Gov. Kate Brown signed legislation Wednesday, prompted by consternation over the University of Oregon's release of confidential therapy records, that strengthens privacy protections for sexual-assault victims on Oregon campuses.
Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said thenew law gives Oregon one of the strongest confidentiality protections in the country, on campus and off, for people who say they've been victims of sexual assault, domestic violence and stalking. The Justice Department that she heads will train and certify victims' advocates who can advise and counsel sexual-assault survivors in complete confidence, she said.
Rosenblum said the main concern in drafting the legislation was to negate a federal Title IXclause that required victims' advocates on college campuses to report alleged sexual assaults to university officials even if students who say they've been raped don't want to launch disciplinary proceedings. Instead, the new law makes communications between alleged rape victims and their advocates "privileged," or confidential, with only a couple of narrow exceptions, including a patient's consent.
Read more at The Oregonian: http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2015/06/gov_brown_signs_legislation_ma.html