N.H. college students push for sexual assault law
Gov. Chris Sununu signs HB 705 - that increases protections for sexual assault victims on college campuses - into law, while Sen. Jeb Bradley and Rep. Katherine Prudhomme-O Brien watch on July 20, 2020. NH State House Courtesy photo
Gov. Chris Sununu (center) poses with Sen. Jeb Bradley, Rep. Katherine Prudhomme-O Brien, former Concord student Ana Goble and Pamela Keilig, from the NH Coalition for Domestic and Sexual Violence after signing HB 705, legislation that increases protections for sexual assault victims on college campuses, into law on July 20, 2020. NH State House Courtesy photo
Dartmouth College first-year David Millman testifies before the senate judiciary committee in Concord, New Hampshire on Feb. 20, 2020. David Millman Courtesy photo
Students drove their state to pass new campus sexual assault law usatoday.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from usatoday.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
UPDATED: Feb. 26, 2021 at 8:40 p.m.
A bill spearheaded by student organizers, including Harvard alumni, to establish protections for survivors of sexual harassment at colleges and universities in Massachusetts beyond existing provisions in Title IX was signed into law by Governor Charlie D. Baker â79 last month.
By the time it passed, the bill boasted 160 co-sponsors in the Massachusetts State House, including lead sponsors State Senators Michael O. Moore and William N. Brownsberger â78, and State Reps. Lori A. Ehrlich and Tricia Farley-Bouvier, all Democrats. It was originally co-drafted and filed six years ago by student organizers, including then-Harvard student John B. Gabrieli â16.
February 1, 2021
Sometimes change doesn’t begin in the walls of the State House; sometimes it begins in a basement.
For John Gabrieli, executive director of Every Voice Coalition, an organization focused on not only stopping sexual violence on college campuses but also helping survivors access the resources they need, this is a familiar scenario.
Back in 2014, Gabrieli was a sophomore at Harvard when he and a group of fellow students spoke with state Sen. William Brownsberger, who believed that any legislation focused on addressing campus sexual violence should include input from students and survivors.
Since then, Gabrieli and others who joined what became Every Voice have fought both inside and outside the State House to get a bill passed, and just a few weeks ago they succeeded after years of advocacy, testimony before lawmakers, and rallies.
State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier first began working with students to advance campus sexual assault legislation after touring colleges with her daughter, then a high school junior, in 2013.
Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, recalled learning at the time that an estimated one in five women experience sexual assault while in college, most of them in their first two years.
The legislation, which seeks to curb such violence on Massachusettsâ college campuses, was first advocated for and written by college students and survivors in 2014. On Tuesday, Gov. Charlie Baker signed it into law.
âMy daughter has long since graduated from high school and graduated from college ⦠but it is my hope that other peopleâs daughters can benefit from this bill,â Farley-Bouvier said, praising studentsâ advocacy.