Senate File 79 - Introduced




                                 SENATE FILE       
                                 BY  BOLKCOM and DVORSKY

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act relating to sexual assault policies adopted by state and
  2    accredited private postsecondary institutions.
  3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
    TLSB 1481XS (5) 86
    kh/rj

PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 260C.14, subsection 18, Code 2015, is
  1  2 amended to read as follows:
  1  3    18.  Develop and implement a written policy, which is
  1  4  concerning sexual assault as defined in section 915.40, and
  1  5 domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking as defined in
  1  6 the federal Higher Education Act of 1965, 20 U.S.C. {1092(f),
  1  7 involving a student, both on and off campus.  The policy shall
  1  8 be disseminated during student registration or orientation,
  1  9 addressing and shall do all of the following four areas
  1 10 relating to sexual abuse:
  1 11    a.  Include an affirmative consent standard in the
  1 12 determination of whether consent was given by both parties to
  1 13 sexual activity. For purposes of this subsection, "affirmative
  1 14 consent" means affirmative, conscious, and voluntary agreement
  1 15 to engage in sexual activity. Under such standard, each
  1 16 person engaged in the sexual activity is responsible for
  1 17 ensuring that the person has the affirmative consent of any
  1 18 other person engaging in the sexual activity. Lack of protest
  1 19 or resistance does not mean consent. Silence does not mean
  1 20 consent. Affirmative consent must be ongoing throughout a
  1 21 sexual activity and can be revoked at any time. The existence
  1 22 of a dating relationship between the persons involved, or the
  1 23 fact of past sexual relations between them, shall not by itself
  1 24 be assumed to be an indicator of consent.
  1 25    b.  Address the following four affected areas:
  1 26    (1)  Counseling.
  1 27    b.  (2)  Campus security.
  1 28    c.  (3)  Education, including prevention, protection, and the
  1 29 rights and duties of students and employees of the community
  1 30 college.
  1 31    d.  (4)  Facilitating the The accurate and prompt reporting
  1 32 of sexual assault including sexual abuse, domestic violence,
  1 33 dating violence, and stalking to the duly constituted law
  1 34 enforcement authorities.
  1 35    Sec. 2.  Section 261.9, subsection 1, paragraph f, Code 2015,
  2  1 is amended to read as follows:
  2  2    f.  Develops and implements a written policy, which is
  2  3  concerning sexual assault as defined in section 915.40, and
  2  4 domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking as defined in
  2  5 the federal Higher Education Act of 1965, 20 U.S.C. {1092(f),
  2  6 involving a student, both on and off campus.  The policy shall
  2  7 be disseminated during student registration or orientation,
  2  8 addressing and shall do all of the following four areas
  2  9 relating to sexual abuse:
  2 10    (1)  Include an affirmative consent standard in the
  2 11 determination of whether consent was given by both parties to
  2 12 sexual activity. For purposes of this subsection, "affirmative
  2 13 consent" means affirmative, conscious, and voluntary agreement
  2 14 to engage in sexual activity. Under such standard, each
  2 15 person engaged in the sexual activity is responsible for
  2 16 ensuring that the person has the affirmative consent of any
  2 17 other person engaging in the sexual activity. Lack of protest
  2 18 or resistance does not mean consent. Silence does not mean
  2 19 consent. Affirmative consent must be ongoing throughout a
  2 20 sexual activity and can be revoked at any time. The existence
  2 21 of a dating relationship between the persons involved, or the
  2 22 fact of past sexual relations between them, shall not by itself
  2 23 be assumed to be an indicator of consent.
  2 24    (2)  Address the following four affected areas:
  2 25    (a)  Counseling.
  2 26    (2)  (b)  Campus security.
  2 27    (3)  (c)  Education, including prevention, protection,
  2 28 and the rights and duties of students and employees of the
  2 29 institution.
  2 30    (4)  (d)  Facilitating the The accurate and prompt reporting
  2 31 of sexual assault including sexual abuse, domestic violence,
  2 32 dating violence, and stalking to the duly constituted law
  2 33 enforcement authorities.
  2 34    Sec. 3.  Section 262.9, subsection 28, Code 2015, is amended
  2 35 to read as follows:
  3  1    28.  Develop and implement a written policy, which is
  3  2  concerning sexual assault as defined in section 915.40, and
  3  3 domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking as defined in
  3  4 the federal Higher Education Act of 1965, 20 U.S.C. {1092(f),
  3  5 involving a student, both on and off campus.  The policy shall
  3  6 be disseminated during registration or orientation, addressing
  3  7  and shall do all of the following four areas relating to sexual
  3  8 abuse:
  3  9    a.  Include an affirmative consent standard in the
  3 10 determination of whether consent was given by both parties to
  3 11 sexual activity. For purposes of this subsection, "affirmative
  3 12 consent" means affirmative, conscious, and voluntary agreement
  3 13 to engage in sexual activity. Under such standard, each
  3 14 person engaged in the sexual activity is responsible for
  3 15 ensuring that the person has the affirmative consent of any
  3 16 other person engaging in the sexual activity. Lack of protest
  3 17 or resistance does not mean consent.  Silence does not mean
  3 18 consent. Affirmative consent must be ongoing throughout a
  3 19 sexual activity and can be revoked at any time. The existence
  3 20 of a dating relationship between the persons involved, or the
  3 21 fact of past sexual relations between them, shall not by itself
  3 22 be assumed to be an indicator of consent.
  3 23    b.  Address the following four affected areas:
  3 24    (1)  Counseling.
  3 25    b.  (2)  Campus security.
  3 26    c.  (3)  Education, including prevention, protection, and the
  3 27 rights and duties of students and employees of the institution.
  3 28    d.  (4)  Facilitating the The accurate and prompt reporting
  3 29 of sexual assault including sexual abuse, domestic violence,
  3 30 dating violence, and stalking to the duly constituted law
  3 31 enforcement authorities.
  3 32                           EXPLANATION
  3 33 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
  3 34 the explanation's substance by the members of the general assembly.
  3 35    This bill modifies the current requirement that all
  4  1 community colleges, regents universities, and accredited
  4  2 postsecondary private institutions develop, implement, and
  4  3 disseminate a written sexual assault policy.  The bill provides
  4  4 that the policy developed, implemented, and disseminated
  4  5 concerns sexual assault including sexual abuse, domestic
  4  6 violence, dating violence, and stalking involving a student,
  4  7 both on and off campus.
  4  8    The policy shall include an affirmative consent standard in
  4  9 the determination of whether consent was given by parties to
  4 10 the sexual activity.  The bill defines "affirmative consent" to
  4 11 mean affirmative, conscious, and voluntary agreement to engage
  4 12 in sexual activity.  Under that standard, each person involved
  4 13 in the sexual activity is responsible for ensuring that the
  4 14 person has the affirmative consent of any other person engaging
  4 15 in the sexual activity. Lack of protest or resistance does
  4 16 not mean consent. Silence does not mean consent. Affirmative
  4 17 consent must be ongoing throughout a sexual activity and can be
  4 18 revoked at any time. The existence of a dating relationship
  4 19 between the persons involved, or the fact of past sexual
  4 20 relations between them, shall not by itself be assumed to be
  4 21 an indicator of consent.
  4 22    The policy must also address the accurate and prompt
  4 23 reporting of sexual assault including sexual abuse, domestic
  4 24 violence, dating violence, and stalking to the duly constituted
  4 25 law enforcement authorities.
       LSB 1481XS (5) 86
       kh/rj