Bonamici Pushes For Increased Safety On College Campuses

Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici was at Portland Community College Thursday to push for improved safety on college campuses.

The privacy of students who get care at university health clinics came into doubt last year, after the records of a woman who said she was raped at the University of Oregon were accessed by the school in the course of defending itself against a lawsuit.

The Oregon Legislature has closed the legal loophole, but Bonamici appeared at PCC to say she’d like it closed nationally.

“Our goal is to make sure that survivors who go to campus counseling centers or health centers have the privacy that they deserve," she said. "We want everyone to feel safe going to get the services, whether they be health care or counseling.”

Bonamici said federal laws currently encourage colleges to under-report sexual assaults.

A bill Bonamici’s working on would ensure minimum training, create new transparency requirements and require colleges have a uniform discipline process.