Five Actions Schools Can Take to Keep Students Safe from Sexual Assault

By Elizabeth Zeigler
2 min read

Every school can begin to make changes to ensure the safety of all students. Here are five actions schools can take now.

1. Educate faculty and staff on the prevalence of sexual violence among middle and high school students. Faculty and staff routinely are stunned when they hear the data.  Every 68 seconds, an American is assaulted; every nine minutes, that victim is a child. One in four women and one in six men have experienced some form of sexual violence before college. By the time students finish their education, 81% have experienced some form of sexual harrassment. It is critical that faculty and staff understand and acknowledge this as a widespread problem.  

2. Conduct a review of internal policies and procedures as they relate to sexual assault and prevention. Policies and procedures should be clear and established before something bad happens. Policies are designed to protect individuals – students and educators – and provide clarity on how students and educators can prevent and should respond to incidents.  Central to the policies should be a Code of Conduct for every person who comes in contact with students – this includes all educators and administrators working within the school as well as school visitors and field trip leaders.  

3. Clearly communicate all policies and procedures to students, faculty, and staff. Policies and procedures should be communicated and accessible to all members of the school community. These documents will help students and parents understand how incidents are addressed and the process of bringing closure. Additionally, students and parents have a right to see annual reports on the number of reported assaults, how many reports were denied, the length of investigations, and disciplinary actions or sanctions. 

4. Educate all faculty, staff, and counselors on their role as mandatory reporters. These school leaders are considered mandatory reporters of abuse which means that they have a legal obligation (in addition to a moral obligation) to help protect students. All faculty, staff, and counselors should be trained on what it means to be a mandatory reporter and be fully aware of the policies and procedures to report.  

5. Include programming about healthy relationships and consent for students.  Healthy communication and relationships are central to our existence within and support of the human race.  These topics should be addressed at school as part of a holistic approach to developing individuals. This type of programming does not have to be part of a health or sex education class. In fact, we believe that this type of education stands on its own.  

I Have The Right To works with schools in order to raise awareness, develop policies and procedures, and train students, parents, teachers, counselors and school administrators.  Regardless of your affiliation with your school, we can help strengthen your schools programming.  Contact us today at takeaction@ihavetherightto.org to learn how.