The University of Virginia is reviewing and revising its sexual misconduct policy to incorporate broader definitions of what constitutes sexual misconduct and expand the geographic limits of its enforcement powers. The revised policy, open for public comment through May 20, will be brought to UVA President Teresa Sulivan for approval, and is expected to be implemented by July 1.
The revised policy expands the category of sexual misconduct to explicitly include sexual exploitation and harassment, as well as non-consensual sexual contact and intercourse. It also expands definitions for "incapacitation" and "effective consent," and states that the latter cannot occur in the case of the former.
Under the revised policy, UVA also expands its jurisdiction to allow any person to file a sexual misconduct allegation against a current UVA student, no matter the location of the alleged act. However, the policy notes that misconduct that occurred far from the University "may be more difficult to investigate."
UVA last revised its sexual misconduct policy in 2005. The current effort, headed by Vice President and Chief Student Affairs Officer Patricia Lampkin, began in December.
“The commitment from those in our own community, combined with the expertise of those for whom this is a critically important issue, has resulted in what we believe is best-practice policy,” said Lampkin in a news release. “We envision the revised policy fully and fairly supporting those students who are in any way involved with sexual misconduct.”
For more information about the policy, click here.
