Bill Text: NJ A5622 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires institutions of higher education to establish hotline for victims of campus sexual assault.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-06-17 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Higher Education Committee [A5622 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-A5622-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman LISA SWAIN
District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblywoman VERLINA REYNOLDS-JACKSON
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Assemblywoman CAROL A. MURPHY
District 7 (Burlington)
SYNOPSIS
Requires institutions of higher education to establish hotline for victims of campus sexual assault.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning services for victims of campus sexual assault and supplementing chapter 3B of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. An institution of higher education shall establish and maintain a toll-free telephone hotline for victims of campus sexual assault to call with inquiries concerning the information and services available to victims of campus sexual assault. The hotline shall be available to students and staff 24 hours a day, seven days a week and shall be staffed by individuals with training in counseling survivors of campus sexual assault. The individuals shall provide all callers with the contact information for the Sexual Assault Response Team of the county in the which the institution is located established pursuant to section 6 of P.L.2001, c.81 (C.52:4B-54), or in the case of Rutgers University-New Brunswick, with contact information for the Rutgers Office for Violence Prevention and Victim Assistance.
b. The institution shall prominently display information about the hotline established pursuant to subsection a. of this section in appropriate locations throughout each of its campuses. The information shall give instructions to call 911 for emergencies and shall include the contact information for the Sexual Assault Response Team of the county in the which the institution is located established pursuant to section 6 of P.L.2001, c.81 (C.52:4B-54), or in the case of Rutgers University-New Brunswick, with contact information for the Rutgers Office for Violence Prevention and Victim Assistance. The information shall be posted in high-traffic and clearly visible public areas that are readily accessible to and widely used by students, and in each dormitory.
c. No later than 15 days following the beginning of each semester, an institution of higher education shall transmit to each student via electronic mail the contact information for the hotline established pursuant to subsection a. of this section.
2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall first apply to the first full academic year beginning after the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill requires each institution of higher education to establish and maintain a toll-free telephone hotline for victims of campus sexual assault to call with inquiries concerning the information and services available to victims of campus sexual assault. The hotline must be available to students and staff 24 hours a day, seven days a week and be staffed by individuals with training in counseling survivors of campus sexual assault. Under the bill, these individuals will provide all callers with the contact information for the Sexual Assault Response Team of the county in the which the institution is located, or in the case of Rutgers University-New Brunswick, with contact information for the Rutgers Office for Violence Prevention and Victim Assistance.
The bill also directs each institution to prominently display information about the hotline in appropriate locations throughout each of its campuses. The information must be posted in high-traffic and clearly visible public areas that are readily accessible to and widely used by students and in each dormitory. Finally, the bill requires each institution to transmit to each student via electronic mail the contact information for the hotline no later than 15 days following the beginning of each semester.
