Leveraging Data to Strengthen Campus Sexual Assault Policies

The U.S. Department of Education recently announced that existing legislation and guidance on campus sexual assault (CSA) policies had created a failed system in institutions of higher education. This announcement raises the question of how CSA legislation and guidance should be evaluated and applied in practice. We believe researchers are well situated to not only leverage data and empirically evaluate the success (or failure) of CSA federal and university policies but also to facilitate development of improved, more effective CSA policy. This commentary first chronicles the pivotal role of federal policy and guidance in driving the collection of CSA data and increasing research efforts in this domain. Second, we present recommendations for increased collaboration among researchers, practitioners, and policy makers aimed at measuring the effectiveness of current CSA policies and promoting data-driven policy. These recommendations focus on (a) establishing a CSA data repository, (b) analyzing existing CSA data to gain knowledge and identify opportunities for improved data collection, and (c) translating and disseminating CSA research to help bridge gaps between research, practice, and policy.