The University of California’s Sexual Assault Crisis

Sexual Assault Awareness Month is coming to a close, but the fight to end sexual harassment and assault in schools and workplaces is far from over. At ERA, we know from decades of experience representing survivors that gender discrimination and sexual violence remain an all-too-common part of women’s life experiences. In fact, with studies estimating that 1 in 4 women are sexually assaulted by the time they graduate college, it is no exaggeration to say we are facing a national epidemic.

Lately, this epidemic has hit especially close to home. As an organization founded in 1974 by graduates of UC Berkeley’s School of Law (Boalt Hall), we have been particularly concerned, though not entirely surprised, by recent events and revelations about sexual harassment on the Berkeley campus. While the problem is certainly not new or unique to UC Berkeley, the lives of many within our organization, including current and former ERA staff, clients, interns, and organizational leaders, have been affected by how women are treated at Cal, and what the university does—or doesn’t do—to make things better.

Members of ERA’s legal team participated in sexual harassment teach-ins for students and staff at UC Berkeley.

That is why ERA is joining with alumni, students, faculty, and labor organizations in calling on the leaders of UC Berkeley and the entire UC system to take strong action now to ensure that all students, faculty, and staff have equal access to the educational and employment opportunities that UC has to offer. We are proud to be working with the post-doctoral fellow union UAW Local 5810 to hold in-person trainings for students and lower-level staff on the subject of sexual harassment.

We applaud UC President Janet Napolitano for taking proactive steps to change the status quo at UC Berkeley and throughout the UC system, and adopt new, better policies. A key to determining if proposed policies are effective is ensuring that women’s advocates and survivor advocates actually have a place in discussions of the policies, a vehicle for sharing ideas with decision-makers, and opportunities to share their opinions on the policies with the public.

Any new policies adopted should be accompanied by a robust training program for students, faculty, and staff; these programs must include informing individuals of their rights under the law. The policies on reporting allegations of sexual harassment or violence must clear a path to safe reporting for everyone; the steps toward resolution must also be transparent, so that survivors know what to expect. Finally, the UC must also be transparent in reporting, publicly, data on the number of complaints, resolutions, and the types of discipline administered, so that the schools can be accountable to their communities.

The University of California belongs to all of us. As proud but concerned members of this community, we will be closely monitoring how those in power correct this cultural problem that has real-life economic and personal impact on survivors. We must all work together to ensure that no one, including victims of sexual harassment and violence, has their rights violated at school or at work. More importantly, we must ensure that everyone feels safe enough to seize the opportunities that our institutions so proudly advertise they make possible. California’s respected public schools must lead the way.