Sen. Ted Cruz has been at the forefront of the battle against sexual assault on college campuses.
The Republican from Texas took on efforts to fight sexual assault and date rape while he was a student at Princeton University, he told Business Insider Monday.
“When I was in student government in college, protecting student safety was a real priority, and no student should ever have to face the threat of sexual assault,” Cruz told BI. “In my own family, my aunt experienced terrible abuse in prison in Cuba, and that made protecting women from assault all the more personal.”
Cruz left Princeton in 1992 and continued his fight as Solicitor General of Texas.
“Years later, when I was the Solicitor General of Texas, I argued numerous cases where vicious criminals had sexually assaulted women or children. In all my years in law enforcement, there were no cases I was more proud of litigating,” he said.
While at Princeton, Cruz held many positions in student government to fight against sexual assault.
“One of the greatest challenges in preventing sexual assault is that far too many victims are reluctant to report; the greatest cure for that is greater awareness. I hope my efforts had at least some small impact in that regard,” Cruz told Business Insider.
Now, as senator, Cruz continues his personal battle.
He recently cosponsored a bill from Democratic New York Sen. Kristen Gillibrand making it easier to prosecute military sexual assault cases.
“It’s why I’m working hand-in-hand with Sen. Gillibrand to pass sexual assault legislation for the military, and it’s a major reason why I’ve spent so much of my career supporting law enforcement and seeking to bring criminals to justice,” Cruz said.
Cruz continues to rack up allies in political corners as he preps for a 2016 presidential run.
Among 11 potential GOP candidates, Cruz polls ninth according to a RealClearPolitics average of polls, nearly nine points behind former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
