A White House task force on Tuesday announced proposals that will put pressure on universities and colleges to improve their handling of sexual assaults on campus.

Federal officials launched notalone.gov, a website to support victims of such assaults, better equip those who believe their schools are not meeting their obligations to protect them and offer greater transparency.

A 20-page report, published on Tuesday, recommends that schools identify trained, confidential victims advocates and conduct surveys to tackle the under-reporting of sexual crimes committed under their jurisdiction.

The Justice Department will this year help develop training programs in trauma care for schools and will assess different models for investigating and adjudicating such cases.

The task force found that one in five college students had been assaulted, but that the crime was “chronically underreported”.

It stressed the importance of engaging men as allies in the fight against sexual assault on campus and addressed two of key issues facing survivors – the blaming of victims and the definition of rape or sexual assault. Despite finding that one in five college students have been sexually assaulted, only 13% of rape survivors report such crimes to college campuses of local law enforcement.

That proportion falls to 2% of sexual assault survivors categorised as “incapacitated” at the time of the crime, often when drugs or alcohol was involved. In the vast majority of cases (75%-80%), the attacker is known to the victim, research has found.

“If she doesn't consent – or can't consent – it's a crime,” the report said.

The task force, which was launched by President Barack Obama in January, is providing a checklist for colleges and universities to use when drafting sexual-assault policies, including ideas that they should use when considering what is and isn't a crime.

“Prevention and education programmes vary widely, with many doing neither well,” the task force said. “And in all too many instances survivors of sexual violence are not at the heart of an institution’s response: they often do not have a safe, confidential place to turn to after an assault, they haven’t been told how the system works and they often believe it is working against them."

“We heard from many who reached out for help or action, but were told they should just put the matter behind them.”

The recommendations follow a 90-day review of the issue that included dozens of in-person and online meetings with survivors, student activists and higher-education representatives. The task force, which followed a 2011 national effort to address sexual assault in campuses, after an outcry by college sexual assault survivors and advocates over the handling of their complaints, included Arne Duncan, the educations secretary, and Eric Holder, the attorney general.

Scott Berkowitz, founder and president of Rape Abuse and Incest National Network, said he hoped colleges would take the recommendations seriously and respond quickly.

"Now the issue becomes: how will colleges respond?" said Berkowitz. "The value of the report is in its ability to drive concrete change and action within higher education community.

"Colleges and universities are now aware that the White House and the Department of Education are playing close attention. It's up to them to respond and act."

Although many campuses have made improvements the problem remains and 51 campuses are currently under investigation by the Department of Education's office for civil rights, under Title IX, a 1972 law that prohibits gender discrimination at schools with federal funding. The law allows the department to withhold funding from a school that does not comply, although that power has so far not been used.

Also on Tuesday, the Department of Education's office for civil rights issued a 52-page guidance document that answers questions about students' rights and a school's duty to protect them, under Title IX.

The document clarifies that recent amendments to the Clery Act, a law that requires schools to report crime statistics annually, do not alter a institution's responsibility to respond to and prevent sexual violence.