This article seeks to explain the relationship that college campuses have with their students. He highlights that colleges have a responsibility to protect their students, but when a sexual assault happens, this very rarely occurs as courts are reluctant to fault the University. Therefore, the author argues, the victim have a hard time recovering, if ever, because they feel that they are being revictimized with no support. This issue has perpetuated across generations, but has now caught the attention of President Obama. In 2010, Obama directed federal agencies to combat domestic and sexual violence that is occurring on college campuses nation-wide.
The number of complaints and civil action alleging that the University has failed to combat and promote preventative measures has been on the rise. Most of these complaints/lawsuits address that the University has neglected their charge of protecting students from sexual assaults that occur on campus.
This article specifically addressed that certain factors should be taken into consideration when evaluating the burden of precaution. These factors include:
1) whether the college warned/adequately educated on any foreseeable risks
2) whether the burden is too costly on the college/community as it relates to preventing future incidents of harm
3) whether the plaintiff’s ideas for security measures would not adequately aid the prevention of future incidents of harm
4) whether the plaintiff’s ideas for security measures bear a financial burden that should only require the college to achieve reasonable risk reduction, not risk elimination
He argues that all of the above factors should be taken into consideration when evaluation the burden of precaution that leads to policy/laws/protocols.
Miranda Guardiola