COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
The John A. Wilson Building
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, nw
Washington, D.C. 20004
Christina Henderson Committee Member
Councilmember, At-Large Hospital and Health Equity
Chairperson, Committee on Health Judiciary and Public Safety
Transportation and the Environment
Statement of Introduction
Institution of Higher Education Sexual Misconduct Reporting and
Resource Accessibility Act of 2023
July 14, 2023
Today, I am introducing the Institution of Higher Education Sexual Misconduct Reporting and
Resource Accessibility Act of 2023, along with Councilmembers Vincent C. Gray, Charles
Allen, Matthew Frumin, Brooke Pinto, and Brianne K. Nadeau.
Students attending college in the District should be certain of accruing benefits such as job
security, exceptional networking opportunities, high earnings, and personal development, but for
some students, experiencing sexual misconduct during their educational career is also highly
likely.
Sexual misconduct is a prevalent crime against women, transgender people, genderqueer people,
and nonbinary people at institutions of higher education. According to the American Association
of Universities’ 2020 campus climate survey on sexual assault and sexual misconduct,
nationally, 59% of undergraduate women reported experiencing harassing behavior since
enrolling at school, and 23% of transgender, genderqueer, and nonbinary students experienced
unwanted sexual contact.1 Less than half of students surveyed who had experienced sexual
misconduct thought it likely that an official at a school would take an allegation of sexual
misconduct seriously. Only 29.5% of victims contacted at least one program or resource to
support them, but only 20.6% of these contacted Title IX and 17.9% contacted their campus
victim services office. Institutions of higher education are required to publicly report reported
incidents of sexual violence, but low survivor reporting leads to low institutional reporting. Only
one third of students felt they were very or extremely knowledgeable about the definition of
sexual assault, where to get help, and how to report it, which underscores the importance of
training so students understand what sexual assault is and how to get help. It is important that a
student survivor feel confident in the resources and processes that are available to them through
their school during one of the worst times of their life.
While the District continues to work toward the goal of preventing sexual assault and providing
quality resources for survivors, it is equally important to sharpen the tools at our disposal that
address the main issues—a lack of provisions to gather sexual misconduct data, annual evidence-
based sexual assault prevention training for students, and better resources for survivors.
1
Report on the American Association of Universities Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Misconduct,
2020.
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 COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
The John A. Wilson Building
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, nw
Washington, D.C. 20004
This legislation would further the District’s commitment to supporting survivors of sexual
misconduct by:
• Requiring Institutions of higher education in the District to retain a confidential resource
advisor (CRA) to provide emergency and ongoing support to reporting parties at
institutions of higher education.
o The CRA would be required to be experienced in sexual misconduct work,
disseminate information to reporting parties and to institution staff and students.
o A CRA would provide victims with assistance regarding navigating processes in
the institution, in law enforcement, being connected to resources following an
experience of sexual misconduct, and other supports the victim requests.
o All communications between the reporting party and the CRA would be
confidential, and the reporting party would have to approve the CRA
communicating with outside entities in most circumstances.
o This section of the bill also creates flexibility for small institutions by allowing
them to partner with another institution or enter into a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) with a local victim advocacy organization to provide these
services.
o In the District, George Washington University, American University, and Howard
University currently have CRAs.
• Requiring amnesty protections for reporting parties of sexual misconduct for violations of
an institution’s student conduct policy if the violation occurred immediately before,
during, or immediately after the incident of sexual misconduct, unless the violation put at
immediate and severe risk the health and safety of others.
• Requiring institutions to facilitate mandatory annual sexual misconduct trainings for all
students with information about consent, the impact of drugs and alcohol on an
individual’s ability to consent, procedures following sexual misconduct, contact
information for the CRA, bystander intervention strategies, the rights of reporting parties,
and the institution’s responsibilities regarding no-contact orders, orders of protection, or
restraining orders.
• Requiring institution of higher education personnel who are involved in an institution of
higher education's investigative and disciplinary process regarding sexual misconduct to
receive annual training in handling sexual misconduct complaints and in the operations of
the institution's disciplinary process.
• Requiring that CRAs, Title IX coordinators, and an institution of higher education’s
public safety personnel be educated in trauma-informed responses, and investigators to
receive annual training on conducting investigations using trauma-informed responses.
• Establishing minimum criteria for institutions’ sexual misconduct policies.
• Allowing institutions to grant students who report experiencing sexual misconduct to
specific institution personnel a waiver from minimum GPA, credit hour load, or other
academic requirements or disciplinary record standards if the reporting student consents
for a CRA, Title IX coordinator, public safety personnel, or local law enforcement the
confirm to the institution the report of sexual misconduct.
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 COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
The John A. Wilson Building
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, nw
Washington, D.C. 20004
• Requiring institutions of higher education to prepare and submit to the Higher Education
Licensure Commission a report containing data about sexual misconduct on campus, to
submit to the Commission and, starting in 2026, publish on its website the results of the
online survey for campus safety that will be biennially administered pursuant to the
§11611–6 of the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022.
• Setting penalties for institutions that do not comply with the provisions of this bill, which
are capped at the lower of $59,000 or one percent of an institution’s annual operating
budget.
Sexual misconduct is uprooted by safe, trustworthy, and transparent environments where
institutions’ sexual misconduct policies are informed by recent and relevant data, where
reporting parties can access information and resources from a confidential source present solely
to provide support, where the privacy of reporting parties is respected, and where staff are
regularly trained to respond to sexual misconduct. The Council is committed to ensuring safe
educational environments for students and personnel at the District’s institutions of higher
education and to ensuring that our institutions empower survivors to seek resources following
any incident of sexual misconduct, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to realize
these goals.
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 1 ____ ___________________________ _______________________________
2 Councilmember Vincent C. Gray Councilmember Christina Henderson
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5 _______________________________ _______________________________
6 Councilmember Charles Allen Councilmember Matthew Frumin
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9 _______________________________ ______________________________
10 Councilmember Brooke Pinto Councilmember Brianne K. Nadeau
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16 A BILL
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18 _______________
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21 IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
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23 _______________________
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25 To require institutions of higher education in the District to retain a confidential resource
26 advisor, to require amnesty protections under certain circumstances for reporting parties
27 of sexual misconduct, to require institutions to facilitate mandatory annual sexual
28 misconduct trainings for all students that conform with minimum criteria, to require
29 institution of higher education personnel involved in an institution of higher education's
30 sexual misconduct investigative and disciplinary processes to receive annual training in
31 handling sexual misconduct complaints and in the operations of the institution's
32 disciplinary process, to require confidential resource advisors, Title IX coordinators, and
33 institution public safety personnel to be educated in trauma-informed responses, to
34 establish criteria for institutions’ sexual misconduct policies, to require institutions to
35 grant a waiver from some academic requirements under certain conditions to students
36 who report experiencing sexual misconduct to specific institution personnel, to require
37 institutions of higher education to prepare and submit to the Higher Education Licensure
38 Commission a report about sexual misconduct at the institution, and to establish penalties
39 for institutions that do not comply with the provisions of this act.
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41 BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this
42 act may be cited as the “Institution of Higher Education Sexual Misconduct Reporting and
43 Resource Accessibility Act of 2023”.
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44 Sec. 2. Definitions.
45 For the purposes of this act, the term:
46 (1) “Institution of higher education” or “institution” shall have the same meaning
47 as provided in section 101 of the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. §1001).
48 (2) “Reporting party” means a student or employee of an institution who reports
49 having experienced an incident of sexual misconduct to the institution.
50 (3) “Responding party” means a student, employee, or other individual who has
51 been accused of an incident of sexual misconduct by a reporting party.
52 (4) “Student” means an individual who is enrolled at least part-time in a credit-
53 bearing program through a public or private degree-granting institution of higher education.
54 (5) “Sexual misconduct” shall have the same meaning as the following terms:
55 (A) Dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking, as defined in the
56 Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022 (Pub. L. 117-103, 136 Stat. 49);
57 (B) Sexual assault, as defined in the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus
58 Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (20 USC § 1092); or
59 (C) Sexual harassment, as defined in Title IX of the Education
60 Amendments of 1972 (34 CFR 106.30(a)).
61 (6) “Title IX coordinator” means an employee designated by an institution whose
62 responsibilities include those required by 34 C.F.R. § 106.8(a).
63 (7) “Trauma-informed response" means a response involving an understanding of
64 the complexities of sexual misconduct through training centered on the neurobiological impact of
65 trauma, the influence of myths and stereotypes surrounding the causes and impacts of trauma,
66 perpetration methodology, and methods to conduct investigations.
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67 Sec. 3. Confidential resource advisor role and responsibilities.
68 (a) Each institution shall designate a confidential resource advisor who shall provide
69 emergency and ongoing support to reporting parties at institutions of higher education in the
70 District as described in this section. Each institution shall also designate an employee who has
71 received training which conforms with the requirements of subsection (b)(3) of this section to
72 fulfill the responsibilities of the confidential resource advisor if necessary.
73 (b) The confidential resource advisor:
74 (1) Shall:
75 (A) Be appointed based on the individual’s professional experience and
76 demonstrated ability to effectively provide victim services related to sexual misconduct;
77 (B) Provide written notice to all institution staff involved in providing or
78 enforcing relevant supportive measures or accommodations of the requirements of this section;
79 (C) Shall complete yearly trainings in sexual misconduct awareness and
80 prevention, Title IX policies, in trauma-informed response, and, if employed by an institution,
81 shall complete yearly trainings in the institution of higher education’s policies pertaining to
82 student conduct, harassment, and sexual relationships; and
83 (D) Shall establish communication with sexual misconduct resource
84 providers in the District and at the institution within 3 months of being designated as a
85 confidential resource advisor.
86 (2) Shall not:
87 (A) Act as a counselor or therapist;
88 (B) Disclose a confidential communication as defined by § 14-310 except:
89 (i) As required by statute or by a court of law;
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 90 (ii) As voluntarily authorized in writing by the reporting party;
91 (iii) To other individuals employed at the institution or others and
92 third party providers when and to the extent necessary to facilitate the delivery of services to the
93 victim;
94 (iv) To the Metropolitan Police Department or other law
95 enforcement agency to the extent necessary to protect the victim or another individual from a
96 substantial risk of imminent and serious physical injury;
97 (v) To compile statistical or anecdotal information, without
98 personal identifying information, for research or public information purposes; or
99 (vi) For any confidential communications relevant to a claim or
100 defense if the victim files a lawsuit against a domestic violence counselor or a domestic violence
101 program;
102 (C) Provide services to the reporting party and responding party of the
103 same incident;
104 (D) Unless otherwise required to do so by state or federal law, be required
105 to report an incident of sexual misconduct to the institution or to a law enforcement agency;
106 (E) Be a student at the institution of higher education at which the
107 confidential resource advisor is employed;
108 (F) Be the Title IX coordinator employed by an institution of higher
109 education;
110 (G) Be an authorized administrator of disciplinary processes on behalf of
111 an institution of higher education;
112 (H) Be a member of the institution’s public safety personnel; or
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113 (I) Have employment responsibilities that may create a conflict of interest,
114 including employment by the institution as:
115 (i) General counsel;
116 (ii) A religious or spiritual authority;
117 (iii) Director of athletics;
118 (iv) Dean of students; or
119 (v) An employee who serves on the judicial or hearing board or to
120 whom an appeal might be made.
121 (c) An institution may enter into a memorandum of understanding with a victim advocacy
122 organization to employ a confidential resource advisor as required under this section. An
123 institution that enrolls fewer than 1,000 residential students may partner with another institution
124 or sexual assault resource organization in the District to provide the services required under this
125 section.
126 (d) An institution shall ensure that any memorandum of understanding entered into under
127 this subsection shall result in a confidential resource advisor being available to students or
128 employees within a reasonable distance from the student’s institution.
129 (e) The confidential resource advisor shall provide a reporting party with information,
130 including the following, in written or electronic format, which may include links, pamphlets,
131 handouts, and information packets that are publicly available:
132 (1) Options for reporting sexual misconduct or sexual harassment to the
133 institution’s public safety personnel, to the Metropolitan Police Department, the institution’s
134 Title IX coordinator, and to federal law enforcement, if necessary, and the processes required of
135 the reporting party under each process;
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136 (2) Information pertaining to securing protection or no contact orders, restraining
137 orders, or similar lawful orders issued by a criminal or civil court;
138 (3) Information pertaining to the reporting party’s rights and the institution's
139 responsibilities regarding protection orders, no contact orders, and any other lawful orders issued
140 by the institution or by a court of law;
141 (4) The investigative processes of District and federal law enforcement agencies
142 and legal processes of District judicial bodies pertaining to sexual misconduct;
143 (5) Any limitations on the ability of the