A national survey reveals that more than 40 percent of universities and colleges in the United States have not taken action about sexual assault reports in their campuses over the last five years.

U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Financial and Contracting Oversight Chairman Claire McCaskill released the survey on Wednesday stressing that the survey does not imply that respondent schools were not free of sexual violence, but are "either in denial or incompetent," she stated.

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The Senator requested that her committee conduct the report in light of the Jerry Sandusky case at Penn State which led to some college campus assault victims demanding similar consideration.

Over 200 non-profit, public and for-profit schools responded to the national survey disclosing that 2 out of five campuses have not been performing sexual violence investigations, which includes 6 percent of the country's largest public schools.

Survey results also indicate that over 70 percent of the responding institutions lack proper protocols on how to work with local authorities in response to campus sexual violence cases.

McCaskill assured the public that the survey is only the beginning of a "very aggressive and detailed effort" in response to the issue of sexual violence inside campuses adding that the senators are looking for ways to simplify laws and rules that higher education institutions are following, empower victims, and make coordination between local authorities and campuses easier.

The national survey, together with discussions held earlier this year will serve as basis for legislation the senator plans to reveal during the third quarter of 2014.

According to S. Daniel Carter, director of a campus safety group in Virginia, the presence of fewer investigations in spite of higher statistics are not surprising because earlier research shows that there are significant hindrances for sexual assault survivors to make a stand or pursue their complaints.

He also cited that the portion of the Violence Against Women Act known as the "Campus SaVE Act" presents additional requirements on how colleges should college disciplinary proceedings for sexual assault cases.

On the other hand, general counsel for the American Council on Education Ada Meloy explains that though higher education institutions want to act on said cases with the local law enforcement, working out a viable coordination procedure tend to take a lot of time.

Meloy also claimed that the survey did not consider that schools are not properly equipped to hear such cases and issuing disciplinary procedures while upholding the perpetrators' rights.

TagsSen. Claire McCaskill, US, colleges and universities, sexual assault, Violence Against Women Act