Legislative Sexual Assault Incentives

A recent article here (http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/07/30/sexual-assault-campus-mccaskill-colleges-universities/13328939/) talks about how the US senate cooperated (gasp!) and passed a bill to deter sexual assault on campuses. My initial reaction to the headline was a deep groan; similar to hate crimes and gun laws, that is making laws that are already in place, but with a "very, very, very bad" in front of it. I was pleasantly surprised that the law targeted the universities themselves. They are required to publicly post surveys and reports of sexual assault on campuses. More information makes markets efficient, so I am happy with that, no university wants to report this unless they have nothing to report. This forces a coordination by all schools.

Then, the bill states that if universities don't follow certain procedures (and probably safety requirements like lighting) then they could lose certain federal funding. This could be a slippery slope, for example, where the senate could require universities to limit faculty salaries to minimum wage or lose federal funding. But there is a clear market failure here, and they admit that they are changing the incentives. Rather than focus on the punishment to the assaulter, which is already high, increase the cost to the university. That ensures that it will find it worthwhile to implement preventative measures. What might those be? Indiana University already has lighted pathways, established procedures for victims to come forward, etc. But now, they would like to do more. Most assaults occur at night, so a curfew could be put in place, but that is rather restrictive. But requiring females to have an escort after a certain time would be more reasonable. Maybe even have a fine. It is unfortunate that there are those who assault, creating fear and pain. But incentivizing more responsible behavior is better for everyone. It is easier to say, "I don't want to go out alone because I will certainly get fined" versus "I don't want to go out alone because I may get assaulted, but that is rare."

I was happy to see this view echoed by PBS here.