision to not expel her accused rapist last year.
As part of a bipartisan group of senators that recently introduced a bill “meant to hold colleges more accountable in their handling of sexual assaults on campus,” Senator Gillibrand is currently on a tour of several universities in New York that aims to host round table discussions with students, officials, law enforcement, advocates and survivors.
