Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 19, 2024
Press Contact: Eleanor Naiman, eleanor.naiman@advocatesforyouth.org

Students, Survivors React to Title IX Update

Today, the U.S. Department of Education released its long-awaited update to the regulations guiding how schools interpret and enforce Title IX. 

In response, Emma Grasso Levine, Senior Manager of Title IX Policy and Programs at Know Your IX (a survivor- and youth-led project of Advocates for Youth), issued the following statement:

“After years of pressure from students and survivors of sexual violence, the Biden Administration’s Title IX update will make schools safer and more accessible for young people, many of whom experienced irreparable harm while they fought for protection and support. 

Young people and their allies applaud the Biden Administration for finally following through on their promise to release updated Title IX regulations. This new guidance takes a crucial step towards ensuring every young person has access to an education free from gender violence and discrimination. Now, it’s up to school administrators to act quickly to implement and enforce the updated guidance. Student survivors of sexual violence, LGBTQ+ students, and pregnant and parenting students cannot afford to suffer any longer under policies that jeopardize their right to an education.”

Student organizers with Know Your IX, a project of Advocates for Youth, also shared reactions:

“Students who experience sexual violence or discrimination shouldn’t have to weigh our safety against our ability to go to class or participate in campus life,” said Emily Bach, a college student in New York. “The Biden Administration’s updated Title IX rule will make sure that students who experience harm can come forward and seek support without jeopardizing our ability to graduate on time or get a degree.”

“High school students like me are too often left out of the conversation around Title IX even though we need support the most,” said Ravina Nath, a high school student in California. “Today’s Title IX update will make it easier for school districts across the country to step up and protect students from gender violence at K-12 schools like mine.”

Youth organizers and advocates are available for interviews to discuss the updated Title IX regulations and what they mean for students across the country.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 3, 2024

Press Contact: To speak with a Title IX or student organizer, contact eleanor.naiman@advocatesforyouth.org

Know Your IX, Advocates for Youth: Updated Title IX Rule Advances to OMB

Yesterday, the Department of Education sent its long-awaited Title IX update to the Office of Management and Budget for final review. In his 2020 Presidential campaign, President Biden has promised to revise Trump-era guidance that rolled back civil rights protections for survivors and LGBTQ+ students.

In response, Emma Grasso Levine, Senior Manager of Title IX Policy and Programs at Know Your IX (a survivor- and youth-led project from Advocates for Youth), issued the following statement:

“Know Your IX and Advocates for Youth applaud the Biden administration for taking the next step towards a Title IX rule with strengthened protections for survivors of sexual violence, LGBTQ+ students and pregnant and parenting students. The updated guidance is the result of years of advocacy from students, many of whom experienced harm and disruption to their education because of bureaucratic delays and inaction to finalize new Title IX rules.

While today is an important milestone in the fight for comprehensive Title IX protections, the Department of Education must also finalize its guidance safeguarding transgender students’ access to athletics. Equal access to sports is central to Title IX’s purpose: protecting all students from gender discrimination.

The Biden Administration must act quickly to ensure both rules take effect as soon as possible. Survivors of sexual violence, LGBTQ+ students, and pregnant and parenting students cannot afford to spend any longer under policies that jeopardize their right to an education.”

Youth organizers and advocates are available for interviews to discuss the impact of yesterday’s delay and the need for updated protections.

 

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 9, 2023

Press Contact: To speak with a Title IX or student organizer, contact knowyourix@advocatesforyouth.org or isabella.rodriguez@berlinrosen.com

NWLC, KYIX, Harvard Law, Vanderbilt Law Release First Guide Authored by and for Survivors on Defamation Lawsuits and Other Retaliation

(Washington, D.C.) Today, the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), Know Your IX (KYIX), Advocates for Youth, Harvard Law’s Cyberlaw Clinic, and Vanderbilt Law’s First Amendment Clinic, released Survivors Speaking Out, a new resource by and for survivors of sex-based harassment, including sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking. In recent years, victims of sex-based harassment have increasingly faced retaliation, including in the form of defamation lawsuits. This toolkit responds to this harmful trend by equipping those who speak out (or are thinking about it) with what they need to know about threats of retaliation. It will help survivors who have experienced sex-based harassment at school or at work understand their rights, risks, and options so they can make an informed decision about whether to speak out and, if so, how to protect themselves from harm.

The toolkit addresses different ways of speaking out, and how to respond to different types of retaliation, including being sued for defamation. It answers questions including: Is it possible to remain anonymous? How can I stay safe while speaking out? Can speaking out affect my education or job? Where can I find a lawyer? What should I do if I receive a cease-and-desist letter? Does my state have protections against retaliatory defamation lawsuits?

“More than ever, it’s crucial that student survivors are aware of their rights, potential risks, and options when speaking out,” said Emma Grasso Levine, co-author and Title IX Policy and Program Manager at Know Your IX, Advocates for Youth. “At Know Your IX, we are troubled by the increasing use of defamation cases to silence survivors in K-12 schools and higher education institutions nationwide. According to our report, The Cost of Reporting, 23% of student survivors are threatened with defamation suits by their abusers, creating a chilling effect on survivors’ ability to safely share their stories. Our hope is that this toolkit will empower survivors to make informed, autonomous decisions about when and how to speak out.” 

“For many student survivors, the decision to share your story is deeply personal. The power of speaking out and owning your truth can be both empowering and healing, but it can also come with certain risks and consequences,” said Dharma Koffer, co-author and Know Your IX Policy Organizer. “This toolkit contains answers to many of the questions that I wish I had known before speaking out. My hope is that this resource helps cultivate a world where we are able to safely share our truths – without fear of retaliation or a culture of silencing survivors.” 

“From celebrities like Amber Heard to ordinary people who have experienced sex-based harassment, retaliatory defamation lawsuits have become all too common ways to silence, invalidate, or punish those speaking out about harm and abuse,” said Elizabeth Tang, lead author and senior counsel for education and workplace justice at NWLC. “Abusers have created an environment so hostile to survivors that it can be extremely difficult to decide whether to speak out at all. But telling our story can be a critical tool for healing, reclaiming power, and protecting our communities. We hope this toolkit builds collective knowledge, confidence, and strength for survivors.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 20, 2023

Press Contact: To speak with a Title IX or student organizer, contact knowyourix@advocatesforyouth.org or isabella.rodriguez@berlinrosen.com

House of Representatives Passes Discriminatory Federal Sports Ban Against Transgender Women and Girls

Know Your IX and Advocates for Youth are infuriated by this week’s passage of the so-called “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2023.” This harmful and discriminatory federal bill undeniably perpetuates sex-based discrimination in education and violates Title IX by creating a blanket ban to prevent transgender women and girls from playing on sports teams consistent with their gender identity.

“H.R. 734 is a dangerous and gross misinterpretation of the vision of Title IX, and is nothing more than an attempt to codify discrimination against transgender students,” said Know Your IX Policy Organizer Zoey Brewer. “Transphobic lawmakers champion H.R. 734 as a means of achieving ‘gender equity,’ but continue to ignore the very real risk of sexual violence that students — and especially transgender students — face in their schools and athletics programs.”

As long-time advocates for gender equity in education, we seek to actualize Title IX’s mandate that all students — including transgender, nonbinary, and intersex students — must be able to access the benefits of an education free from sex discrimination, including athletics. Gender justice in sports cannot exist without trans inclusion in sports. Young people deserve to feel supported and thrive in school.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 7, 2023

Press Contact: To speak with a Title IX or student survivor organizer, contact knowyourix@advocatesforyouth.org or isabella.rodriguez@berlinrosen.com

Biden Administration Releases Proposed Rules for Title IX Athletics 

After over a year of persistent advocacy from student organizers and advocates, the Biden Administration’s Department of Education has finally released proposed Title IX rules addressing transgender students’ participation in athletics. While we are encouraged to see that the Biden administration’s proposed Title IX athletics proposed rule disallows any complete, blanket bans on transgender students’ participation in sports, the rule does not go far enough to provide crucial protections to transgender student athletes. We are disappointed to see that this regulation provides schools with the option to create their own policies that could potentially ban transgender students from participating in athletics in certain situations. 

Title IX’s mandate is that all students – including transgender, nonbinary, and intersex students – must be able to access the benefits of an education free from sex-based and gender-based discrimination, including athletics. This is essential to achieve gender equity in education and ensure all students feel supported and can thrive in school. The Biden Administration has previously sent strong messages affirming that transgender youth belong in schools, in sports, and in our civil rights protections, and must keep their promise to protect transgender students.

We are witnessing a wave of legislative attacks on transgender young people nationwide, including an upcoming vote on H.R. 734 – a federal bill that seeks to prevent transgender women and girls from playing on sports teams consistent with their gender identity under the pretext of protecting women and girls in sports. Advocates and allies of transgender students remain focused on addressing the inequitable treatment of women’s and girls’ sports teams compared to men’s and boys’ teams, as well as the crisis of sexual abuse that student athletes of all genders and ages continue to face. The inclusion of transgender people will not result in the elimination of opportunities for cisgender people. It has never done so and will not now.

“It is crucial that the final version of this Title IX regulation goes much further to eliminate discriminatory practices in schools against transgender, intersex, and nonbinary students and their ability to participate in school athletics,” said Emma Grasso Levine, Title IX Policy and Program Manager of Know Your IX, a project of Advocates for Youth. “In alignment with Title IX’s promise, it is the responsibility of the Biden administration to eliminate all transphobic, discriminatory barriers that are currently taking root in school policies.”

During the proposed rule’s 30-day public comment period, Know Your IX youth activists look forward to submitting comments that center the needs of transgender students.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, April 5, 2023

Press Contact: To speak with a Title IX or student survivor organizer, contact: knowyourix@advocatesforyouth.org

More Than 120 Sexual Assault Survivor Advocacy Organizations Call on Biden Administration to Finalize Title IX Rules by May 

As Sexual Assault Awareness Month begins, gender equity and survivor advocacy organizations urge the Biden Administration to keep its promise to finalize Title IX regulations.

WASHINGTON, DC – This week, a collective of 124 organizations focused on gender justice and survivor advocacy released a letter addressed to President Biden calling on the administration to fulfill its promise to finalize their 2022 proposed Title IX regulations by May. Organizations joining the #EDActNow campaign include Advocates for Youth, End Rape On Campus, Equal Rights Advocates, Girls Inc , It’s On Us, Know Your IX , National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, National Women’s Law Center and The Every Voice Coalition.

All students deserve an education free from gender-based violence and discrimination. In 2021, the #EDActNow campaign demanded action on Title IX, delivering a petition with more than 50,000 signatures calling for increased campus safety and student survivors’ rights. For the 50th anniversary of Title IX in 2022, the #EDActNow campaign pushed for the Biden administration’s updated proposed Title IX rule. The proposed regulations released last year were an important step toward realizing Title IX’s full potential, but the Department of Education must take action to finalize these regulations to enact meaningful change across campuses. 

Currently, nearly 40% of survivors who report violence or harassment to their schools are pushed out of education and the Department must act now to undo the Trump administration’s 2020 regulations, which continue to have devastating impacts on student survivors seeking support and resources after facing discrimination and violence. 

“It cannot be overstated how crucial it is that the Biden administration keep their promise
to students to finalize their proposed Title IX rule by this May,” said Emma Grasso Levine, Title IX Policy and Program Manager of Know Your IX, a project of Advocates for Youth. “If the Biden administration fails to interrupt the harm of the Trump administration’s 2020 Title IX rule, this would mean another school year of K-12 and college students suffering, left without support, and having to take on the burden to lead change in their schools to bolster student survivors’ rights and access to resources.”

“We as advocates are continuing to see student survivors experience punishment, retaliation, and forced leaves of absence, transfer schools or drop out entirely due to the 2020 Title IX regulations, which give schools permission to shirk their responsibility to protect students,” the letter states. “Students will continue to suffer under the harms of the Trump administration’s Title IX rules until the Biden administration intervenes.” 

As scheduled in the Fall 2022 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, the Department of Education promised it would finalize the updated rules implementing Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 by May 2023. If the administration does not act now to keep its promise and finalize these guidelines on time, institutions will not have enough time to implement the changes in the upcoming 2023-2024 school year.  

The full letter can be found HERE. Click here to view quotes from some of the organizations’ leaders. 

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 1st, 2022

Press Contact: To speak with a Title IX or student survivor organizer, contact: knowyourix@advocatesforyouth.org or isabella.rodriguez@berlinrosen.com 

STUDENTS AND SURVIVORS SUPPORT THE SAFER ACT’S CIVIL RIGHTS PROTECTIONS

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today marks the introduction of the Students Access to Freedom and Educational Rights (SAFER) Act, championed by Senator Bob Casey and Senator Mazie Hirono in the Senate, and Representative Jahana Hayes, Representative Debbie Dingell, and Representative Deborah Ross in the House. This comprehensive civil rights bill would codify key protections for young people who are experiencing gender-based discrimination, harassment, and violence in schools. 

Know Your IX – Advocates for Youth’s survivor and youth-led project empowering students to end gender- based violence in schools – has championed this groundbreaking legislation alongside the National Women’s Law Center, with nearly 80 other civil rights and survivor advocacy organizations endorsing the bill. 

Student survivors are in dire need of the SAFER Act, which requires that supportive measures and remedies are provided to students experiencing sex-based discrimination, that Title IX coordinators are provided with robust training, and that schools are held accountable for failures to address violence.

“At Know Your IX, we continue to see discrimination, retaliation, failures and delays in schools’ responses to harassment, and harmful stereotypes interfere with student survivors’ access to their civil rights and a safe educational environment. The status quo is not working for students — especially BIPOC survivors, LGBTQI+ survivors, and survivors with disabilities,” said Emma Grasso Levine, Title IX Policy and Program Manager at Advocates for Youth. “The SAFER Act provides crucial protections for survivors and strengthens students’ right to an education free from discrimination and violence.” 

Know Your IX Policy Organizer and student Zoey Brewer spoke to the need for federal legislation to intervene in educational discrimination: “While student survivors suffer the effects of discrimination, inequity, and retaliation after experiencing violence, schools are failing to act in the best interest of students. Schools’ delays in responding to violence result in student survivors being pushed out of school, forced to take a leave of absence, transfer, or withdraw entirely. Students’ livelihood and education are on the line, and intervention is desperately needed. Survivors deserve an education free from violence, and the SAFER Act enshrines the very protections and support necessary for students to thrive in their schools.” 

Know Your IX urges members of Congress to support the SAFER Act, ensuring a more equitable future for all students’ and their access to a safe learning environment.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 23, 2022

Press Contact: To speak to a Title IX or student survivor organizer, contact: isabella.rodriguez@berlinrosen.com or knowyourix@advocatesforyouth.org

STUDENT SURVIVOR ORGANIZERS COMMENT ON THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S PROPOSED CHANGES TO TITLE IX

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, following over a year of organizing by student survivors to undo Betsy DeVos’ anti-survivor Title IX rule, the Biden administration released their proposed changes to Title IX. The proposed rule would provide much needed changes for student survivors, including requiring schools to respond to all complaints of gender violence – regardless of where the violence occurs – as well as complaints of sexual violence that have the potential to threaten students’ ability to participate in their education. The proposed changes also provide students with protections against retaliation after reporting discrimination, as well as LGBTQ students, and pregnant and parenting students.

Currently, nearly 40% of survivors who report to their school are pushed out of education. The 2020 Title IX regulation has had devastating impacts on student survivors, and was written with the help of men’s rights activists, who sought to make it harder for schools to hold abusers accountable. 

Emma Grasso Levine, Manager of Know Your IX – a survivor and youth-led project of Advocates for Youth that aims to empower students to end sexual and dating violence in their schools spoke about the importance of the changes to Title IX: “We are glad to see that so many of the changes that student survivors, organizers, and survivor advocates have pushed for are included in the proposed regulations. We will continue to uplift student survivors’ experiences and advocate for regulations that meet student survivors’ needs as the Biden administration finalizes their Title IX rule.”

Grasso Levine added, “On the 50th anniversary of Title IX, Title IX’s potential has yet to be fully realized, and the Biden administration releasing their proposed changes is a crucial step towards reaching that potential. We are continuing to see student survivors experience punishment, retaliation, and be pushed out of school due to the anti-survivor 2020 regulations, which give schools permission to shirk their responsibility to protect students. It cannot be overstated how much student survivors need these Title IX rule changes to ensure fair grievance processes, and guarantee that survivors’ education is not further interrupted by the impacts of sexual violence.”

Dharma Koffer, Know Your IX Policy Organizer, spoke to the positive impact this rule will have on student survivors: “Student survivors have been organizing to shift the narrative around Title IX and ensure no student is denied their right to an education free from violence. These changes are urgently needed and mark an important step towards restoring vital protections for students. They strengthen protections for LGBTQI+ students by protecting from discrimination based on sex stereotypes, characteristics, sexual orientation, and gender identity. And they expand protections for students and employees who are pregnant or have pregnancy-related conditions.”

Students and advocates will now have 60 days to review the proposed rule and submit comments to the Department of Education (ED) providing feedback on which parts of the rule will give student survivors the support they need, and what changes ED must make to ensure no student is unfairly treated or punished for having experienced gender-based violence. 

Know Your IX is currently reviewing ED’s draft rule and will be facilitating listening sessions with students to ensure that their experiences and needs are centered during the notice and comment process. Following these listening sessions, Know Your IX will draft a collective comment that will be signed by student survivors and submitted to the ED to share feedback on the proposed rule and what additional changes students would like to see.

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Survivors Outraged ED Will Not Release Proposed Changes on DeVos’ Regulation Until April 2022

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 10, 2021

Contact: info@knowyourix.org

This afternoon, after nearly a year of student survivors demanding action, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) released the Biden Administration’s timeline for amending the Trump Administration’s anti-survivor Title IX regulation. Student survivors will not see a proposed Title IX rule until April 2022.

It’s unacceptable that ED won’t begin the long process of undoing DeVos’ attack on student survivors until 2022. Student survivors cannot wait any longer for a regulation that will protect them from sexual violence. 

We are still demanding the Department of Education take immediate action to support students NOW by issuing a Non-Enforcement Directive on portions of DeVos’ Title IX rule, indicating that, while we wait for a new rule, the Department will not enforce the sections of DeVos’ Title IX rule that (among other things):  

• Forbid schools from following state or local laws addressing sexual violence in education that provide greater protections for student survivors if they conflict with DeVos’ Title IX rule 
• Force survivors into unfair and hostile investigations and hearings which only apply to victims of sexual violence, but not to other forms of campus misconduct and violence
• Require schools to dismiss Title IX complaints based on the location of the harassment, because the complainant has not suffered enough, or because the complainant was already pushed out by the sexual harassment/violence.

Additionally, ED must ensure that survivors can file complaints when their rights are violated. In 2018, DeVos’s ED altered the case processing manual to limit the number of students who could seek help from the Office for Civil Rights. Currently, students have only 180 days from the FIRST instance of alleged discrimination to file a complaint. Instead, complainants should be allowed to file within 180 days from the most recent instance of discrimination instead of from the first instance.

Unfortunately, it’s not enough for the government to just fix the Title IX rule. Student survivors need ED to hold schools accountable for violating the law and increase students’ access to filing complaints with ED’s OCR. We are seeing a disturbing trend of schools violating the existing, harmful regulations by suspending students when they report, pushing survivors out of school. ED needs to hold these schools accountable.

While we wait for OIRA to review the proposed Title IX rule and anticipate the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking coming this spring, student and survivor organizers will continue to organize on their campuses to push the Department of Education to take action to protect students, and hold their schools accountable in providing them with the support and resources they need to stay safe.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 21, 2020

Contact: info@knowyourix.org

KNOW YOUR IX LAWSUIT DISMISSED 

WASHINGTON, D.C.–Last night, the court granted the Trump administration’s request to deny survivors our day in court and dismissed our lawsuit on standing against Betsy DeVos. We disagree with this decision and are working with counsel to discuss the best next steps––but want to make it clear that this is not a ruling on the legality of the rule. Betsy DeVos’ Title IX rule is still clearly biased against student survivors and will wrongly deny students access to their right to an education free from violence.

The fight in court is just one piece of the puzzle. No matter what next steps we choose to take, we will continue fighting hand in hand with student survivors to pass the best policies possible in states, school districts, and on college campuses. We refuse to stop fighting until the cost of education no longer includes sexual violence–– and we need your help!

Here’s 3 ways you can get involved in the fight:

PASS LEGISLATION IN YOUR STATE: Apply to become a KYIX State Ambassador and work with us to pass proactive legislation in your state to mitigate the harms of DeVos’ anti-survivor rule. Applications close Monday, October 26th at 11:59pm EST.
FIGHT BACK AT YOUR SCHOOL: Apply to join our Campus Action Network and work with us to ensure your school is doing everything in their power to make sure survivors aren’t denied their right to an education free from violence.
DONATE: Our small and scrappy team is working on every level possible to support survivors, but we’re doing it all on a shoestring budget. If you can, chip in to help fund our movement–– anything helps!

No matter what happens next, we promise to never stop fighting for survivors’ rights.

In Solidarity,
Sage Carson

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 14, 2020

Contact: info@knowyourix.org

STUDENT SURVIVORS CONDEMN BETSY DEVOS AND TRUMP ADMIN’S TITLE IX RULE

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Know Your IX,  the leading survivor-led and youth-led campaign to end sexual violence in schools released the following statement on the DeVos’ Title IX rule taking effect today:

One in four college women are sexually assaulted during their time on campus. This pervasive violence not only puts young people’s safety at risk but also erodes their access to education: survivors often see their grades drop, take long leaves of absence from school to avoid their attacker, or are forced to drop out entirely. Yet, today, the Department of Education’s final rule on Title IX will take effect––rolling back years of  survivor organizing wins that have protected survivors’ access to education. This is no surprise, as an article released by the Nation earlier today showed, Betsy DeVos and her Department of Education took cues directly from funders and advocates for accused students when drafting the rule.

This rule with deter survivors from reporting, allow schools to sweep sexual violence under the rug with impunity, and stacks the deck against survivors who try and seek support from their school following violence.

Sage Carson, Manager at Know Your IX, a survivor- and youth-led project of Advocates for Youth working to end sexual violence in schools, commented:

“Betsy DeVos’ Title IX rule, which goes into effect today, rolls back the clock on civil rights for student survivors across the country. This rule stacks the deck against survivors in order to let institutions off the hook for sweeping sexual violence under the rug and to put power back into the hands of respondents, furthering the pushout of survivors from their educations.

Amidst a global pandemic, students need their schools on their side — but DeVos and the Department of Education are hellbent on turning their backs on survivors. In fact, as an article in the Nation revealed earlier today, the Department’s Title IX rule takes a page right out of fringe men’s rights advocates’ playbooks. It’s no wonder that the rule favors respondents when the Department that authored it took cues directly from funders and advocates for accused students, while refusing to meet with student survivors and their advocates. While the fight for survivors’ access to education today becomes ten times harder, survivors have built a powerful movement fighting for our civil rights for years, and we are not stopping now.

Today, Know Your IX is taking the fight for survivors’ rights to the state level. Our survivor and youth-led movement is launching a network of survivors from across the country who will be supported in organizing and demanding robust policy change at the state and local levels. We’re not going to let DeVos, institutions, or men’s rights advocates stop us from achieving a world where everyone can go to school without fear of violence.”  

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For Immediate Release: May 14th, 2020

Contact: info@knowyourix.org

Know Your IX Sues Betsy DeVos for Allowing Schools to Ignore Sexual Harassment and Assault

Washington, DC — Know Your IX (a project of Advocates for Youth), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP filed a lawsuit today to block provisions of the U.S. Department of Education’s new Title IX rule, which will slash schools’ obligations to respond to reports of sexual harassment and assault. The rule subjects reports of sexual harassment to a different and more skeptical review than reports of harassment based on race, national origin, or disability — creating a second-class standard for reports of sexual harassment and assault. The department itself anticipates that four-year institutions will now investigate 32 percent fewer reports of sexual harassment and assault.

The suit was filed on behalf of plaintiffs Know Your IX (a project of Advocates for Youth), Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Girls for Gender Equity, and Stop Sexual Assault in Schools – all organizations dedicated to helping students who experience sexual harassment and assault continue their education.

The plaintiffs are challenging provisions in the DeVos Title IX regulations that:

• Redefine sexual harassment to exclude conduct that until now was included in the department’s definition and that would be recognized as harassment if based on race, national origin, or disability;
• Direct schools to ignore many Title IX reports of sexual harassment and assault that occur off campus or during study abroad, including in student’s homes;
• Require college and university students to report sexual harassment or assault to the “right” official or their complaints do not have to be even investigated; and
• Allow — and, in some cases, require — schools to use a higher standard of proof for reports of sexual harassment and assault than is required for other harassment proceedings.

The U.S. Department of Education released the final rule on May 6, 2020.

The comments are from the following:

Sage Carson, manager of Know Your IX, a project of Advocates for Youth: “Betsy DeVos and the Trump administration have shown, once again, that they have no interest in supporting student survivors and their rights. The final Title IX rule makes it harder for survivors to report sexual violence and easier for schools to sweep sexual violence under the rug. Know Your IX has been fighting for the rights of survivors for almost a decade and we refuse to back down.”

Ria Tabacco Mar, director of the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project: “Betsy Devos has created a double standard that is devastating for survivors of sexual harassment and assault, who are overwhelmingly women and girls. We will fight to make sure this double standard never takes effect.”

Selene Almazan, legal director, Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates: “The regulations absolutely fail to consider the experiences, challenges, and needs of students with disabilities, who already face additional barriers to education. In developing the regulations, it’s unfortunate the Administration chose to ignore research and best practices that fully support the rights of students with disabilities.”

Ashley C. Sawyer, policy director at Girls for Gender Equity: “The new Title IX regulations are a blatant threat to the years of work to create safe, supportive academic environments for students across the gender spectrum.  We want to do everything we can to ensure that the true spirit and original intent of Title IX remains, to ensure that everyone has meaningful access to education, without being hindered by sexual violence.”

Joel Levin, co-founder of Stop Sexual Assault in Schools: “Sexual harassment and assault have no place in our schools. In a reprehensible move that puts students at risk, the new rule gives schools more leeway to ignore their Title IX responsibilities.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 6th, 2020

NEW TITLE IX RULE: BETSY DEVOS AND THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HAVE IGNORED SURVIVORS’

Contact: info@knowyourix.org

Washington, D.C. – In the midst of a global pandemic, Betsy Devos and the Trump Administration continue to show us exactly what their priorities are: rolling back the rights of student survivors.

Today, the Department of Education released its final rule on Title IX, which guts student survivors’ rights and tips the scales of school sexual misconduct cases in favor of perpetrators and schools that wish to sweep sexual violence under the rug. This new rule would be welcome at no time, but is particularly egregious now, during a national pandemic that has turned the lives of students upside-down and forced many schools and communities into crisis. 

Sage Carson, the Manager of Know Your IX , the leading national survivor- and youth-led project of Advocates for Youth said: 

“Today, Betsy DeVos and the Trump administration have shown, once again, that they have no interest in supporting student survivors and their rights. DeVos’ final Title IX rule ignores the over 100,000 comments submitted by survivors, students, and their families urging DeVos to rescind her harmful Title IX rule. The final rule makes it harder for survivors to the report sexual violence, reduces schools’ liability for ignoring or covering up sexual harassment, and creates a biased reporting process that favors respondents and schools over survivors’ access to education. All this as students struggle to find housing, keep up with online classes, and pay rent as the unemployment rate soars. What these students need is support, not another attack from DeVos and Trump.”

During the notice and comment period, survivors shared their stories and explained how the Department of Education’s proposed rule on Title IX would push survivors out of school and let schools off the hook for ignoring campus sexual violence and discrimination. Betsy DeVos and the Department of Education ignored their voices and instead released a rule today that is largely identical to their proposed draft. This rule demonstrates that the Trump Administration cares more about schools’ bottom line than survivors’ right to an education. 

DeVos’ rule will: 

• Permitting schools to ignore sexual assault that occurs outside of a school program — such as in off-campus housing. DeVos’ proposed rule would allow schools to ignore complaints of sexual violence that occur outside of a schools’ program or activity, or are outside of the U.S.. If implemented, the Trump Administration would strip Title IX rights from survivors who are assaulted off school grounds, even if the assault directly harmed their education.  This rule would have grave consequences for the eighty-seven percent of college students who live off-campus.
• Increase barriers to reporting and shield schools from liability for ignoring or covering up sexual harassment. DeVos’ rule dramatically raises the standard for liability for schools that ignore sexual harassment, excluding cases where schools “reasonably should have” known about sexual harassment. It allows schools to sweep sexual harassment under the rug by ignoring best practices and creating an environment where survivors are intimidated out of reporting sexual assault — then disclaim responsibility because they chilled reports of harassment.
• Require schools to only investigate the most serious forms of harassment and assault. DeVos’ definition of sexual harassment will only require schools to act when the sexual violence or harassment completely denies a student access to education, forcing students to endure repeated and escalating levels of abuse without being able to ask their schools for help.
• Allowing schools to use unregulated “mediation” processes instead of investigating. Before the 2011 Dear Colleague Letter (DCL), schools pushed survivors to “work it out” with their rapists, fostering a climate where students were afraid to come forward. The Department’s decision to revert back to a harmful status quo will allow for schools and rapists to intimidate survivors into silence. Furthermore, the Department has thus far offered absolutely no guidance on how schools should conduct these proceedings, making it even more likely that institutions will violate survivors’ civil rights.

Survivor activists fought for decades to create equitable Title IX policies, both federally and on their individual campuses. Though Betsy DeVos has attempted to undo these efforts, Know Your IX and other organizations will challenge her rule in court while activists continue to hold their schools accountable. Schools now have the opportunity to take action by upholding best practices and showing they support survivors while complying with federal law.

We call on schools to resist Betsy DeVos’s anti-survivor agenda by choosing to uphold established Title IX best practices, including the preponderance of evidence standard and 60-day investigation timeline, instead of cooperating with DeVos’s rollback of survivors’ rights. Schools administrators can both comply with new federal law and stand with survivors in this fight to continue their educations in the wake of violence.

For Immediate Release: January 31st, 2019

Contact: Sage Carson, Know Your IX Manager: sage@knowyourix.org

STUDENT SURVIVORS URGE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO WITHDRAW THEIR PROPOSED REGULATION ON TITLE IX

Yesterday, Know Your IX and thousands of other student survivors submitted their comment to oppose the Trump Administration’s attack on survivors’ civil rights. Through the Hands Off IX campaign, a partnership between Know Your IX and End Rape on Campus over 5,700 comments from individuals across all fifty states, Washington DC, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were collected:

“Over the past five years, Know Your IX has worked with countless survivors whose educations had been harmed by sexual violence and harassment. Many of these survivors filed complaints with the Department of Education, hoping that the federal government would listen to their stories and hold their schools accountable for violating their civil rights. Survivors organized within their school and communities to pass policies and legislation to ensure no student would have to endure what they did.

The Department of Education’s proposed rule is a betrayal  to all survivors who have faced irreparable harm because of their school’s response to the violence they experienced, and the thousands of survivors who have worked to ensure no survivor ever has to experience what they did.

If enacted, DeVos’ proposed rule would return our country to an era where schools swept violence under the rug and abused survivors with impunity by:  

• Requiring schools to only investigate the most serious forms of harassment and assault. The proposed rule would require schools to act only when the sexual violence or harassment completely denies a student access to education. That means students would be forced to endure repeated and escalating levels of abuse without being able to ask their schools for help. By the time their school would be legally required to intervene, it might be too late—the student might already be ineligible for an important AP course, disqualified from a dream college, or derailed from graduating altogether.
• Permitting schools to ignore sexual assault that occurs outside of a school program — such as in off-campus housing. DeVos’ proposed rule would allow schools to ignore complaints of sexual violence that occur outside of a schools’ program or activity. If implemented, the Trump Administration would strip Title IX rights from survivors who are assaulted off school grounds, even if the assault directly harmed their education.  This rule would have grave consequences for the eighty-seven percent of college students who, live off-campus.
• Allowing schools to drag students through lengthy and burdensome investigations without reason. The proposed rule removes the previous 60 day requirement for investigations without providing an alternative. Prior to previous guidance—and Education Department oversight—schools frequently drew investigations out for months or even a full year. Schools forced survivors to undergo an unnecessarily lengthy, traumatic process that often led to survivors dropping out of an investigation, or out of school entirely. Neither survivors nor respondents deserve to have an unnecessarily long investigation disrupt their educations.
• Allowing schools to use unregulated “mediation” processes instead of investigating. Before the 2011 Dear Colleague Letter (DCL), schools pushed survivors to “work it out” with their rapists, fostering a climate where students were afraid to come forward. The Department’s decision to revert back to a harmful status quo will allow for schools and rapists to intimidate survivors into silence.

The Department of Education’s proposed regulation is poorly reasoned, ill-supported by existing legal authorities, and would harm survivors–the class of students that Title IX is intended to protect. Know Your IX urges the Department to immediately withdraw this proposed regulation and again undertake systemic  investigations to ensure that all students can pursue their civil right to an education free from violence and harassment.”

You can read the comment submitted to the Department of Education by Know Your IX in its entirety here.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 16, 2018

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S PROPOSED RULE WILL LET SCHOOLS OFF THE HOOK ON CAMPUS SEXUAL ASSAULT

Contact: Sage Carson, sage@knowyourix.org

Washington, D.C. – Know Your IX, the leading national survivor- and youth-led campaign of Advocates for Youth, released the following statement today, after the Department of Education proposed a new regulation on Title IX and sexual violence on campuses:

“The Trump Administration’s proposed rule is designed to let schools off the hook for sexual assault and harassment. The rule would allow schools to ignore sexual assault and harassment that occurs off-campus, even when it interferes with a student’s access to education. The proposed rule would also limit schools’ liability for mishandling students’ claims and allow them to treat survivors of sexual harassment more harshly than other victims of campus offenses.

These proposals signal the Department of Education’s decision to prioritize schools’ bottom line over survivors’ right to an education. If these draft rules become law, more survivors will be forced out of school by harassment, assault, and their schools’ indifference to their complaints. Over the next 60 days, we strongly encourage students and survivors to submit comments expressing their opposition to the proposed rules. Survivors won’t let Betsy DeVos roll back our rights without a fight.

Once the proposed rule is published in the Federal Register, the Department will initiate a 60- day public notice and comment period, during which survivors and their families will have the chance to weigh in on the proposed changes. If the draft rule is finalized, it would impose unique procedural hurdles for sexual assault and harassment cases and put survivors and students at risk by:

• Requiring schools to only investigate the most serious forms of harassment and assault. The proposed rule would require schools to act only when the sexual violence or harassment completely denies a student access to education. That means students would be forced to endure repeated and escalating levels of abuse without being able to ask their schools for help. By the time their school would be legally required to intervene, it might be too late—the student might already be ineligible for an important AP course, disqualified from a dream college, or derailed from graduating altogether.
• Permitting schools to ignore sexual assault that occurs outside of a university program — such as in off-campus apartments. DeVos’ proposed rules would narrow the definition of sexual harassment to include only conduct within a schools’ program or activity. If such a rule were finalized, Betsy DeVos would strip Title IX rights from survivors who are assaulted off-campus or in a context outside of a school’s educational programs, even when the aftereffects of an assault impair their ability to learn. This rule would have grave consequences for the eighty-seven percent of college students who, live off-campus.
• Increasing barriers to reporting and shielding schools from liability for ignoring or covering up sexual harassment. DeVos’ proposal would dramatically raise the standard for liability for schools that ignore sexual harassment, excluding cases where schools “reasonably should have” known about sexual harassment. Such a rule risks immunizing schools that turn a blind eye to sexual assault occurring under their noses, when following basic best practices would reveal it. It could also allow schools to sweep sexual harassment under the rug by making the process of reporting sexual assault unnecessarily burdensome, opaque, complex, or traumatic — deterring students from coming forward, and limiting the cases which they have “actual knowledge” about. In other words, schools could ignore best practices and create an environment where survivors were intimidated out of reporting sexual assault — then disclaim responsibility because they chilled reports of harassment.
• Permitting schools to discriminate against survivors and adopt a “clear and convincing” standard only for sexual harassment complaints. The Department’s rule would allow schools to impose a clear and convincing standard only for sexual harassment complaints. From the start of Secretary DeVos’s tenure, she has singled out sexual assault and harassment cases for unique criticism and scrutiny. Now, relying on age-old stereotypes that women and girls “cry rape,” the Department has decided to treat survivors of sexual harassment more harshly than other victims of violent or discriminatory campus offenses. Instead of imposing discriminatory procedural hurdles for campus sexual harassment cases, schools should use the same standards that they use for other serious campus wrongdoing, such as physical assault or arson.
• Allowing schools to use unregulated “mediation” processes instead of investigating. Before the 2011 Dear Colleague Letter (DCL), schools pushed survivors to “work it out” with their rapists, fostering a climate where students were afraid to come forward. The Department’s decision to revert back to a harmful status quo will allow for schools and rapists to intimidate survivors into silence. Furthermore, the Department has thus far offered absolutely no guidance on how schools should conduct these proceedings, making it even more likely that institutions will violate survivors’ civil rights.

For decades, schools have failed to create equitable environments on campus and hold individuals accountable for perpetrating assault and harassment. But instead of protecting survivors’ civil rights, the the Department of Education has decided to let schools off the hook.

Survivors won’t let the Department of Education roll back our rights without a fight.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 22nd, 2018

TRANSGENDER PEOPLE WON’T BE ERASED BY THIS ADMINISTRATION  

For comment, or to speak with students survivors please contact sage@knowyourix.org

Sage Carson, the Manager of Know Your IX, a project of Advocates for Youth, issued the following statement in response to a story by The New York Times about efforts by The Department of Health and Human Services to erase transgender people and eliminate their rights under Title IX:

“The Trump Administration’s attempt to define gender on a person’s sex assigned at birth under Title IX is a direct threat to all students’ right to an education free from discrimination and violence. This heartless political attack would strip millions of transgender individuals of their civil rights and foster an environment in which transgender students are forced to choose between safety and an education.

“Transgender people experience disproportionately high rates of bullying, harassment, erasure, and sexual violence while in school. Three-fourths of transgender students have negative or violent experiences in school, and over half are harassed because of their gender identity. Transgender students need more protections to ensure their access to education, not an erasure of their rights.

“Title IX court cases have have made it clear that sex discrimination protections include gender identity. In May 2017, a unanimous three-judge panel for the 7th Circuit wrote in Whitaker v. Kenosha Unified School District that policies forcing students to use a bathroom that does not conform with their gender identity is a violation of Title IX. Courts are responsible for interpreting the law, and the Trump Administration can’t change the text of the law with a memo.

Know Your IX believes that all young people have the right to equal education and an education free from violence. We have fought dangerous proposals like this before, and we will continue to fight for the rights of all students.”

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For Immediate Release: September 11th, 2018

DEVOS’ NEW RULES ON TITLE IX: SURVIVORS PAY WHILE SCHOOLS SAVE

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S PROPOSED RULE WOULD ROLL BACK PROGRESS ON CAMPUS SEXUAL ASSAULT

For Immediate Release: August 29th, 2018

For comment, or to speak to student survivors, please contact sage@knowyourix.org.

Washington, D.C. – Know Your IX, the leading national survivor- and youth-led campaign to end sexual violence in schools, released the following statement today, after the New York Times released a leaked proposal from the Department of Education regarding Title IX and sexual violence on campuses:

“The Trump Administration’s proposed rules have one clear goal: to let schools off the hook for covering up rape and sexual harassment. These draft rules would enable systematic sexual assault at schools like Ohio State and Michigan State – where schools covered up sexual assault for decades– while letting schools avoid liability by deterring reports of sexual assault.

If the draft rules outlined by the New York Times were finalized, they would put survivors and students at risk by:

• Permitting schools to ignore sexual assault that occurs off campus — such as in housing and off-campus fraternity houses. The Times reports that DeVos’ proposed rules would “narrow the definition of sexual harassment” to include “only… conduct said to have occurred on their campuses.” If such a rule were finalized, Betsy DeVos would strip Title IX rights from survivors who are assaulted off-campus, including at fraternity houses, off-campus housing, or off-campus athletic events. Eighty-seven percent of college students, and even more K-12 students, live off-campus. The impact of sexual assault and harassment on a student’s education does not change whether they live in a dorm, or in an apartment down the street.
• Shielding schools from liability for ignoring or covering up sexual harassment. The Times reports that DeVos’ proposal would dramatically raise the standard for liability for schools that ignore sexual harassment, excluding cases where schools “reasonably should have” known about sexual harassment. Such a rule risks immunizing schools that turn a blind eye to sexual assault occurring under their noses, when following basic best practices would reveal it. It could also allow schools to sweep sexual harassment under the rug by making the process of reporting sexual assault unnecessarily burdensome, opaque, complex, or traumatic — deterring students from coming forward, and limiting the cases which they have “actual knowledge” about. In other words, schools could ignore best practices and create an environment where survivors were intimidated out of reporting sexual assault — then disclaim responsibility because they chilled official reports of harassment.
• Allowing schools to use unregulated “mediation” processes instead of investigating. Before the 2011 Dear Colleague Letter (DCL), schools pushed survivors to “work it out” with their rapists, fostering a climate where students were afraid to come forward. The Department’s decision to revert back to a harmful status quo will allow for schools and rapists to intimidate survivors into silence. Furthermore, the Department has thus far offered absolutely no guidance on how schools should conduct these proceedings, making it even more likely that institutions will violate survivors’ civil rights.
• Permitting/requiring schools to adopt a “clear and convincing” standard in campus adjudications. This practice is discriminatory against survivors, as it permits schools to accord more value to the education of a respondent than that of a complainant. This action contradicts decades of bipartisan agreement; indeed, in 2004, the Bush Administration found Georgetown University noncompliant with Title IX for using a clear and convincing standard.
• Allowing schools to deny students the right to appeal. The Times reports that the Department will “leave it to schools to decide” whether to have an appeals process. Past guidance encouraged schools to allow appeals for both survivors and respondents, especially where new evidence arose or procedural issues improperly affected an initial investigation. Furthermore, this policy may also violate the Clery Act, which requires schools to provide appeals to complainants and respondents, if one party is permitted to appeal. The Department’s policy doesn’t create fair process: it denies process to student survivors.

Survivors can’t learn when their abusers sit behind them in Calculus or live down the floor of their dorms. Before the Department of Education required schools to take sexual assault seriously, schools routinely violated survivors’ rights, survivors stayed silent for fear that the act of reporting to their school would be more traumatic than the assault itself, and survivors dropped out because they couldn’t trust their schools to provide them with the resources they needed.

DeVos has made it clear that she cares more about protecting the higher education lobby than students’ rights or the survivors who will be forced out of school by harassment, assault, and institutional indifference if these draft rule goes into effect. Just this year, students have come forward to expose systemic sexual abuse at schools across the country, including Baylor, Michigan State, Ohio State, and the University of Southern California. The federal government should have their backs; instead, DeVos is shielding the schools that enabled the violence.

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SEXUAL ASSAULT SURVIVORS AND ADVOCATES CONDEMN KENNETH MARCUS’ REFUSAL TO COMMIT TO ENFORCING CIVIL RIGHTS PROTECTIONS FOR STUDENT SURVIVORS.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 5, 2017

For comment, or to speak with student survivors please contact info@knowyourix.org

Washington, D.C. — Know Your IX, a national, survivor-led project of Advocates for Youth that empowers students to end gender-based violence in schools, issued the following statement following the hearing of Kenneth Marcus, President-Elect Trump’s nominee for Assistant Secretary of the Office of Civil Rights, before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee:

Sexual violence is an epidemic on college campuses, one that disproportionately impacts students of marginalized communities. The rights of survivors of sexual violence, especially marginalized survivors such as black women, trans students, disabled students, undocumented students, queer students need to be protected. The position for which Mr. Marcus is being considered will require him to enforce Title IX, including protections for survivors of sexual violence. It is clear from Mr. Marcus’ hearing today that Mr. Marcus is not committed to ensuring survivors, especially survivors from marginalized communities, have equal access to education.

Despite claiming to understand that sexual violence is a pervasive issue on college campuses, Mr. Marcus supported the Trump Administration’s decision to rescind the 2011 guidance which outlined survivors’ rights under longstanding federal law and was a response to this epidemic  of sexual violence. Prior to this guidance, which Marcus denounced, too many young people were forced to drop classes they shared with their rapists, take long leaves of absence, or event left school entirely. Survivors deserve an OCR head that believes in upholding their right to equal education. Additionally, Mr. Marcus refused to oppose President Trump’s record of racism, sexism, and ableism, and would not commit to continuing the publication of current campus sexual assault and harassment cases.

Campus sexual violence requires transparency and accountability from universities across the country.  The appointment of Mr. Marcus would only limit both of those core tenets.  By supporting the rescinding of the 2011 Dear Colleague Letter, not taking a strong stance to support transgender students, and suggesting the delayed publication of campus sexual assault cases, Mr. Marcus is turning a blind eye to survivors.  By supporting this harmful guidance and refusing to uphold survivors civil rights, Mr. Marcus is deterring survivors from reporting.

In a time of pervasive sexual violence and harassment on college campuses, in Washington D.C., and in the workplace, it is imperative that we have an Assistant Secretary who will commit to supporting survivors, not one who will revoke protections that have helped survivors advocate for themselves.   

# # #

STUDENT SURVIVORS DENOUNCE GOVERNOR BROWN’S DECISION TO VETO SB-169

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 20, 2017

For comment, or to speak with students survivors please contact info@knowyouriIX.org or info@endrapeoncampus.org

This week, Governor Brown stood with the Trump administration and tipped the scales in favor of rapists in the state of California. By vetoing SB-169, which would have codified key elements of the 2011 Dear Colleague Letter, Governor Brown has fed into the false narrative that protecting students’ civil rights is at odds with providing fair process in campus disciplinary proceedings. In doing so, he turned his back on the 1 in 5 women, 1 in 16 men, and nearly half of all trans people that experience sexual assault violence in college. Governor Brown’s actions will be particularly harmful to students of color and LGBT students, as these students experience disproportionate rates of sexual harassment and assault but are less likely to feel safe reporting to their school.

Before the Department of Education issued the 2011 Dear Colleague Letter — which outlined students’ rights under Title IX — many survivors were forced to drop classes they shared with their rapists or even drop out of school entirely. The vast majority of survivors suffered in silence. But after the Dear Colleague Letter was issued, students began to come forward, in the hopes that their schools would take their reports of violence and harassment seriously.

Governor Brown’s decision to veto SB 169 jeopardizes this progress. Contrary to his statement, the 2011 Dear Colleague Letter built upon decades of requirements that disciplinary proceedings be “prompt and equitable” for both parties. In fact, by demanding equitable treatment of both the respondent and complainant, the Department’s interpretation of Title IX provides students accused of sexual assault with procedural protections beyond those the Supreme Court has said are guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution.

The new guidance issued by the Trump administration after they rescinded the 2011 Dear Colleague Letter permits schools to stack campus investigations against student survivors in a number of ways. By vetoing SB 169, Governor Brown vetoed a bill that would have prevented the following injustices:

Denying survivors the right to appeal. Allowing only one party to appeal when new evidence arises or procedural errors occur does not create a fair process, it denies process to survivors.

Lifting prohibitions on direct cross examination and mediation in all forms of sexual misconduct, including rape. These harmful procedures that were opposed by the Obama administration and the Bush administration allow for schools and rapists to further create a hostile environment for survivors.

Removing accountability measures that ensure a prompt investigation. Too many student survivors and respondents have spent months, even years, in Title IX investigations that have further impeded their education. By allowing schools to remove the 60 day limit on an investigation, schools may now force survivors into lengthy and traumatic investigations.

Governor Brown has shown that he will allow schools to backslide on their responsibility to provide students with an equitable and safe learning environment. If Governor Brown is unwilling to stand up to the Trump Administration, students will continue to organize to ensure that their schools are held accountable.

# # #

NEW TITLE IX INTERIM GUIDANCE BETRAYS SURVIVORS OF CAMPUS SEXUAL ASSAULT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 22, 2017

For comment, or to speak with student survivors, please contact info@knowyourix.org.

Washington, D.C. – Know Your IX, a national, survivor- and youth-led campaign to end sexual violence in schools released the following statement, after the Department of Education announced the withdrawal of the 2011 Dear Colleague Letter and the 2014 Frequently Asked Questions guidance documents and issued new interim guidance:

“Today’s guidance allows schools to systematically stack campus investigations against survivors and push survivors out of school. The Department of Education is sending the message that they value survivors’ access to education less than that of the students who assault and abuse them.

Before the Department of Education began taking sexual assault seriously, schools routinely violated survivors’ rights and pushed them out of school. Survivors stayed silent for fear that the act of reporting to our school would be more traumatic than the assault itself. The Dear Colleague Letter—which outlined strong procedural protections for survivors and accused students alike—made it possible for survivors to come forward, trusting that their school would handle their case fairly and provide them with the resources they needed to continue their educations. Today, DeVos betrayed that trust and put years of progress at risk.

Title IX is the law and schools’ responsibility to respond to sexual violence is unchanged. Even though, Betsy DeVos and the Department of Education have turned their back on survivors, we will not let universities backslide on their obligation to provide for an equitable and safe learning environment.”

Today’s interim guidance puts survivors at risk by:

Permitting schools to adopt a “clear and convincing” standard in campus adjudications. This practice is discriminatory against survivors, as it permits schools to accord more value to the education of a respondent than that of a complainant. This action contradicts decades of bipartisan agreement; indeed, in 2004, the Bush Administration found Georgetown University noncompliant with Title IX for using a clear and convincing standard.

Allowing schools to deny survivors the right to appeal. Past guidance encouraged schools to allow appeals for both survivors and respondents, especially where new evidence arose or procedural issues colored an initial investigation. This doesn’t create fair process: it denies process to student survivors.

Lifting the prohibitions on mediation and direct cross examination. Before the 2011 DCL, schools pushed survivors to “work it out” with their rapists, fostering a climate where students were afraid to come forward. The Department’s decision to revert back to a harmful status quo will allow for schools and rapists to intimidate survivors into silence. Furthermore, the Department has offered no guidance on how schools should conduct these proceedings, making it even more likely that institutions will violate survivors’ civil rights.

Removing accountability measures that ensured prompt investigations. The Department has lifted the sixty day requirement and instead stated that “there is no fixed time frame under which a school must complete a Title IX investigation.” Prior to the DCL—and Education Department oversight—schools frequently drew investigations out for months or even a full year. Schools forced survivors to undergo an unnecessarily lengthy, traumatic process that often led to survivors dropping out of an investigation, or out of school entirely. Neither survivors nor accused students deserve to have an unnecessarily long investigation disrupt their educations.

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STUDENT SURVIVORS CONDEMN BETSY DEVOS’S ANNOUNCEMENT ON TITLE IX

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 7, 2017

For comment, or to speak with student survivors, please contact info@knowyourix.org.

WASHINGTON, DC – Know Your IX, a national, survivor- and youth-led campaign to end sexual violence in schools released the following statement, after Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ announcement that the Department of Education will begin a notice-and-comment process to issue new regulations regarding Title IX and sexual assault on campus:

“Today, Secretary DeVos sent the message to student and survivors across the country that the Department of Education doesn’t have their back.

Before the Education Department took action to protect survivors, and hold schools accountable, too many young people were forced to drop classes they shared with their rapists, take long leaves of absence, or even leave school entirely. The Department’s guidance, which outlined survivors’ rights under longstanding federal law, was a response to this urgent reality. Today’s announcement risks taking us back to to the days when sexual violence routinely compromised survivors’ access to education and schools swept sexual assault under the rug.

We firmly believe campus discipline must be procedurally fair to both survivors and accused students – but DeVos and the Trump Administration have given us every indication their goal isn’t equality, but helping abusers and rapists avoid accountability. We have no faith that a President who brags about sexually assaulting women is interested in building a system that’s fair for survivors.

No matter what Betsy DeVos and Donald Trump say, Title IX is the law of the land. Schools are still required by federal civil rights law to take sexual violence seriously, even if the Trump Administration does not.”

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Know Your IX Launches Campaign Taking the Fight Against Campus Sexual Assault to the States

New State Policy Playbook Will Bolster Policy Advocacy Across the Country

For Immediate Release: July 5, 2017

Contact: Mahroh Jahangiri, mahroh@knowyourix.org

WASHINGTON – Today, Know Your IX – the leading survivor- and youth-led campaign to end gender violence in schools – released their State Policy Playbook for Ending Campus Sexual Assault, a policy blueprint for state legislators, students, and advocates working to end gender violence in schools.

 Know Your IX’s State Policy Playbook represents the most comprehensive proposal for state action ever developed by advocates on this issue, and comes amidst disturbing signals from Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos that suggest that the Department does not intend to protect students’ rights and enforce Title IX.

 The Playbook lays out recommendations in seven key areas: transparency; prevention; safe reporting; resources and accommodations for survivors; fair discipline; funding; and effective enforcement. These critical reforms will increase protections for the one in five women, as well as many LGBT students, who will experience sexual violence in school.

 Know Your IX also today announced they will join forces with Advocates for Youth, an organization championing the sexual and reproductive health and rights of young people, to expand their work across the country.

 “Without support, survivors are often forced to withdraw from classes, take a leave of absence, or drop out of school entirely in the wake of harassment and discrimination,” said Mahroh Jahangiri, executive director of Know Your IX. “Working together with Advocates for Youth, we’ll have unprecedented opportunity to help students and legislators fill the enforcement gap left by a federal government quickly abdicating its responsibilities to enforce civil rights.”

 “It’s disgraceful that 45 years after Title IX was enacted, we cannot count on this Congress or the Administration to ensure compliance, “ said Debra Hauser, president of Advocates for Youth. “Advocates is thrilled to welcome Know Your IX into our family at this time in our political and cultural history. Together, we will support survivors and their youth allies as they themselves fight to hold schools accountable and work to end sexual and dating violence on their campuses.”

 Know Your IX will become a permanent campaign of Advocates for Youth and will work with students, advocates, and legislators to enact legislation that protects students’ safety and promotes equality in education.

You can read the State Policy Playbook here.

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Sexual Assault Survivors and Advocates Condemn Georgia House Bill 51

H.B. 51 would revictimize survivors, deter reporting, and make campuses less safe. Today, one in five women are sexually assaulted during their time in college. Instead of supporting survivors, H.B. 51 would force them into a broken system that routinely fails to meet their needs. A survey released by Know Your IX and the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence shows that nearly nine in ten survivors believe that, if bills like H.B. 51 were passed, survivors would be less likely to report to anyone at all. This would make it harder for schools to hold perpetrators accountable and harder for survivors to survivors to seek help, including residential changes, medical care and counseling, and academic support. By chilling reporting, H.B. 51 would only deter student survivors from seeking the accommodations they need to stay in school, forcing more victims to leave school and undermining safety for all.

Know Your IX is a national, survivor-led organization empowering students to end gender violence in schools.

Related Resources:

• Know Your IX:  Resisting State Level Mandatory Police Referral Efforts
• Dana Bolger and Alexandra Brodsky, MSNBC:  “Victim’s choice, not police involvement, should be lawmakers’ priority”
• Max Ehrenfreund, Washington Post:  “Virginia wants to force universities to report every rape to the police. But that won’t solve U-Va.’s real problem”

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Sexual Assault Survivors and Advocates Condemn Betsy DeVos’s Refusal to Commit to Enforcing Civil Rights Protections for Student Victims

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 17, 2017

Contact: Dana Bolger, dana@knowyourIX.org

Washington, D.C. — Know Your IX, a national, survivor-led organization empowering students to end gender-based violence in schools, issued the following statement following the hearing of Betsy DeVos, President-Elect Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Education, before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee:

One in five college women are sexually assaulted during their time on campus. This pervasive violence not only puts young people’s safety at risk but also undermines their access to education: victims often see their grades drop, take long leaves of absence from school to avoid their attacker, or are forced to drop out entirely. Yet Secretary-Designate Betsy DeVos said in her HELP Committee hearing that it would be “premature” to commit to maintaining the Education Department’s pivotal 2011 guidance clarifying schools’ longstanding obligations under Title IX to support student survivors in accessing education in the wake of violence.

As young people whose own educations have been disrupted by gender-based violence in school, we know firsthand that the Department’s enforcement of Title IX has helped countless survivors complete their educations. Before the Department turned its attention to enforcing survivors’ Title IX rights, schools routinely ignored their rights and swept sexual assault under the rug. If Ms. DeVos revokes the Department’s critical work, she would make it harder for students to learn their rights—and easier for schools to violate them. If the next Secretary of Education moves backward on Title IX, she will make schools far less safe for women, LGBTQ, and other marginalized students. We hope Ms. DeVos will change course and come to understand just how critical the Department’s Title IX enforcement is for students across the country. However, if she continues to fail to commit to enforcing Title IX, we believe her unwillingness to protect the civil rights of sexual assault survivors should be disqualifying.

Know Your IX is a national, survivor-led organization empowering students to end gender violence in schools. Know Your IX’s staff and volunteers were present at today’s hearing and recognized by Ranking Member Murray for their work to create safe and equitable schools.

Related Resources:

• Know Your IX & End Rape on Campus: Protecting Students from Violence and Harassment

• Feminist Law Professors: Title IX and Preponderance of the Evidence

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Rape Victims Groups and Allies Urge Veto of California Bill Creating Mandatory Minimums for Sexual Assault

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 12, 2016

Contact: Mahroh Jahangiri, mahroh@knowyourIX.org

WASHINGTON D.C. — Leading organizations fighting sexual assault on campus, and allies, sent a letter Friday to California Governor Jerry Brown, urging him to veto California Assembly Bill 2888, which would institute a mandatory minimum-term sentence for certain cases of sexual assault.

The letter, signed by over two dozen survivor advocacy groups and allies, expresses strong opposition to mandatory minimums, calling the bill a “mistaken” answer to justified anger over the Brock Turner case.

The bill passed the legislature in September, in response to the six-month sentence given to Turner, a former Stanford student who was convicted of sexual assault in March. In the letter, the advocacy groups argue that mandatory minimums ultimately harm victims and deter reporting, while exacerbating racial and class disparities in the criminal legal system.

Mahroh Jahangiri, Executive Director of Know Your IX, said: “When people think of AB 2888, they picture Brock Turner. But mandatory minimum charges are less likely to be brought against perpetrators who look like Turner—and will instead disproportionately impact Black, Latino, and low-income defendants. Furthermore, they hurt the victims California legislators are claiming to protect, deterring survivors—many of whom are assaulted by someone they know—from coming forward. As student survivors ourselves, we know mandatory minimums are a fatally flawed answer to sexual assault.”

The letter was written by Know Your IX, a national, survivor-run organization working to end sexual violence on college campuses. Signatures include California student groups and national advocacy organizations, such as the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence and Ultraviolet.

The list of signatories is as follows:

Know Your IX

ACT for Women and Girls

American Association of University Women, Weber State University

American Constitution Society, Yale Law School

Associated Students Women’s Commission, University of California, San Diego

Campus Assault Response, James Madison University

Chicago Taskforce on Violence Against Girls & Young Women

Columbia Law Women’s Organization (CLWA), Columbia Law School

Forward Together

Functional Immediate Response Student Safety Team (FIRSST), Goshen College

Greeks United Around Respect and Discussion of Sexual Assault, Valparaiso University

The Harassment/Assault Legal Team (HALT), Harvard Law School

MenCanEnd, The University of Texas at Austin

National Alliance to End Sexual Violence

National Council of Jewish Women, California

National Lawyers Guild, Yale Law School

National Resource Center on Domestic Violence

Our Harvard Can Do Better, Harvard University

Positive Women’s Network – USA, California

Prevention Intervention Network, Goshen College

Sexual Empowerment and Awareness at Tennessee, University of Tennessee

Social Justice Club, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh

Speak Up, Stay Strong, York College of The City University of New York

Spring Up

Student Government, Lake Forest College

Title IX at Northwestern, Northwestern University

UChicago Clothesline Project, University of Chicago

UltraViolet

URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity

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Know Your IX and Carry That Weight Join Forces

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: knowyourIX@gmail.com

(July 1, 2015) – Know Your IX is joining forces with Carry That Weight, the student anti-violence campaign that grew out of Emma Sulkowicz’s mattress performance at Columbia University. Together, we’ll be the largest network of student activists in the country working to address gender-based violence on campus — and we’re all stronger together!

Carry That Weight organizers will join the Know Your IX Campus Action Network (IX-CAN) in a space FOR students BY student to talk organizing strategies, policy ideas, critical legislation, and ending gender-based violence in school. Student survivors and activists from all across the nation are coming together to collaborate, share resources, and build a more unified national movement to end sexual and domestic violence on campus and beyond!

We’re using our collective reach and visibility to support each other and lift up the work of the students on the ground — especially that of students whose voices are too often overlooked and silenced. IX-CAN will now provide on-going support, training, nationally coordinated days of action, and space to work strategically in solidarity with activists all over the country.

Any student activist or student group can join IX-CAN. If you’re organizing for change on your campus, here are a few things to look out for:

• A Campus Action Toolkit — with best practices for analyzing your school’s policies, procedures, and resources for preventing sexual violence; example policy demands from other students organizers in your area; asks that have worked at schools like yours; strategies for how to pressure your administration; and tools for how to secure and leverage media attention

• Activist Trainings — online and regional trainings connecting you with experienced organizers and other student activists, with whom to collaborate as you develop a ground campaign, design a media strategy, fundraise to support your movement, and build student power on your campus

• Online community — spaces to share resources, connect to other student activists, and build a national movement together

• Legislative advocacy — opportunities to help work on new legislation and make sure that we, as students, are always at the table when lawmakers are drafting legislation in our cities, regions, and states

 

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ADVISORY: At Least 23 Institutions of Higher Education Fail to Comply with Campus SaVE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: knowyourIX@gmail.com

(October 13, 2014) – As part of a broader campaign to increase awareness of campus domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking, students working with Know Your IX have uncovered evidence that indicates at least 23 schools have violated requirements of the Campus Sexual Violence Elimination (Campus SaVE) provisions of the Clery Act, passed as part of the 2013 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. Under Campus SaVE, institutions of higher education are now required to include the number of reports of domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking in their annual Clery Act reports. Schools were required to publish these reports by October 1^st, 2014.

As of October 13th, the following 23 schools have not published data online regarding the number of domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking reports received in 2013. Many more have disclosed few or zero incidents of sexual assault, suggesting not that sexual assault does not occur on a given campus, but rather that the university is dissuading survivors from reporting experiences of assault, or is willfully under-reporting them.

• Austin College
• Carlow University
• Chatham University
• Cornell College
• Emory and Henry College
• Georgetown College
• Hiram College
• Howard University
• Kalamazoo College
• Kenyon College
• Lawrence University
• Lycoming College
• Lyon College
• Marlboro College
• Point Park University
• Rhodes College
• Southwestern University
• St. John’s College
• University of the District of Columbia
• University of Illinois at Springfield
• University of New Hampshire
• Wabash College
• Wheaton College

Further, the schools listed above represent only a small percentage of all institutions of higher education – the vast majority of which students have not yet examined – suggesting that non-compliance is likely widespread.

Know Your IX urges the Department of Education to enforce Campus SaVE in the face of widespread non-compliance. Students and their families have a right to know which schools create a safe reporting environment for survivors of dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking.

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Know Your IX Response to Bipartisan Hold Accountable and Lend Transparency (HALT) on Campus Sexual Violence Act

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: knowyourIX@gmail.com

(July 31, 2014) – Today, Representatives Jackie Speier, Patrick Meehan, Judy Chu, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Barbara Lee, and Sheila Jackson Lee introduced the bipartisan Hold Accountable and Lend Transparency (HALT) on Campus Sexual Violence Act. We believe the HALT Act proposes a powerful path to ending assault and harassment in our schools.

We are particularly pleased that the bill would create real sanctions for schools violating students’ civil rights by providing the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) the authority to levy fines against noncompliant institutions. Because the OCR’s only current sanctioning power—denying a school all federal funding—would devastate students, Know Your IX has advocated for intermediate fining authority since our launch last summer. To make the promise of Title IX a reality for students, the Department of Education needs a smart, productive way to hold schools accountable—and fines are just that solution.

Know Your IX is also heartened to see that the HALT Act would require transparency and openness from the Department of Education with respect to its investigation and resolution practices. While the Department of Education under Assistant Secretary Catherine Lhmaon’s leadership has committed to releasing this vital information to the public, including to prospective students and their families, codifying this openness will ensure continued transparency in future administrations.

Know Your IX appreciates the Representatives’ strong commitment to grounding this legislation in students’ experiences and input so that its policies will best address the challenges survivors face on the ground. We look forward to continuing this collaboration throughout the legislative process.

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Know Your IX Response to Bipartisan Campus Accountability and Safety Act (CASA)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: knowyourIX@gmail.com

(July 30, 2014) – This morning Senators including Kirsten Gillibrand, Claire McCaskill, Richard Blumenthal, and Mark Warner, alongside Republican co-sponsors Senators Chuck Grassley, Kelly Ayotte, Dean Heller, and Marco Rubio, released promising bipartisan legislation to combat campus sexual violence. We believe this bill is an important step, and we are grateful for our elected officials’ leadership in confronting one of the most significant civil rights challenges of our day.

While the process of turning these bills into law will of course be a lengthy one, we are heartened to see bipartisan support for impactful reforms, including mandated Department of Education transparency and real sanctions for schools violating students’ civil rights. We believe that these two reforms in particular, for which we have advocated since our launch, must be central to any effort to improve campus responses to sexual violence.

Many of these proposals grew from student experience and input, and we are pleased to be represented by Members of Congress who listen to and value survivors’ expertise on the ground. We look forward to continued conversation and collaboration to create law that builds safe, just campuses for students of all genders.

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Know Your IX Response to White House Task Force Report

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: knowyourIX@gmail.com

(April 28, 2014) – Tonight the White House Task Force to Protect Students From Sexual Assault released its first report on ending campus sexual violence. We are grateful for the Task Force’s tireless work and commitment to improving federal enforcement of Title IX, the 40-year-old landmark civil rights legislation that prohibits sex discrimination in education. Less than a year ago we launched our ED ACT NOW campaign with a protest outside the Department of Education (ED). We hoped to spark a conversation about better federal enforcement of Title IX and bring our policy recommendations, based on the experiences of student survivors across the country, to the Administration. Today we are encouraged to see many of our demands at the heart of the Task Force’s report.

We are particularly encouraged by the Task Force’s commitment to transparency, which we have demanded repeatedly since our first action. We hope that improved access to information about previous and ongoing Title IX investigations will provide students and their families with much-needed insight into universities’ track records on sexual violence and will allow the public to hold both schools and ED accountable. We note, however, that to promote true transparency, ED must make the list of schools under investigation available publicly rather than solely upon request, as the Task Force now requires. We are also glad to see our recommendation that the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR), Department of Justice, and Federal Student Aid Office coordinate their efforts to ensure effective investigations.

Still, these changes will mean little until Title IX enforcement is finally given teeth. It is unconscionable that, in ED’s entire history, the agency has never once sanctioned a school for sexual violence-related violations of Title IX. Such tolerance allows institutional abuses to go unchecked at students’ expense. We hope that legislators will step in to fill this gap in the Task Force’s recommendations by providing the OCR with new tools to hold schools accountable and protect students’ civil rights. For example, we ask Congress to empower the OCR to levy intermediate fines for Title IX violations. Currently the OCR has only two options at its disposal: revoke all federal funding — which would be devastating for students, particularly those dependent upon federal financial aid — or do nothing at all. Intermediate sanctions would allow the OCR to hold schools accountable without hurting students in the process.

We have seen the movement against campus sexual violence make great strides in this last year, and are so grateful to the many tireless students, advocates, organizations, and government officials who have joined us in this fight. There is still much to be done but today we are one significant step closer to realizing the promise of Title IX: equality in education for people of all genders.

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