This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

In 2016 Madi Barney spoke out against policies at Brigham Young University that required administrators to report sexual assault victims to the Honor Code Office. Such policies protected abusers by deterring reporting.

Last year The Salt Lake Tribune was contacted by more than 50 people who were sexually assaulted while attending BYU. Of those, 12 said the Honor Code Office investigated or punished them after reporting.

BYU has finally recognized its foolishness and changed these shameful policies. Rather than hauling a young woman into a bishop's office to repent for being assaulted, BYU is recognizing that maybe it really isn't her fault.

Last Friday, BYU announced a policy change that will protect victims of sexual assault by giving amnesty to victims and witnesses who report such incidents. Reports will be kept strictly confidential. BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins assures that under the new policy, "No information will ever be shared between the Honor Code Office and the Title IX Office."

In short, BYU Title IX administrators will no longer refer sexual assault victims to the Honor Code Office. Administrators will not discipline students "for any related honor code violation occurring at or near the time of the reported sexual misconduct unless a person's health or safety is at risk."

That means, for example, if a female student is assaulted in a male student's bedroom, she won't be disciplined for being in his bedroom in the first place.

In addition, BYU will now handle unrelated violations in a way that protects the student's school enrollment. For example, a violation like smoking marijuana or drinking alcohol won't add the insult of getting kicked out of school to the injury of having just been sexually assaulted.

Sexual predators at BYU have long been using the honor code rules to scare women into not reporting assaults. Honor code violations have serious implications, including loss of housing, exclusion from extracurricular activities and even expulsion from school or church membership.

BYU hopes the new policy "strongly encourages the reporting of all incidents of sexual misconduct so that support services can be offered to victims of and Sexual Misconduct can be prevented and stopped."

That is the ultimate goal – to stop sexual assaults. And while BYU isn't the only university across the nation needing to revamp its sexual assault policies, it is unique with regard to the religious stigma associated with such assaults and with its strict honor code rules.

The new policy is a good first step to eliminating sexual assault on campus, and students can thank Madi Barney for her courage and persistence in representing victims' rights.