Friends –Working aggressively to combat rape and sexual assault in all settings has been a priority for this administration. As part of these continued efforts and building on the President’s call to action in 2010, the President and Vice President are convening a meeting today of the White House Council on Women and Girls at the Cabinet level along with the council representatives from each agency in the East Room of the White House to examine the progress that has been made and to renew a call to root out abuse wherever it exists and further protect Americans from rape and sexual assault.Because sexual assault remains a pervasive problem, a major focus of today’s meeting will include a
new report that was released today by the White House Council of Women and Girls:
Rape and Sexual Assault: A Renewed Call to Action. This report outlines the facts surrounding rape and sexual assault and identifies key areas to focus on and improve, including working to change social norms, improving criminal justice response, and protecting students from sexual assault. To this end – building on strong steps already taken to make educational settings safer for students – the President will sign a new Presidential memorandum at the meeting to establish the White House Task Force on Protecting Students from Sexual Assault.
A
fact sheet on the report from the Council on Women and Girls can be found
HERE.
Please also see the story below:
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/obama-targets-college-sexual-assault-epidemic-21619532
Obama Targets College Sexual Assault Epidemic
WASHINGTON January 22, 2014 (AP)
By NEDRA PICKLER Associated Press
President Barack Obama is launching an initiative to combat sexual assault, particularly on college campuses, turning the spotlight on a problem that has devastated millions of Americans yet rarely receives such White House attention.
Obama planned to sign a presidential memorandum Wednesday creating a task force to protect students from sexual assault, with a new White House report declaring that no one in America is more at risk of being raped or assaulted than college women. The report, "Rape and Sexual Assault: A Renewed Call to Action," says that 1 in 5 women have been sexually assaulted at college but that only 12 percent of student victims report the assault.
The report was compiled by the White House Council on Women and Girls and was being released Wednesday, but the White House provided an advance copy to The Associated Press. It says nearly 22 million American women and 1.6 million men have been raped in their lifetimes, with victims more likely to suffer from depression, substance abuse and a wide range of physical ailments, including chronic pain and diabetes.
The report says rape's prevalence is highest at college, fueled by drinking and drug use that can incapacitate victims. Obama is giving the task force of administration officials 90 days to come up with recommendations for colleges to prevent and respond to sexual assault, increase public awareness of each school's track record and enhance coordination among federal agencies to hold schools accountable if they don't confront the problem.
Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, chair of the Council on Women and Girls, said men must be involved to combat the problem and the president wants to lead a cultural shift of men speaking out. "The president is committed to solving this problem, not just as president of the United States, but as a father of two girls" who will soon be heading to college, Jarrett said in an interview.
The report also declares that the criminal justice response to sexual assault is too often inadequate and lays out a goal of increasing arrest, prosecution and conviction rates without any specific targets. The report blames police bias and a lack of training to investigate and prosecute sex crimes for low arrest rates and says the federal government should promote training and help police increase testing of DNA evidence collected from victims.
The report mentions the wave of sexual assault in the military — Obama last month gave the Pentagon a year to better prevent and respond to the crime within its ranks or face further reforms. White House officials say they want to set the example by turning around the sexual assault epidemic in the military.
Obama is bringing Attorney General Eric Holder, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, Education Secretary Arnie Duncan and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sibelius to the Oval Office on Wednesday to press them to work on the problem. Then he plans to join an ongoing meeting of his Council on Women and Girls attended by more Cabinet members in the East Room, where he is to sign the memorandum creating the task force. Vice President Joe Biden, who authored the Violence Against Women Act and has led other efforts to reduce sexual assault, also plans to attend.
