Fighting for Campus Accountability: The Every Voice Bill
By Ray Epstein and Bella Kwok
The Every Voice Bill is survivor-led legislation that’s reshaping how colleges and universities address sexual violence. Rooted in lived experience, it builds crucial protections into state law, holding institutions accountable while centering the needs of students, not school reputations.
Across the U.S., survivors on campus are routinely dismissed, retraumatized, or punished for coming forward. The Every Voice Bill challenges this by creating legally enforceable standards for prevention, support, and transparency.
Key protections include:
Amnesty for students reporting sexual violence, so they’re not penalized for things like underage drinking or drug use in the context of an assault.
Confidential Resource Advisors (CRAs) to offer trained, trauma-informed, and confidential support to survivors navigating campus processes.
Anonymous climate surveys, conducted every two years, to track the real scope of sexual violence and help drive institutional change. Results are made public and reviewed by an independent task force.
Mandatory training for disciplinary administrators and student leaders in trauma-informed approaches, so that campus responses do not deepen harm.
Why it matters: Too often, institutions silence survivors to protect their public image. The Every Voice Bill disrupts this dynamic by codifying minimum standards that prioritize student safety, agency, and healing.
How to support:
Call or email your Pennsylvania lawmakers to express support. Personal stories make a real impact.
Sign the letter of support.
Sign up to write or present testimony as the bill advances.
Learn more and get involved here
Fighting for Campus Accountability: The Every Voice Bill
The Every Voice Bill Pennsylvania (HB 1279) is survivor-led legislation that would require all colleges and universities in Pennsylvania to adopt stronger, more transparent, and trauma-informed responses to sexual violence. Championed by students and advocates across the state, the bill sets minimum standards to protect survivors and ensure institutions don’t bury the truth or retaliate against those who speak out.
What the bill does:
Creates Confidential Resource Advisors (CRAs): Each school must provide students access to a trained, confidential advocate who can explain reporting options, provide support, and connect them with legal, medical, and counseling services.
Ensures amnesty protections: Students who report sexual violence will not be disciplined for related policy violations (e.g., underage drinking), removing a major barrier to disclosure.
Mandates campus climate surveys: Schools must conduct anonymous, standardized surveys every two years to assess the prevalence of sexual harassment and assault. Results will be public and used to inform prevention efforts.
Requires trauma-informed training: Staff handling investigations or disciplinary processes must receive annual training.
Enhances transparency and oversight: An independent task force will review data from campus surveys, assess compliance, and recommend necessary reforms.
Why it matters:
Far too often, colleges discourage reporting, mishandle cases, or protect their image over student safety. The Every Voice Bill ensures that every student in Pennsylvania, regardless of the institution, receives a baseline of care, respect, and protection.
How to help:
Contact your state representatives and urge them to pass HB 1279. Find your rep here.
Sign the letter of support.
Share your story or testify to strengthen the campaign.
Visit/contact @EveryVoicePA or @Bluraybeyond on Instagram for more tools, updates, and organizing resources.
Background & Context
The Every Voice Bill has passed in some variation in eight states across the United States. In Pennsylvania, Co-State Directors Ray Epstein and Bella Kwok are driving the efforts behind this legislation.
Ray Epstein is a recent graduate of Temple University, where she majored in Communication and Social Influence with a minor in English. She served as Student Body President, leading a 30-person administration and implementing campus-wide safety and equity initiatives. A dedicated advocate for nearly a decade, Ray began organizing around sexual violence prevention at the age of 14 and has since become one of the most visible youth voices in the field. At 14, she drafted the DC-VAN Resource List, now provided to survivors of IPV seeking support across the DC-metro area, and testified in congressional briefings. At Temple, she founded Student Activists Against Sexual Assault (SAASA), which grew to over 500 members and was recognized by both City Hall and the university as one of the most impactful student organizations on campus. SAASA won “Student Organization of the Year” twice and established partnerships with Greek life and campus safety offices to mandate peer-led bystander intervention trainings. She also successfully advocated for the inclusion of survivor-centered resources on Temple’s official website. Nationally, Ray served three terms as the inaugural LGBTQ+ Caucus Chair at It’s On Us, where she developed the organization’s first queer survivor programming and helped launch national prevention campaigns. She was named “Iconic Philly Woman” in 2024. She is also a Truman Scholar and was named a finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship.
Bella Kwok is a senior at Temple University majoring in Criminal Justice with a minor in Women’s Studies. She serves as President of Student Activists Against Sexual Assault, co-State Director of EVC PA, a board member at SafeBae working to build sexual violence prevention and survivor support programs in high schools, a Legal Intern at Philadelphia Legal Assistance, Tutoring Program Coordinator for the DREAM Program, and an Obama-Chesky Voyager Scholar. In high school, Bella founded a student organization to raise awareness about sexual violence and survivor support. She previously served as the Newsletter Editor and Chapter Outreach Coordinator at Take Back the Night Foundation, authoring newsletters on survivor support.