Email Share 1K Shares

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton struck an LGBT-inclusive tone on Monday in a speech against sexual assault on college campuses.

During a “Women for Hilary” event at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Clinton articulated her plan to combat sexual assault, which has become a high-profile issue for Democrats amid reports an estimated one-in-five women say they experienced it in college.

“Think of the impact on their lives.” Clinton said. “They’re trying to manage the emotional, physical — sometimes the educational — financial fallout. They miss classes, some drop out, some never finish their education. Thankfully this is an issue that is finally gaining the attention it deserves. But it is not enough to condemn campus sexual assault, we need to end campus sexual assault.”

Clinton, who vowed to build on the Obama administration’s work and ensure every campus offers support to victims, said the problem isn’t limited to straight women, pointing out sexual assault is a particular problem for transgender people.

“Although the survivors of sexual assault are predominantly women, this also happens to men,” Clinton said. “It happens to the transgender community — it happens to others as well. So no matter gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, race — services have to be there for everyone.”

According to a report last year from the Center for American Progress, evidence suggests that LGBT students face disproportionately high rates of on campus sexual harassment. The CAP report cites a 2006 study finding 44 percent of LGBT students reported experiencing sexual harassment in the form of contact compared to 31 percent of non-LGBT students.

Clinton articulated a three-point plan in her speech: Ensuring a comprehensive response to sexual assault on campus so victims can obtain essential services on campus, including counseling and health care; ensuring a fair process for those involved in campus disciplinary proceedings or the criminal justice system; and improving prevention efforts by establishing education programs at the secondary and tertiary school level.

“We need to be spreading the ideas and talking to young people — literally starting in high school — about issues like consent and bystander prevention,” Clinton said. “This is a lot bigger than a single conversation at freshman orientation or, as I heard earlier, an online program that everyone has to take that’s kind of in isolation. People have to talk about this, they have to listen to each other, they have to try to understand that this is a serious problem that can be solved.”