By Jarred Meeks
Indiana State Sen. J.D. Ford has authored legislation that would require colleges to print information on the back of student IDs informing them of sexual assault services.
Senate bill 252, which is in committee and has yet to be voted on, would require approved postsecondary educational institutions that receive financial aid administered by the commission for higher education and issues a student identification card to include information regarding sexual violence services.
The bill, if passed, would also require student IDs include the name and website for the live chat service of the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network and the number for the national sexual assault telephone hotline.
“We know that 1 in 5 women is sexually assaulted on our college campuses,” Ford, a Democrat who represents District 32, which encompasses Zionsville, said at a recent legislative talk at Conner Prairie in Fishers.
According to 2015 Association of American Universities report, 11.2 percent of all college students are raped or sexually assaulted through physical force, violence or incapacitation.
“The resource that college students have in their pocket is their student IDs,” Ford said. “So, I’d like to have information printed on the back of that, so they’d know exactly who to call if they are experiencing a crisis or are a survivor of sexual trauma.”
The bill is sponsored by Sen. Mark Stoops, a Democrat who represents District 40.
