In the News

 

A Professor Was Accused of Sexual Harassment and Resigned. At His Next University, It Happened Again

Vice | October 27, 2021 “Sarah Nesbitt, policy and advocacy organizer at Know Your IX, an organization that informs students about their rights under federal law, said this standard of “denial” is amorphous, opening up students who bring Title IX complaints against professors to a wider net of critique and a larger burden of proof. It requires students to have already lost educational opportunities before they’re able to file a complaint, rather than allowing them to do so before they’re pushed out.”

Another reckoning over sexual assault in US colleges is starting. Officials must listen

The Guardian | October 21, 2021 “According to the survivors’ rights group Know Your IX, almost 40% of students who report their experiences of sexual violence to campus authorities are pushed out of school – forced to drop out, transfer, or take a leave of absence in the wake of reporting.”

Students Gather in Washington to Protest Sexual Assault

Inside Higher ED | October 7, 2021 “Sage Carson, manager of Know Your IX, shared similar sentiments after the meeting, saying she had started out hopeful that the Department of Education would support the calls for reversing the Trump administration policies.

“Instead, the department shirked responsibility, turned it around to students and said, ‘Tell us what we can do to help you all prevent violence on your campus,’” Carson said. “And truthfully, this meeting was a waste of many of these survivors’ time who joined us to share their trauma, their stories and their urgency for these demands today.”

Nationwide Anti-Rape Protests Demand Consequences for College Frats

Mother Jones | October 5, 2021 “For years, college administrators and sexual assault experts have warned of a “red zone,” lasting from the start of the fall semester to Thanksgiving break, when first-year students are at heightened risk of experiencing sexual violence. But this year, on many campuses, there are effectively two incoming classes: The usual freshmen, and the sophomores whose academic and social life last year was curtailed by COVID restrictions. That’s led some advocates to warn of a possible “double red zone”—the potential for sexual assault rates to soar not only among first-year students, but also among sophomores.  “They don’t have the same secured social networks, they haven’t been to parties, haven’t been drinking, and it makes them easy targets,” Carson explains.”

Students Push Biden to Undo Trump-Era Campus Sexual Assault Rules

Rewire | October 5, 2021 “Unfortunately, stories like mine are becoming the norm. As a result of DeVos’ changes to Title IX, survivors are being denied equal access to education and face substantial barriers to reporting sexual harassment in schools.

In fact, nearly 40 percent of survivors who report to their school are pushed out of education, according to a survey of 100 students conducted by the advocacy group I’m part of, Know Your IX. And because of DeVos’ bad policymaking and a massive reduction in Title IX enforcement, survivors nationwide are being subjected to retaliation for reporting to their school. Nearly 23 percent of survivors who report to their school are threatened with a defamation suit by their perpetrator or the perpetrator’s attorney, according to the survey. And 15 percent of survivors who report to their schools are threatened with or face punishment for coming forward.

In my case, I was forced by my school to sign an agreement stating that I wouldn’t talk about my case or the abuse I endured because the school didn’t want me to harm my abuser’s reputation.” — Op-Ed from Dharma Koffer, KYIX Policy Organizer

Proposed Title IX Rule Changes Expected May 2022

Inside Higher ED | June 24, 2021 “While a change to the regulations appears imminent, the proposed amendments won’t come soon enough, said Know Your IX, a group that advocates for the end of sexual and dating violence in educational settings.

‘Survivors can’t wait,’ the organization tweeted. ‘As we found earlier this year, nearly 40% of survivors are being pushed out of education after seeking help from their school. We can’t sit around and wait for ED to correct the damage of the Trump administration.’

Campus Sexual Violence Didn’t Go Away Just Because We Stopped Talking About It

Hello Giggles | June 2021 “In addition to survivors having to worry about their physical safety, the entire process of reporting or opening an investigation-should they choose to take that route-can be re-traumatizing, invalidating, and exhausting. “We really saw this trend of once survivors were reporting to their school, instead of receiving support, they got blamed for the violence, was told the school would do nothing, faced name-calling by school officials, had their cases drawn out for years, and basically, were punished for their own assaults after seeking help,” Levine says about Know Your IX’s report findings.”

KSU police delayed reports of student sexual assaults

Fox 5 | July 20, 2021 “This is a really alarming situation,” said Sage Carson. She manages Know Your IX, a national organization dedicated to educating campuses on the rights of sexual assault victims.

“We want to make sure survivors are getting the resources they need as soon as possible,” she said.

ADVOCACY GROUPS NUDGE CARDONA ON TITLE IX RULES

Politico | August 16, 2021 “It’s time to undo this harmful policy,” the petition being circulated by the groups says. “Student survivors don’t have the luxury of waiting for this administration to take their safety and rights seriously while they are denied the most basic protections because they weren’t assaulted or harassed at the right place, by the right person, or at the right time.”

CSU San Marcos Ordeal Brings Difficult Transparency Questions to Light

Voice of San Diego | June 21, 2021 “A national group of students and survivors of sexual violence at the nonprofit Know Your IX are advocating for individual states to adopt transparency requirements surrounding sexual violence to “keep schools from sweeping sexual and dating violence under the rug, ensure prospective students and parents can make informed choices about where to attend college, and provide students and alumni with the data they need to hold schools accountable in creating and sustaining safe learning environments,” the group’s website reads. The group argues that students, alumni and parents should know about how their campus responds to cases of sexual violence. They’re pushing state departments of education to develop a comprehensive, standardized campus climate survey for schools to administer every two years.”

According to a new report from the advocacy group Know Your IX, a survey of more than 100 students found that 20% of students who reported sexual violence to their school transferred schools, and nearly 10% dropped out entirely.

Biden Will Revisit Trump Rules on Campus Sexual Assault

New York Times | June 16, 2021 “Sage Carson, the manager of Know Your IX, a survivor advocacy group, said that since the rules took effect in August, victims had reached out to the organization either confused about their rights under the new regulation or concerned that their schools were weaponizing it. The group has called on the Biden administration to write a new rule, issue new guidance and conduct a listening tour.

“We’re really seeing it used as a way for schools to confuse and manipulate survivors, which is really what we’ve seen for decades,” Ms. Carson said of the DeVos rules. “Now it’s this really scary process on the books, and it gives the schools a way to say, ‘Do you really want to go through this?’”

Lhamon Nominated for Top Civil Rights Post

Inside Higher ED | May 14, 2021 “Her extensive background in civil rights and focus on young folks’ rights is really exciting to us after four years of a Department of Education that was really focused on prioritizing schools and school liability over student civil rights,” Carson said. “We hope that her return to the department will also bring about a return to a focus on protecting students from discrimination and harassment.”

Jaslin Kaur Is Running for City Council to Fight for Sexual Misconduct Survivors

Teen Vogue | May 13, 2021″If my years working with campus survivor-justice organization Know Your IX taught me anything, it’s that gender justice is incompatible with our hierarchical, punitive, political-economic system.

Sure, in the period since #MeToo brought many thousands of survivors’ stories out in the open, some abusers have been brought low, either their reputations or economically, and some organizations and institutions have adopted more strident language about harassment and discrimination, but are we really any safer?”

The world of Title IX grapples with new regulations, pending changes

The Blade | May 2, 2021 “This rule doesn’t help student survivors. It’s looking to reduce reporting and save schools money,” said Thalia Charles, a policy and advocacy organizer for Know Your IX, a student-led organization fighting to end sexual violence and dating violence in schools. “Title IX is at its core about protecting all students from harm and the current rule doesn’t protect students’ safety.”

Opinion: Campus assault survivors still need Title IX protections

The Washington Post | April 2, 2021 “Unfortunately, we — and the survivors with whom we work — very well know that we never left the era of schools sweeping sexual violence under the rug. Many survivors documented in Know Your IX’s recent report how school administrators ignored their complaints, blamed them for their assaults, denied them basic supportive measures and punished them for conduct ancillary to their assaults. Survivors shared that they were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder not only from the violence they reported but also their schools’ harmful responses to their reports. This includes the survivor who wrote, ‘honestly, what my school did to me was worse than what my rapist did to me.'”

Know Your IX Releases Findings from Student Survivor Survey

Campus Safety | March 17, 2021 “The 42-page report discusses adverse impacts of sexual or dating violence experienced by students, including educational, financial, career and health impacts.

The findings also outline the backlash survivors are reportedly facing when filing formal reports of sexual violence to their schools, among other things. It includes direct quotes from survivors about their experiences and quotes from school administrators and their perpetrators. It also describes survivors’ experiences in the aftermath of violence and trauma.”

Activists increase pressure on Biden to scrap Betsy DeVos’ Title IX rules

NBC | March 15, 2021 “Know Your IX’s report highlights what victims’ rights advocates see as urgent and long-standing problems with how sexual assault victims are treated on campuses. The group is calling on the Department of Education to reverse changes to Title IX rules spearheaded by former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, which gave more protection to accused students. The group is also demanding that the Education Department provide resources to ease the physical and financial toll students face after a sexual assault.

‘Student survivors need immediate action on Title IX. What seems like just a few months to nonstudents is an entire semester for a student,’ said Sage Carson, manager of Know Your IX. ‘Survivors can’t spend another semester, let alone another four years, with the current status of the Title IX regulation.'”

Biden Begins Process To Undo Trump Administration’s Title IX Rules

NPR | March 10, 2021 “We’re buckling up for what comes next,” says Sage Carson, manager of “Know Your IX,” an advocacy group for students protected by Title IX, the 1972 law that bars gender-based discrimination in federally funded colleges, universities and K-12 schools. Carson says shortly after Biden was elected, a transition official told her they’re working with “intentional urgency” to roll back the rules. As a candidate, Biden called the Trump regulations an effort to “shame and silence survivors,” saying they give “colleges a green light to ignore sexual violence and strip survivors of their rights.”

Betsy DeVos’s sexual assault rules have already hurt survivors

Vox | March 9, 2021 “Whatever happens with the new rule and any interim action, advocates are also asking the Biden administration to conduct a listening tour of students around the country to hear about their experiences with sexual assault and harassment in the pandemic and beyond. They’re hoping to see “a concerted effort to really meet with students,” especially since the Trump administration only met with student survivor groups once, Carson said.”

A Long and Complicated Road Ahead

Inside Higher ED | January 22, 2021 “Sage Carson, manager of Know Your IX, endorses halting enforcement of the DeVos regulations, but she said the challenges student survivors face have changed significantly in the decade since the 2011 guidance was issued and returning to it isn’t going to effectively address those new challenges.

‘Survivors on campus are facing horrendous obstacles to getting support from their school that are nothing like the Obama administration was dealing with,’ Carson said. ‘My fear is that the Biden administration will come in and say, ‘We’ve dealt with this issue before, we know how to do this,’ and not take the time to understand the needs of students right now in this unique moment.’”

DeVos Quit Over This Week’s Violence. Sexual Assault Survivor Activists Aren’t Having Any of It.

Mother Jones | January 8, 2021 “Sage Carson, manager of Know Your IX, a group that advocates for the rights of student survivors, also accused DeVos of hypocrisy. “It seems laughable in the darkest way that DeVos resigned from the Trump administration because the violence was too much when she has used her role in the Department of Education to continuously commit violence against students, to make schools less safe,” Carson says. ”

Gender Equity Groups Urge Biden to Rescind DeVos Title IX Rules

Inside Higher ED | December 11, 2020 “The letter, signed by the National Women’s Law Center, the American Federation of Teachers, Know Your IX and 100 other groups, offered several steps the new administration should take to “reverse the damage caused by the Trump administration” and strengthen Title IX, the law that prohibits discrimination based on sex at federally funded institutions. The letter said that Biden’s Department of Education should start working on new regulations under Title IX and “promptly” issue interim guidance to return to Obama-era standards for how colleges respond to sexual misconduct.”

OPINION: How Biden can fight sexual violence on U.S. campuses

Reuters | November 17, 2020 “Rather than creating special protections for respondents in sexual harassment complaints, the Education Department should institute regulations that ensure fair discipline processes for all students. This would stop biased discipline against students accused of misconduct and also prevent punishment of student survivors who report to their school seeking help––a horrifying growing trend in K-12 schools and colleges.

The Biden administration has an opportunity to ensure that no student is wrongly denied access to education.But to do so, it must reject the false notion that justice for survivors is in tension with fair disciplinary processes. The opportunity to learn is essential to a student’s ability succeed and achieve their dreams––and no one should be denied this opportunity because of violence or discrimination.”

LSU mishandled sexual misconduct complaints against students, including top athletes

USA Today | November 16, 2020 “Many universities operate from a fear of being sued in Title IX cases, said Sarah Nesbitt, a policy and advocacy organizer for the nonprofit, Know Your IX, citing a huge uptick in lawsuits filed by disciplined male students against their universities in the past five years.

‘Schools are not oblivious to the fact that even if they can defeat a lawsuit, it’s still a drain on resources,’ Nesbitt said.”

Joe Biden Won. Here’s What Higher Ed Can Expect.

Chronicle of Higher Education | November 7, 2020 “Sage Carson, manager of Know Your IX, a group that advocates for survivors of sexual assault, said the Trump administration’s approach represented a radical departure from decades of Education Department policy.

‘There is a hope that the Department of Education may return to the rules of the road,’ Carson said. ‘And that doesn’t mean a third term of the Obama administration, but more returning to what had been done on Title IX, and education, since the 80s.'”

Amy Coney Barrett Isn’t a “Handmaid’s Tale” Character—She’s Worse

POPDUST | October 9, 2020 “Amy Coney Barrett is a danger to modern feminism: she promotes archaic views on gender roles, doesn’t support workers’ rights, and she clearly does not believe in a person’s right to bodily autonomy as proven by her anti-choice views.”

Amy Coney Barrett Could Change Campus Sexual Assault Rules Forever

Newsweek | October 1, 2020 “Know Your IX, a political advocacy group, said the move ‘drastically rolls back protections for student survivors and makes it easier for schools to sweep sexual harassment under the rug.'”

A New Title IX Rule Essentially Allows Accused Sexual Assailants to Hide Evidence Against Them

Time | August 14, 2020 “This might not come as a surprise to anyone who has followed the administration’s logic for the new regulations. They have argued that the pendulum of justice has swung too far in the direction of survivors’ rights, requiring new due process protections for the accused. Due process, at its core, is about seeking the truth to ensure no one is unfairly deprived of their right to liberty or property. That includes encouraging all relevant evidence to ensure that our justice processes are, in fact, just. Hiding evidence has no place in a regulation allegedly put in place to protect the legitimacy of investigations and ensure a fair process for all parties.

And yet, it is precisely what the DeVos administration has allowed.”

Coronavirus Creates Title IX Obstacles

Inside Higher Ed | March 26, 2020 “Delays in cases such as Ray’s will have a number of adverse effects on survivors, said Sarah Nesbitt, a policy and advocacy organizer for Know Your IX, a network of student organizers that supports survivors of sexual violence. The defenders of accused students are ‘wielding the public health crisis to further strip survivors of their rights and access to education,’ Nesbitt said.”

Sexual Assault Investigations May Be Delayed As Coronavirus Disrupts Colleges

The Chronicle of Higher Education | March 23, 2020 “ [Faith] Ferber said she worries that colleges won’t take sexual assault as seriously now that many students aren’t on campus. ‘One of my concerns is that schools will think, because everyone is online and not really interacting with each other, that people aren’t really being impacted by the sexual assault or sexual harassment that they experienced,’ she said.”

Solutions for Shuttered Schools Sidestepped as Candidates Debate Coronavirus Response

Politico | March 16, 2020 “Sage Carson, manager of Know Your IX, said the confusion around the rules and the department’s stance is already preventing students from filing Title IX complaints with OCR or even their schools.”

How the New DeVos Rules on Sexual Assault Will Shock Schools- and Students

Politico | March 6, 2020 “‘We anticipate that these rules will be caught up in court for a while, and so we would encourage schools to halt changes that they may make to their policy until the rule is actually promulgated,’ said Sage Carson, manager of Know Your IX.”

What Betsy DeVos’ New Title IX Initiative on Sexual Assault Means for Schools

Education Week | February 26, 2020 “Know Your IX, a group that aims to end sexual and dating violence in schools, was pointedly unimpressed with the initiative: ‘Enforcing Title IX isn’t a *new* initiative… it is their job. But DeVos probably doesn’t know that since she has spent the last 3 years ensuring student survivors don’t have any rights to enforce.’”

Education Department Vows Probes of How Schools Handle Sexual Violence

The Washington Post | February 26, 2020 “The group Know Your IX, a project of the advocacy group Advocates for Youth, put the new announcement into that context. ‘We wish we could celebrate this new initiative from ED,” the group said on Twitter. “But we aren’t going to praise DeVos and Marcus for enforcing a law that they are simultaneously ripping to shreds. This PR stunt won’t soften the blow that survivors are about to face when DeVos drops her Title IX rule.”

Title IX Complicates Hill Negotiations on Higher Ed

Inside Higher Ed | February 18, 2020 “Sage Carson, executive director of Know Your IX, said the advocacy group is preparing to campaign to prod colleges and universities to take steps like continuing to investigate off-campus sexual assault and harassment, even if they are no longer required under the new rule.”

Is there room for religious discussion about forgiveness in cases of campus sexual assault?

Deseret News | February 11, 2020 “Advocates like 21-year-old Elizabeth Boyle, University of Notre Dame student body president and an organizer for Know Your IX, a youth-led nonprofit initiative, say removing oversight of Title IX exemptions may lead to abuses of the law, and allowing mediation could make it easier for schools to promote a ‘forgive and forget’ mentality when it comes to sexual assault.”

New Campus Sexual Misconduct Rules Will Tackle Dating Violence

Checkersaga | February 10, 2020 “‘There’s nonetheless a lingering concept that courting violence is an interpersonal concern that two of us have to work on, one thing that simply occurs between women and men, reasonably than seeing it as a type of violence that has an impression on training,’ mentioned Sage Carson, the supervisor of the victims’ rights advocacy group Know Your IX.”

Sexual Assault Remains Major Issue in US Higher Education

Voice of America News | January 18, 2020 “Ferber argues that colleges and universities in the U.S. cannot let fear of critical media attention prevent them from supporting abuse victims. And, she adds, conversations about sex and sexual violence in America need to change.”

Proposed Changes to Title IX Will Not Solve the Problems Of Sexual Assaults on College Campuses

The Hill | January 5, 2020 “Colleges must be given a reasonable period to adopt the new procedures, and advocacy groups like Know Your IX have already threatened litigation to block implementation.”

Sexual Assault Survivors Who Want Restorative Justice Have Limited Options

The Appeal | December 10, 2019 “And Sage Carson, who runs the youth civil rights group Know Your IX, said the survivors advocacy community is recognizing that prisons can result in further harm and might not always be the best way to hold people accountable. But they still encounter scenarios like one that Carson experienced when she worked with domestic violence survivors while in college in Delaware.

‘I remember sitting with our client and she said she was raped by her husband,’ Carson recalled, ‘and both officers looked at us and said, ‘Well that’s not a thing.’ Many of those systems are still at the point where they’re not taking the act of violence seriously.’”

NPR Illinois Can’t Report Freely on U of I Sexual Misconduct. These Groups Want That To Change

NPR Illinois | November 8, 2019 “Sage Carson, a manager with Know Your IX, an advocacy group that works to end sexual and dating violence at schools, called the application of the university’s directive to journalists ‘highly inappropriate.’

‘Student survivors seeking out media are not doing so to gain corrective measures from the journalist,’ she told NPR Illinois. She explained that this is why talking to a journalist, even one based on campus, is different than a student seeking out a faculty member, coach or other university employee with the ability to address the problem.

Why Aren’t Women’s Groups Talking About Katie Hill’s Resignation?

Feedimo News | October 28, 2019 “Campus anti-rape group Know Your IX—one of the few organizations that commented publicly—emphasized this dichotomy, tweeting that allegations of Hill’s inappropriate relationships came ‘after a campaign of harassment and revenge porn from an abusive ex-husband.’‘We need to talk about both pieces,’ the organization tweeted. Jaslin Kaur, a student engagement organizer for Know Your IX, told The Daily Beast the group was troubled by the allegations against Hill, but that she should have been able to admit to them ‘on her own terms.’ The leak of Hill’s private information and photos, she added, was a ‘textbook case’ of abuse and manipulation.’It just really shows that you can comply with investigations, you can still do everything to promote progressive cause, but you will still be vilified because your abuser has the power to turn world against you,’ Kaur said.”

“Reclaim the Court” Protest Calls for Kavanaugh Impeachment

The Black Print AU | October 19, 2019 “‘I’m sick of living in a country run by abusers. I’m sick of living in a country where laws about our bodies, our lives, and our futures are written by those abusers.’ said Sage Carson from Know Your IX, an advocacy group against gender-based violence in schools.”

1 in 16 Women’s First Sexual Experiences Were “Forced or Coerced”, a New Study Shows

Bustle | September 17, 2019 “For folks that work in sexual violence spaces, this news was not surprising,’ Sage Carson, the manager of Know Your IX, an advocacy group that works to end sexual violence in schools, tells Bustle. ‘We have known for a long time that young people experience extremely high rates of sexual violence, and also lack education and awareness about what healthy sexual relationships and encounters look like,’ she says, adding that it was helpful to see that what we’re seeing on the ground is also showing up in the data.’

This data supports the idea that rape is not just about sex, but ‘about power and abuse of power,’ Carson says. ‘This is just really breaking that down that people are taking their positionality and using that as a weapon to harm people.’”

DIY Rape Kits Are a Terrible Idea, Says Basically Everyone

Vice | September 5, 2019 “Not so, said Sage Carson, the manager of Know Your IX, an organization dedicated to ending sexual violence in schools. ‘The idea that rape kits will deter someone from committing violence is simply not founded in any research,’ she said. ‘Survivors that have access to a hospital have access to a sexual assault examination and that hasn’t stopped rapists from assaulting people.’”

OU Title IX looks to make changes, but some say students need more resources

OU Daily | September 3, 2019 “Faith Ferber, a campus organizer with Know Your IX, a group that researches and advocates Title IX issues at colleges and universities, said ideally OU should hire another Title IX coordinator to help oversee the office.

Another common concern with Title IX offices across the nation arises when a Title IX coordinator is not in possession of a law degree, Ferber said. ‘If your Title IX coordinators or your sexual misconduct officers don’t have those degrees, I would definitely want to find out more about what kind of training and expertise they have to be handling those kinds of cases,’ Ferber said.”

Despite #Metoo era, most colleges share little about sexual assaults

Capital News Service | August 13, 2019 “Survivors who want to get results need to ‘keep making a fuss, be annoying,’ explained Faith Ferber, a former student of American University and student organizer for Know Your IX. ‘You pay tuition to go to that school, do not stop demanding accountability and transparency, and don’t fall for the…PR lines that they take sexual violence very seriously and are committed to being transparent.’”

I Wasn’t My Rapist’s Type, Either

Romper | June 26, 2019 “Jaslin Kaur, a fellow survivor and state organizer with Know Your IX, agrees, saying it’s a need for power that causes rape — a violent act rooted in patriarchal norms. ‘It is a means of establishing control over another person by violating them physically and psychologically, the kind of violence engendering trauma that often lasts a lifetime,’ she says. ‘Shame and stigma, two more elements of patriarchy, unfortunately invisibilize and silence survivors while serving to protect perpetrators, maintaining that system of power.’

‘Trump is leading the public into dangerous thinking that only conventionally attractive women who dress a certain way are raped because their looks invite sexual attention,’ Kaur tells me. ‘Trump used a misguided, false, and violently misogynistic excuse to cover up yet another accusation in a trial of stories that are increasingly difficult to read.'”

Lawmakers considering ways to curb secrecy in sexual-misconduct cases at Washington universities

Seattle Times | June 22, 2019 “We cannot continue to take away the consent of survivors and decide what they’re going to like or appreciate later on,” Carson said. “The rapist has already taken their consent away and we should not continue to replicate that abuse of power through our system and through our laws.”

First They Told Their Stories. Now They Want Their Money.

HuffPost | May 12, 2019 “‘Title IX investigations should typically last around 60 days,’ Sage Carson, manager at the advocacy group Know Your IX, told HuffPost.

Education Department allows extra day for comments on Title IX rules

Washington Post | February 12, 2019 “’It was unacceptable that on the final day of the comment period, students, survivors of sexual violence and their families were unable to voice how the proposed changes would impact them,’ said Sage Carson, manager of the Know Your IX campaign, a project of the advocacy group Advocates for Youth.”

Feature: Sexual Assaults on College Campuses: Is Title IX Working?

Worcester Magazine | January 31, 2019 “’The goal was to look at how the Department of Education had really failed to robustly enforce Title IX,’ said spokeswoman Alyssa Peterson. ‘Schools were behaving with impunity toward students and there was a thorough lack of understanding about what students’ rights were.’

Peterson believes many individuals choose not to pursue a criminal case based on their impressions of how the legal system treats survivors.”

‘Oftentimes,’ Peterson said, ‘when people have a choice to take a civil rights option, as opposed to a very punitive criminal process that is sometimes abusive to them, they will opt for the Title IX process. Corollary to that, a lot of people will want the school to have their rapists removed from campus, but they don’t want that person incarcerated.’”

College Groups Blast DeVos Title IX Proposal

Inside Higher Ed | January 31, 2019 “Sage Carson, executive director of Know Your IX, said an investigative process that takes many months to reach a conclusion is detrimental to both survivors and respondents.

‘I understand the colleges feeling pressed by the need to wrap things up within 60 days. What is problematic to me is there is no alternative timeline,’ she said. ‘Just removing it altogether is not good for anyone involved in this process.’”

Nearly 100,000 comments on Betsy DeVos’s plan to overhaul rules on sexual assault probes

Washington Post | January 30, 2019 “Two advocacy groups reported, on the final day for comments, that the government website was having problems after supporters reported error messages when they tried to file comments. ‘We’re very concerned’ assault survivors would lose another chance to be heard, after a process that had seemed dismissive of their views all along, said Sage Carson, manager of the group Know Your IX.”

Government website outages prevent comments on sexual assault Title IX rule changes

Mashable | January 30, 2019 “‘DeVos and the Department of education have said that feedback from the public is essential to ensure a rule that is fair for all– but every step of the way students and survivors have been cut out of the process,’ Sage Carson, the manager of Know Your IX, wrote in a statement sent to Mashable.”

Trump Administration Gets An Earful On New Campus Sexual Assault Rules

NPR | January 30, 2019 “At a recent meeting of the Boston University Students For Reproductive Freedom club, Sage Carson with the survivor advocacy group, Know Your IX joined in by video conference, updating students on what the proposals would do.

‘I’ll be blunt,’ she says, ‘It’s devastating.’ She tells the students the proposed rules would mean schools don’t automatically have to investigate incidents alleged to have occurred in private, off-campus apartments, or misconduct that is reported to a coach or resident advisor, for example, instead of the official Title IX officer.”

When College Rapists Graduate

New York Times | January 29, 2019 “Among other changes, her proposed rule would require schools to dismiss all incidents that do not meet an extremely narrow definition of sexual harassment: ‘so severe, pervasive and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person equal access’ to education. As Dana Bolger, a co-founder of Know Your IX, a national youth-led campaign against sexual violence, has pointed out, some courts have ruled that a rape does not meet this standard.”

The Dialogue Started; Now Protect Black Women And Girls.

Forbes | January 29, 2019 “When it comes to sexual violence, too often the only people to face consequences or repercussions are survivors. We alone carry the weight of our abuse. This continued lack of accountability clearly demonstrates a societal acceptance and perpetuation of rape culture. Over the last few weeks, many have been unpacking #SurvivingRKelly, a six-part series exploring the twenty-five-year history of allegations and court cases of child sexual abuse and domestic violence against well-known R&B singer, R. Kelly. While watching #SurvivingRKelly, I had so many thoughts running through my head, but I found them difficult to fully articulate at the moment. I was in disbelief—not because I admired R. Kelly or his actions came as a revelation—but because nobody protected these women. There were so many adults in the same spaces as R. Kelly. Adults that knew about his abusive, manipulative, and controlling behavior—and what did they do to stop it? Absolutely nothing. They protected a serial predator at the expense of Black women and girls. As R. Kelly receives continued support from women—especially Black women—despite his long history of sexual abuse, I see that, among young, Black survivors, there are many different stories, but always a shared experience: our lives are not valued.”

Comment on new federal rules for college sexual assault cases ends this week

The Columbus Dispatch | January 28, 2019 “Some critics of the proposed rules wrote that the new guidelines would erode protections for survivors of sexual assault. Several commenters said the proposal would mean that schools such as Michigan State, Ohio State and Baylor universities ‘would be let off the hook,’ in some cases, echoing language of Title IX advocacy groups like Know Your IX.”

Students pen comments on Title IX rules

Yale Daily News | January 25, 2019 “Yale currently uses the ‘preponderance of the evidence’ standard to adjudicate sexual misconduct cases, which is mandated by Connecticut state law. But the federal regulations may overrule existing state laws, which Peterson said remains an ‘unsettled legal question.’ Under the new system, schools would also be required to apply the same evidentiary standard to all disciplinary procedures, including adjudicatory processes for sexual misconduct, academic dishonesty and racial discrimination.”

Wendy Davis asks students to help in Title IX fight

The Daily Texan | January 24, 2019 “UT Students for Planned Parenthood and It’s On Us, an Obama-era campaign fighting sexual assault, organized the event at WeWork University Park. Davis was joined by Sage Carson, manager of Know Your IX, and Kate Cartagena, a program manager at Planned Parenthood.”

There’s a Quiet #MeToo Movement Unfolding in the Government’s Comments Section

Mother Jones | January 15, 2019 “Activist groups like End Rape on Campus and Know Your IX launched a hashtag campaign, #HandsOffIX, and published guides for submitting comments online.”

With Deadline Looming, Groups Urge Public to Speak Out Against DeVos’ Plan to Steamroll Rights for Sexual Assault Survivors

Common Dreams | January 2, 2019 “Know Your IX, which is staging a ‘Hands Off IX’ joint campaign with End Rape on Campus, also recently tweeted a graphic to sum up the proposal:

Don’t have time to read @BetsyDeVosED ‘s rule on Title IX? No problem. We broke down the most important points for you here. By reading up and submiting a comment, you’ll protect current and future students’ civil rights. #HandsOffIX https://t.co/CqAEk5wZwJ pic.twitter.com/SUTBh13dmU

— Know Your IX (@knowyourIX) December 5, 2018

What House Democrats may try on Title IX

Politico | December 10, 2018 “The bill has 41 Democratic co-sponsors and the support of several advocacy groups opposing DeVos’ proposal, including the National Women’s Law Center, the American Association of University Women and Know Your IX.”

Got a comment on the DeVos Title IX rules? Join the crowd

Politico | December 10, 2018 “’There was a lot of energy, a lot of anger,’ Mina Aria, a Wash U alum and organizer with Know Your IX, said about the school’s event, which included pizza.

‘I think energized is the best word to describe the mood. It’s really cool because it’s the end of the semester and they have other papers to write and other finals to study for. They made time to stay for those hours on a Friday.’

Aria said students are concerned that schools would have to respond only to incidents that happened on school-owned properties or at school-sponsored programs or events, under the proposal. Students also were angry it would permit cross-examination during live hearings, and that mediation could be used to resolve complaints.”

New Title IX guidelines are a step backward for sexual assault survivors

Daily Orange | December 9, 2018 “’We live in a society that the credibility of survivors is questioned more than the guilt of the accused,’ said Venkayla Haynes, an organizer of Know Your IX, a youth-led project that empowers students to end and prevent sexual violence in schools, in an email.”

Concrete ways you can fight Betsy DeVos’s dangerous changes to Title IX

Hello Giggles | December 6, 2018 “Hands Off IX, a partnership between advocacy organization End Rape on Campus and the student-led group Know Your IX, has a template for making sure that every word of your comment counts.”

Dem senators call on DeVos to rescind new campus sexual assault policies

The Hill | November 28, 2018 “Sage Carson, the manager of advocacy group Know Your IX, at the press conference said that she ‘was able to finish school’ because of Title IX, the civil rights law that sexual assault claims are adjudicated under.

She said her assault occurred off-campus.

‘In the months following my assault, my grades steadily dropped,’ Carson said. ‘I was forced to see him every time I went to class.’ She said, after a lengthy Title IX process, she was able to bring a ‘no-contact order’ against her alleged assailant.”

Student Groups Spring into Action Against ‘Harmful’ Proposed Changes to Title IX

The Harvard Crimson | November 2018, 2018 “The letter, written in concert with national anti-sexual violence organization Know Your IX, charges that the ‘proposed changes to Title IX would deter survivors from initiating Title IX processes, leaving them without recourse in a hostile environment.’”

Betsy DeVos’s New Harassment Rules Protect Schools, Not Students

New York Times | November 27, 2018 “We have federal civil rights law like Title IX for a reason. Fifty years ago, schools were allowed to impose all sorts of sexist restrictions on girls’ ability to learn. They could exclude girls from math and science classes and push them out of school for getting pregnant. We passed Title IX to end that.

Thirty-four percent of sexual assault victims, most of them women and girls, drop out of college. Others still are pushed out of their high schools. That’s alarming and should make harassment the sex equality issue of our generation. Our educations shouldn’t depend on whether we live in a school district that cares about girls’ rights. What a shame that’s the world Betsy DeVos is returning us to.”

What the DeVos Title IX Rule Means for Misconduct Off Campus

Inside Higher Ed | November 27, 2018 “Advocates for survivors of sexual assault, though, are still wary about the implications of the new requirements advanced by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. Sage Carson, executive director of Know Your IX, said many off-campus fraternity houses aren’t officially recognized by their colleges.

‘It seems to be her way of skirting around our concerns,’ she said of DeVos.”

Student activists plan to fight proposed campus sex assault rules

CBS News | November 21, 2018 “Clarissa Brooks, a campus organizer for Know Your IX and regional adviser for It’s On Us at Spelman College, believes the new regulations put students in danger and can lead to prolonged investigations.

During the possibly prolonged investigations, the accused would be allowed to cross-examine the accuser in campus hearings, as well as review and respond to all evidence. Brooks said she has seen evidence that includes things like financial records, text messages, or physical evidence of assault. She stressed that handing these over to the assailant places more trauma on the survivor.

“It also gives the assailant access to your friends’ phone numbers, your family’s phone numbers — it’s just unsafe,” she said.

What to Know About The Title IX Changes—And How You Can Fight Them

Marie Claire | November 20, 2018 “The site HandsOffIX.org—a partnership between End Rape on Campus and the youth-led project Know Your IX—hopes to make the process as simple as possible. When the comment period opens, likely later this week, head to HandsOffIX.org to view data you can use in your comment, alternatives you can propose, and foreseeable problems with DeVos’ rule changes. If you write your own comment, the site will also provide the opportunity to have it vetted by a law student, who can make sure it will count under the APA. The site will also set up tools if you want to host your own comment-writing events around the country.”

It’s hard to find good in Carolina’: A look inside reporting sexual assault under Title IX

The Daily Tarheel | November 19, 2018 “Elizabeth Boyle, an organizer for Know Your IX, said the organization has a website called Hands Off IX that explains how to submit a comment.

Boyle said the wording of the proposal uses ambiguous language that leaves decisions up to schools. She said it’s important students talk with their school administration about the guidelines.

‘Right now, survivors should continue to fight for their rights because they should have them,’ she said. ‘Advocates themselves who feel they have the capacity to keep fighting should push their schools to do the right thing. Begin to have those conversations about what their schools are going to do.'”

Sexual Assault Survivors & Advocates On Why Betsy DeVos’ Title IX Plan Is So Dangerous

Bustle | November 16, 2018 “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 Betsey DeVos roll back our rights without a fight.”

Betsy DeVos Wants to Protect the Accused & Schools at the Expense of Sexual Assault Survivors

The Mary Sue | November 16, 2018 “Sage Carson, manager of the anti-sexual violence organization Know Your IX, said, ‘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.’”

These Campus Sexual Assault Organizations Need Your Support With DeVos’ Title IX Proposal

Bustle | November 16, 2018 “Youth-led political advocacy group Know Your IX has been working to empower students to end end sexual and dating violence on campuses across the country. Along with training, organizing, and supporting survivor student activists, the group also serves to educate students at both the high school and college level about their right to an education free of gender-based violence and discrimination as guaranteed to them through Title IX.”

“This will make schools less safe”: why Betsy DeVos’s sexual assault rules have advocates worried

Vox | November 16, 2018 “’Preponderance of the evidence is the only standard that values both parties’ access to education equally,’ Alyssa Peterson, the policy and advocacy coordinator of the group Know Your IX, told Vox last year.”

Betsy DeVos’ proposed sexual assault rules change definition of sexual harassment

Think Progress | November 16, 2018 “The department then released interim guidance that was widely criticized by experts on campus sexual assault and civil rights protections, such as Know Your IX, a sexual assault survivor advocacy group.”

How To Comment On Betsy DeVos’ Title IX Proposal So She Knows Your Opinion On Her Plan

Bustle | November 16, 2018 “To help ensure those who’d like to comment on the proposed rule don’t miss out, End Rape on Campus and Know Your IX have collaborated on an effort, Hands Off IX, that creates an email alert notifying those interested when the notice and comment period has officially begun. Know Your IX also put together resources to assist those interested in learning how to write a really effective comment.”

Federal Proposal to Redefine Gender Throws College Policies Into Uncertainty

The Chronicle | October 22, 2018 “In the meantime, transgender-rights groups are sounding the alarm. Protesters rallied in front of the White House on Monday. Hashtags like #WeWontBeErased are circulating on Twitter. The changes proposed in the memo are a ‘direct threat to all students’ right to an education free from discrimination and violence,’ said Know Your IX, an advocacy group.”

Education Dept. overstated endorsements of for-profit college accreditor

Politico | October 5, 2018 “Twenty-nine victims of sexual assault will visit Capitol Hill Saturday to ask key Senate Republicans to reject Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court. The group later plans to participate in a rally on the steps of the Supreme Court. The events are being organized by prominent education groups advocating against campus sexual assault, including End Rape on Campus, Know Your IX and the National Women’s Law Center.”

These Groups Met With Betsy DeVos on Changing Campus Rape Guidelines. Now They’re Backing Brett Kavanaugh.

Rewire News | Oct 3, 2018 “DeVos ‘is now advocating for processes that inhibit safe testimony, like mediation and direct cross examination; a one-sided right to appeal (for the accused only); and a standard of evidence that not only fails to comport with that used in comparable civil processes but also that, by definition, prioritizes the accused student’s right to educational access over that of the complainant,’ Sarah Nesbitt, policy and advocacy organizer at Know Your IX, which advocates for better protections for survivors of campus sexual violence, told Rewire.News.”

Trump: ‘A Very Scary Time’ for Young Men

Inside Higher Ed | October 3, 2018 “Alyssa Peterson, a state organizer with the activist group Know Your IX called it ‘unconscionable’ that the Education Department is pushing the rollback of protections for survivors despite the Me Too movement and the continued national reckoning around sexual assault issues, noting that Trump too has been publicly accused of sexual misconduct by at least 15 women.

‘It just shows how out of touch they are,’ Peterson said.”

Betsy DeVos expected to change campus sexual assault proceedings to benefit the accused

Business Insider | October 1, 2018 “Sejal Singh with the advocacy group Know Your IX, which refers to a federal anti-discrimination law, said the Senate testimony should compel DeVos to boost protections for the victims of sexual harassment, not the perpetrators.

‘Betsy DeVos should consider how to interrupt sexual violence when the people who commit it are in school and before they are nominated to the Supreme court,’ Singh said.”

Kavanaugh Case Unfolds as DeVos Readies Sexual Assault Rule

NBC Connecticut | October 1, 2018 “Sejal Singh with the advocacy group Know Your IX, which refers to a federal anti-discrimination law, said the Senate testimony should compel DeVos to boost protections for the victims of sexual harassment, not the perpetrators.

‘Betsy DeVos should consider how to interrupt sexual violence when the people who commit it are in school and before they are nominated to the Supreme court,’ Singh said.”

Reports of sexual misconduct up 63% at Michigan State; investigations taking longer

Lansing State Journal | September 27, 2018 “In the past five years, more people have come forward to report sexual violence thanks to survivors speaking out, leading colleges and universities to take notice, said Sage Carson, manager of the victim advocacy organization Know Your IX.

‘Students often faced backlash and were pushed out of college for coming forward,’ Carson said. ‘The increase in activism led to campuses changing policies, which led people to think they could report and that there were fair processes and procedures.’”

We Clearly Still Need To Talk About How Sexual Assault Reports Are Handled

Bustle | Sept 26 2018 “We must believe survivors and conduct fair investigations that focus on uncovering the truth, without room for re-traumatization through harsh public hearings or direct cross-examination in educational settings. Indeed, as Anita Hill argues, “The reluctance of someone to come forward demonstrates that even in the #MeToo era, it remains incredibly difficult to report harassment, abuse or assault by people in power. Given the seriousness of these allegations, the government needs to find a fair and neutral way for complaints to be investigated.”

Thousands Participate In Nationwide Walkout To Protest Brett Kavanaugh

Now This | September 25, 2018 “Know Your IX manager Sage Carson says she’s protesting Kavanaugh to protect future generations.

‘Young people are seeing right now how the public treats survivors when they come forward,’ she said. ‘And if we move Kavanaugh forward and we appoint him the highest court in the land, we are going to stop a generation of survivors from speaking out, because the public has shown them that their voices don’t matter.’

‘It is unacceptable that we continue to ignore survivor’s stories for our own political convenience,’ she said. ‘This country and this administration and the public constantly ask survivors to put their trauma on display and to talk about the pain that they’ve experienced, to talk about the violence they experienced as if us doing so is going to change the world that we live in. But we’ve seen time and time again that no matter how many times we talk about our trauma, people do not believe us.’”

Yale students skip class, protest Kavanaugh at Supreme Court

The Mercury News | September 24, 2018 “‘The Senate’s treatment of our own alumna Anita Hill more than two decades ago sent a crystal-clear message to women and to all people who have experienced sexual violence: We don’t care about you,’ said Dana Bolger, a third-year law student at Yale who was formerly co-director of Know Your IX, which advocates against sexual violence in schools. Title IX is a law that prohibits sex discrimination at schools that receive federal funding. ‘We demand that the Senate not repeat this same shameful mistake again. We state unequivocally that we believe and stand with Professor Blasey Ford and Debbie Ramirez.’”

Leaked Title IX Rule Would Allow Religious Schools to Discriminate—Without Saying Why

Rewire | September 18, 2018 “’The proposed rules would allow schools, that are looking to punish and push out students that are queer or using birth control, to be exempt from Title IX without ever clarifying their reasoning. Not requiring schools to submit a letter requesting exemption to Title IX is a change in policies and procedures that have existed for 46 years,’ Sage Carson, manager of Know Your IX, a survivor-led advocacy group that seeks to end sexual assault and dating violence in schools, said in an email to Rewire.News. ‘These changes may discourage schools from clarifying if and when they will discriminate and/or punish a students for coming out, or disclosing they are using birth control. These changes will harm queer students and limit their knowledge of when a school may take disciplinary action against them for disclosing their sexuality or gender identity.’”

‘Title IX Requires Schools to Handle All Allegations Promptly and Equitably’

Fair | September 9, 2018 “Betsy DeVos has absolutely misrepresented the contents of the Dear Colleague letter, which helped survivors like me access education after we were sexually assaulted on our campuses. The Dear Colleague letter, as you stated, clarified that Title IX applies to instances of sexual violence, and for people like me, it was the first time that I had heard anything more than Title IX covers women’s sports. For a lot of us, it provided us with hope after we were assaulted. It helped us access the resources that we needed, because the Dear Colleague letter told us that our school was required to provide us with counseling, with housing accommodations, with extensions on term papers, that really helped many of us stay in school after we were assaulted.”

Campus Sexual Assault: How Will DeVos’ Proposed Policies Impact Victims?

Rolling Stone | August 30, 2018 “Victims’ advocates are decrying these new policies as a step backward in protection for victims of campus assault and harassment. ‘As I see it, there is absolutely no defensible reason for such a proposal,’ says Sejal Singh, a policy expert with advocacy group Know Your IX. ‘DeVos is making it easier for schools to get away with doing nothing while sexual violence pushes survivors off campus.'”

A Step-by-Step Guide to Trump’s New College Sexual-Assault Policy

The Atlantic | August 30, 2018 “Many—if not most—incidents of campus sexual assault and harassment occur off campus, says Sage Carson, a manager at the nonprofit Know Your IX. Eighty-seven percent of U.S. college students live outside campus bounds, and it’s common for assaults to take place in a student’s place of residence. Accusers at community colleges, where, in most cases, all students live off-campus, will be particularly affected by this clause in DeVos’s rules.”

Why sex assault survivors are fuming over DeVos proposal

Detroit Free Press | August 30, 2018 “Sage Carson, the manager of Know Your IX, a victim advocacy organization, said she was in the grocery store when she first heard of the change. She sunk to the ground, she told the Free Press, in shock.

‘This is the most pro-school and pro-perpetrator moves since the creation of Title IX 45 years ago,’ she said.”

How To Stop Betsy DeVos’ Proposed Campus Sexual Assault Rules Because There’s Still Time

Bustle | August 29, 2018 “Find an advocacy organization at your university or alma mater and volunteer to help. Groups like End Rape on Campus (EROC), Know Your IX, and NO MORE advocate for survivors of sexual assault and harassment, and offer educational resources to college students looking to support their peers.”

Betsy DeVos Says She Wants to Keep Schools Safe and Equitable. Her Policies Tell a Different Story

Teen Vogue | August 28, 2018 “Elizabeth Boyle, a 19-year-old rising junior at the University of Notre Dame, is a student organizer with Know Your IX. After DeVos rescinded the preponderance of evidence standard, Elizabeth and another student wrote an open letter urging the school to ‘re-commit’ to the Obama administration’s policy. When DeVos moved to rescind it, ‘It’s almost as if everything we’d been given to support us…was just stripped away in a moment,’ Elizabeth says. ‘We were left there empty-handed.’”

THIS IS THE RANKING COLLEGES FEAR MOST

OZY | August 28, 2018 “If Bolger had wanted a resource that consolidated data like this, she would’ve been out of luck. Today, the graduate of Amherst College advises students and parents to ask questions about a university’s sexual assault trainings, rates of sexual violence and the percentage of students who are suspended for misconduct. As a co-founder of Know Your IX, a political advocacy group that educates students about their federal Title IX rights, Bolger understands which questions reveal the nuances of a climate.”

A Mole at Baylor?

Inside Higher Ed | August 27, 2018 “Students should only work with administrators when clear boundaries are established and they are up front about representing the institution, said Alyssa Peterson, a policy coordinator with the advocacy organization Know Your IX, a reference to the federal gender antidiscrimination law Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. She called Baylor ‘unethical.'”

New Disclosures About an NYU Professor Reignite a War Over Gender and Harassment

The Chronicle | August 15, 2018 “‘Feminists aren’t a monolith,’ tweeted Dana Bolger, a founder of Know Your IX, an organization that advocates for victims of gender-based violence, on Tuesday.”

Ohio State Investigation: How Title IX could determine whether Urban Meyer coaches again

The Columbus Dispatch | August 2, 2018 “This is a tough case,” said Alyssa Peterson, policy and advocacy coordinator at Know Your IX, an advocacy group aimed and ending sexual and dating violence in schools. “Title IX looks at the civil rights of students and it doesn’t cover people who are affiliated to employees.”

But Peterson added that Smith “could have also been a danger to someone in the (football) program.”

“If that’s true, the university then has a responsibility to correct the hostile environment,” she said.

Experts: University of Kentucky’s sexual assault policy may be illegal

The Courier Journal | July 11, 2018 “‘I think they’ll definitely see a chilling effect with respect to formal complaints,’ said Alyssa Peterson of Know Your IX, a campaign to educate students about their legal rights under the civil rights law that prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded education programs.”

We Need to Include Black Women’s Experience in the Movement Against Campus Sexual Assault

The Nation | June 15, 2018 “Clarissa Brooks is a senior at Spelman College and student organizer with Atlanta University Center’s organizations Shut It Down, It’s On Us, and Know Your IX, all efforts addressing sexual assault. Brooks believes that college administrators tend to prioritize the voices of certain survivors over others.

‘If you’re a straight-A student, if you’re the president of a club, then I can take your story more seriously than I would somebody who isn’t doing as well in school, isn’t part of clubs, has a reputation for being more sexually active than another student,’ Brooks said. ‘So if you can be as close to the Ivy League Harvard student, as close to whiteness as possible, then we can believe you, but if you’re not, then it’s just not gonna cut it.'”

Michigan State Settles Nassar Lawsuits for $500 Million

Inside Higher Ed | May 17, 2018 “By settling, the university with acknowledged the financial fallout of rape and sexual assault, said Alyssa Peterson, policy organizer for advocacy group Know Your IX. But administrators should consider further measures that students and others have lobbied for — free counseling, or expunging from transcripts poor grades that may have resulted from the abuse.”

Hundreds of students stage walkout against high school’s handling of sexual assault case

Think Progress | May 1, 2018 “The Obama-era guidance ’empowered campus sexual assault survivors like us to walk into meetings with school officials knowing that colleges couldn’t push us to withdraw from school until our perpetrators graduated,’ Dana Bolger and Alexandra Brodsky, former co-directors of Know Your IX, wrote in a Washington Post op-ed following the Education Department’s rescission of the guidance.”

The “Consent. Ask For It” Campaign Wants To Help Spread Consent Culture On College Campuses — And Here’s How You Can Get The Conversation Going Too

Bustle | April 5, 2018 “You can ensure your school is following the law and helping to end sexual harassment by getting involved in the Know Your IX initiative.”

DeVos assailed by protestors at college campuses in Boston 

Washington Post | September 28 2017 “I’m protesting because I have seen firsthand that sexual violence routinely pushes survivors out of schools,” said Sejal Singh, a 24-year-old law student. Singh is an activist with Know Your IX, an advocacy group that works on issued related to campus gender violence. Singh believes DeVos has not done enough to hear from survivors of sexual assault. “If she’s not going to take time to listen to survivors and advocates, then we’re going to have to come to her,” Singh said.

DeVos to Replace Obama-Era Sexual Assault Guidelines

Inside Higher Education | September 8, 2017 “Alyssa Peterson, a policy coordinator with Know Your IX, said the tone of DeVos’s comments and her decision to embark on a formal, legalistic process showed she wasn’t listening to survivors. Know Your IX and other groups have urged the department to undertake a listening tour, as the Obama administration did before issuing the 2011 guidance. ‘The power imbalance between resourced schools and survivors is really immense,’ she said. ‘They’re creating this process that will be very hard for people they claim to care about to participate in.'”

Protesters concerned after DeVos calls for changes to Title IX

ABC WJLA | September 7, 2017 “We fear that any changes to that, is really going to tip the scales against survivors,” says Sage [C]arson, a spokesperson for ‘Know Your IX’, a survivors support group. “Before the ‘Dear Colleague Letter’, survivors sometimes, when they reported their assault, were asked to leave campus until their rapist graduated, or were told that they didn’t matter.”

Title IX system ‘pushed schools to overreach’ against sexual assault, DeVos says

The Columbus Dispatch | September 7, 2017 “‘Today’s announcement risks taking us back to the days when sexual violence routinely compromised survivors’ access to education and schools swept sexual assault under the rug,’ Know Your IX, a national, survivor- and youth-led campaign to end sexual violence in schools, said in a statement”

DeVos planning to scrap Obama rules on campus sexual assault

Star Tribune | September 7, 2017 “Activists from Know Your IX, an advocacy group for sexual-assault survivors, said the speech sent the message that colleges won’t be held accountable for protecting students. ‘I really fear that DeVos will take us back to the days when schools routinely violated survivors’ rights and pushed sexual assault under the rug,’ said Sejal Singh, a policy coordinator for the group.”

How To Argue About Title IX If Betsy DeVos’ Decision Makes You Absolutely Livid

Bustle | September 7, 2017 “According to the advocacy group Know Your IX, having the criminal justice system would make sexual assault investigations slower and more painful for the victims. When schools successfully investigate cases, they can provide accommodations for the supposed victims — academic considerations, housing changes, etc. — far more quickly than the criminal justice system could.”

Citing Obama-Era Failures, DeVos Will Replace Landmark Directive on Sexual Assault

The Chronicle of Higher Education | September 7, 2017 “Advocates told The Chronicle on Wednesday that the situation was ominous. During a notice-and-comment period, survivors of sexual assault may be placed at a disadvantage in having their voices heard, said Alyssa Peterson, a policy coordinator for Know Your IX, an advocacy organization for sexual-assault survivors.”

Betsy Devos Is Harming Sexual Assault Victims By Changing Title IX Guidance, Advocates Say

Newsweek | September 7, 2017 “In a statement, the group Know Your IX said, ‘Today, Secretary DeVos sent the message to student and survivors across the country that the Department of Education doesn’t have their back…. Today’s announcement risks taking us back to the days when sexual violence routinely compromised survivors’ access to education and schools swept sexual assault under the rug.’”

Schools need to get better at fighting sexual assault. Betsy DeVos isn’t helping.

Vox | September 7, 2017 “The letter includes clear procedural recommendations which, if enacted, would have prevented many of the situations DeVos cited in her speech, said Alyssa Peterson, the policy and advocacy coordinator of the group Know Your IX. ‘For me, the issue is implementation,” she explained. ‘If the department was really serious, they would hold schools accountable when they fail survivors and accused students.”‘

Betsy DeVos Says The Title IX System Has ‘Failed’ Both Survivors And The Accused

The Huffington Post | September 7, 2017 “Alexandra Brodsky, a civil rights attorney and co-founder of KnowYourIX, told HuffPost earlier this week that rescinding the 2011 Dear Colleague Letter does not actually change the law. ‘The [Title IX] law hasn’t changed at all,” Brodsky told HuffPost. “Survivors have the same rights, schools have the same responsibility.'”

Betsy DeVos Reveals Plan To Overhaul Obama-Era Campus Rape Policies

Buzzfeed | September 7, 2017 “Victims’ rights organization Know Your IX criticized the administration’s plan immediately following the announcement. ‘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,’ the group said in a statement. ‘We have no faith that a President who brags about sexually assaulting women is interested in building a system that’s fair for survivors.'”

A Sexual Assault Survivor Explains Why She Protested Betsy DeVos

Elite Daily | July 27, 2017 “That she decided to meet with at least one group that has outed survivors before — and that she only gave survivors 90 minutes to tell their stories — was, according to Know Your IX Program Manager Mahroh Jahangiri, not enough. And when Know Your IX cofounders Dana Bolger and Alexandra Brodsky wrote a Washington Post op-ed criticizing the department’s inclusion of men’s rights groups, they were swiftly disinvited from the meeting, according to Brodsky.” 

Democrats And Republicans To Betsy DeVos: Don’t Keep Campus Rape Investigations “In The Dark”

BuzzFeed News | July 26, 2017 “‘The Department of Education’s role isn’t to serve as PR consultants for these schools; it is to protect students,” Mahroh Jahangiri, executive director of Know Your IX, told BuzzFeed News. ‘It is critical that the Department does its job by holding schools accountable and providing students and their families with the information they deserve about whether their school is following — or violating — the law.'”

More Criticism of Top Ed Civil Rights Official

Inside Higher Ed | July 21, 2017 “‘While we understand that you have met with a few survivors already, we believe that a single 90-minute session is not sufficient to understand the full scope and impact of gender violence in schools; far more engagement is necessary to write thoughtful, evidence-based policy on this issue,’ wrote Know Your IX project manager Mahroh Jahangiri in a separate letter to DeVos and Jackson this week.”

20 Attorneys General Wrote a Letter to Betsy DeVos Asking Her Not to Reverse Protections for Sexual Assault Survivors

Glamour | July 20, 2017 “‘The Department is suggesting they may roll back [the progress of the Obama administration],’ Sejal Singh, a policy and advocacy coordinator for Know Your IX, recently told Glamour, ‘and return to the days when schools swept sexual violence under the rug and pushed survivors out of school.'”

Betsy DeVos met with men’s rights groups about campus rape. As a survivor, I’m terrified.

Vox | July 19, 2017 “Given this and department officials’ outrageous and baseless endorsement of this rape myth, it is clear to me that the real motivation behind these rollbacks is not a concern for fair process, but rather age-old misogyny that argues women always lie. It’s a belief that’s been disproven many times.”

#INeedIX: Survivors of Sexual Assault on Campus Want DeVos’ Time

Rewire News | July 19, 2017 “Standing before the doors of the Department of Education, Sejal Singh, policy and advocacy coordinator at Know Your IX, said, ‘We won’t be silent while our peers are harassed, raped, and pushed out of school.'”

Advocacy groups react after Title IX summit with Betsy DeVos

USA Today | July 14, 2017 “Brodsky hopes DeVos will continue listening to survivors. ‘DeVos really needs to go to where they are. She needs to travel to schools and to campuses to hear directly from students who have a wide range of experiences and needs of survivors before she makes a critical, high-stakes decision,’ Brodsky says.”

Survivors of Campus Rape Plead with DeVos to Protect Their Rights

Broadly | July 14th, 2017 “The DCL is important because no survivor who is a freshman in college and experiencing trauma should have to go through 30 years of case law and regulations to understand what her rights are,’ says Singh, who says she experienced sexual harassment personally at Columbia University.”

Inside the Organizations That Support Accused Campus Rapists

Glamour |  July 14, 2017 “‘There’s a popular narrative that survivors and advocates want to create secret hearing processes that automatically throw accused students out of school—but nothing could be further from the truth’, says Sejal Singh, a policy and advocacy coordinator for Know Your IX.”

Why is Betsy DeVos enabling rape deniers?

The Guardian | July 14, 2017  “DeVos’ office also rescinded an invitation to the campus anti-rape organization Know Your IX after the group’s founders wrote an op-ed criticizing DeVos. They also later signed on to a letter, penned and signed by more than a 100 rape survivors, noted that DeVos has refused to commit herself to enforcing title IX, the law that bans sex discrimination in higher education.”

Did Betsy DeVos hurt sexual assault survivors by agreeing to hear “both sides”?

Mic | July 14, 2017 “Singh pointed out that DeVos deliberately disinvited her organization, Know Your IX, after the group penned a scathing op-ed in the Washington Post, accusing the Trump administration of trying to sweep Title IX investigations under the rug.”

The Dept. of Education Is Taking Misogynists More Seriously Than Rape SurvivorsThe Dept. of Education Is Taking Misogynists More Seriously Than Rape Survivors

Broadly | July 14, 2017 “The Department of Education can and must ensure school disciplinary hearings are fair both to survivors and to accused students—but not if they start by listening to hate groups and implying that survivors are liars. Their actions don’t reflect a principled commitment to fair process: They reflect a willingness to entertain the same, tired misogyny that survivors have faced since the dawn of time.”

Columbia Settles With Student Cast as a Rapist in Mattress Art Project

The New York Times | July 14, 2017 “‘I hope that schools don’t interpret this as a sign that they should be cracking down on student activism,’ said Dana Bolger, a founder of the organization Know Your IX, which is focused on ending sexual violence on college campuses. She added, ‘Especially now as we see some retrenchment from the current administration, it’s more important than ever that student speech is allowed to thrive on campuses.'”

How Sexual Assault Survivors Feel Following Controversial Meeting With Betsy DeVos

The Huffington Post | July 13, 2017 “‘My big hope is that DeVos realizes ― counter to the narrative painted by the ideologues that are advising her ― is that gender violence in schools is a complex and very real problem that requires deeper research and many more conversations to fully understand,’ Brodsky said.”

DeVos: Too many college students have been treated unfairly under Obama-era sexual assault policy

The Washington Post | July 13, 2017 “On the concrete plaza outside the agency’s D.C. headquarters, activists read the stories of survivors from across the country while DeVos held her meetings inside. ‘Survivors want to make it very clear that we deserve to be listened to,’ said Mahroh Jahangiri of the advocacy group Know Your IX, one of the event’s organizers.”

After Meeting With DeVos, Title IX Activists Say They Still Have Many Questions

The Chronicle of Higher Education | July 13, 2017 “Also, leaders of one prominent advocacy group, Know Your IX, said they were abruptly excluded from the meeting with Ms. DeVos. Sejal Singh, a policy and advocacy coordinator with the group, said they had been ‘assured’ they would be invited. But after Know Your IX’s founders wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post that criticized Ms. Jackson for suggesting that the civil-rights office would no longer publish a list of colleges under Title IX investigation, the group never heard back from the department, Ms. Singh said.”

Betsy DeVos Official Under Fire for Apparently Siding with the Accused in Campus Sexual Assault Cases

NY Daily News | July 13th, 2017 “Alyssa Peterson, policy and advocacy coordinator for Know Your IX, said Jackson should do her job of enforcing the law instead of implying that survivors are lying. ‘It’s nothing short of disturbing to hear that Candice Jackson — the person who is charged with enforcing Title IX and protecting survivors’ access to education — buys into the kind of rape myths that survivors and allies have been fighting for decades,’ Peterson told The News.”

Invitation and Comment Alarm Advocates for Assault Victims

Inside Higher Ed | July 13, 2017 “Sejal Singh, a policy coordinator with Know Your IX, said Jackson’s claim was divorced from reality and that the meetings with the Coalition for Men and SAVE are a ‘slap in the face’ to assault survivors. ‘It’s disturbing that Secretary DeVos and Acting Assistant Secretary Jackson have spent far more time listening to naked misogynists and university lobbyists than they have spent listening to survivors and students, or learning the facts,’ she said.”

The beginning of the end for Obama’s Title IX rules?

Politico | July 13, 2017 “Title IX advocates note that DeVos has spent little time so far listening to survivors of sexual assault. ‘In our view, ninety minutes is hardly enough time to hear from survivors and advocates, particularly when she’s also giving ninety minutes of airtime to men’s rights activists and schools,’ said Alyssa Peterson, a policy and an advocacy coordinator at Know Your IX, one of the groups that organized protest outside the department today. ‘They’re going to hear from us regardless.'”

Survivors of Campus Sexual Assault Protest Outside Betsy DeVos’ Office

Glamour | July 13, 2017 “‘Ninety minutes with a small group of survivors is nowhere near enough to understand gender violence in schools, or solutions to it,’ said Sejal Singh, a policy and advocacy coordinator for Know Your IX, an organization dedicated to ending sexual violence in schools. “So we’re holding a Survivor Speak-Out outside the Department of Education to share why we need Title IX, and to send the message that we won’t be silent while our peers are harassed, raped, and pushed out of school.”

How Betsy DeVos Could Hurt Sexual Assault Survivors Like Me

Forward | July 13, 2017 “Title IX and the Dear Colleague Letter help survivors stay in school, and access their civil right to an education free from violence. Student survivors have endured enough trauma; do not force us back to a time where we could be re-victimized by the very institutions meant to keep us safe.”

Betsy DeVos to Meet With Campus Sexual Assault Advocates—But Also With Men’s Rights Activists

Jezebel | July 12, 2017 “Another point of tension is the lack of transparency around the meetings, says Mahroh Jahangiri, executive director of Know Your IX. Jackson’s office reached out to Know Your IX in June to invite them to Thursday’s meeting, but after two phone calls, Jahangiri says that the DOE stopped responding to the organization. “This entire process has been erratic, and there really is no rhyme or reason to the way the office is setting up these meetings,” she said. She learned that Know Your IX had been disinvited just a few days ago, not via Jackson’s office, but via other sexual assault awareness organizations.

Betsy DeVos, This Is What Sexual Assault Survivors Want You to Know

Teen Vogue | July 12, 2017 “Survivors simply want the protections to remain in schools that the federal government and courts have institutionalized over the last four decades. We cannot imagine a more cruel or misguided policy agenda than one that withdraws protections from vulnerable students — especially coming from the administration of a man who has been repeatedly accused of committing sexual violence himself. To Betsy Devos, President Trump and the rest of the Trump administration: Survivors of sexual assault have refused to be silent since this administration began its journey to the White House. We will not be silenced now.”

Trump’s administration wants to hide colleges that have problems with sexual assault

The Washington Post | June 30, 2017 “Jackson’s comments earlier this week offer a promise to university administrators: Under my watch, we’ll be nicer. We won’t embarrass you. We can all get along. But the government’s job isn’t to protect university administrators from public relations headaches; it’s to protect students. And if the department isn’t committed to that mission, we’ll be back on that plaza with boxes and boxes of signatures. We still have that bullhorn, and we know how to use it.”

The Trump administration is systematically dismantling Title IX

ThinkProgress | June 23, 2017 “‘It’s concerning to us and advocates to see the department both be wishy-washy in committing itself to all students’ civil rights and also being willing to sit down with pretty right-wing legislators at a moment when legislators are themselves passing legislation on the state level that would be incredibly harmful to young victims and students,’ Mahroh Jahangiri, executive director of Know Your Title IX, told ThinkProgress.”

Grad Students are Unionizing to Fight Campus Sexual Assault

Ms. Magazine Blog | June 21, 2017 “Schools have failed thus far to adopt a culture that respects victims rights,” says Sejal Singh, a Columbia alumna, a Policy and Advocacy Coordinator at Know Your IX, and the Campaign and Communications Manager at the Center for American Progress. “They should respond promptly and equitably to reports of sexual harassment and violence. However, we often see that schools violate their legal requirements and do not uphold civil rights under Title IX.”

Sexual Assault Survivors Would Be Hurt By Senate’s New Trumpcare Bill

Elite Daily | June 22, 2017 “‘The healthcare bill would be disastrous for sexual assault survivors’ access to healthcare,’ Sejal Singh, policy and advocacy coordinator for Know Your IX, a project under Advocates for Youth, tells Elite Daily. ”

Teen Was Sexually Harassed at School — Then Asked to Take a Vow of Silence

Yahoo Beauty | May 12, 2017 “Sejal Singh is a policy organizer with Know Your IX, an advocacy group that trains and educates student activists on their Title IX rights and protections — including protection for high school students from sexual harassment. She says that although such contracts have become commonplace at schools facing these situations, ‘for the most part, they should be just one part of a broader package designed to make sure a student who experiences harassment can still continue their education.'”

How The AHCA Could Jeopardize Rape Survivors’ Recovery

Bustle | May 11 2017 “Pregnancy, of course, is one of many possible side effects of sexual assault, as are sexually transmitted diseases and mental illness. Many of these effects would count as pre-existing conditions under AHCA, even if an assault itself would not. ‘Survivors respond to sexual violence in different ways, but many experience devastating effects on their mental health,’ Know Your IX activist and assault survivor Nastia Gorodilova tells Bustle. ‘Some struggle with depression, anxiety, and PTSD; others experience substance abuse, social withdrawal, or engage in self-harm.'”

DeVos Meeting with Ga. Legislator Worries Advocates

Politico | April 14, 2017 “‘We would be very disturbed if Secretary DeVos were to follow his lead in pursuing a policy that puts students and survivors at risk,’ said Sejal Singh, a policy coordinator at Know Your IX, which advocates for survivors of sexual assault.”

Meet The Teen Sexual Assault Survivors Who Took On Their School District And Won

BuzzFeed News | April 13, 2017 “‘These success stories are an incredible testament of the power of student organizing,’ said Alexandra Brodsky, who co-founded the activist group Know Your IX. ‘But I also think you shouldn’t have to be a Bella to be treated fairly by your school. There’s a tremendous cost to this kind of activism.'”

A How-to Book for Wielding Civic Power

The New York Times | April  5, 2017 “B. Looking at college campuses, where are you seeing students using power effectively?

L. One example is a campaign called Know Your IX, which was started by students at Yale and Amherst who had been frustrated by the opacity and complexity of the accountability process in cases of sexual assault on campuses. So they created a project which was about knowing Title IX, the federal law that governs how campuses have to provide for equal treatment and justice.”

Armour: Protect Title IX — all aspects of it

USA Today | January 19th, 2017 “‘It would be, politically, a disastrous move to try and move us back to the dark days when schools ignored sexual violence,” Singh said. ‘These are our rights by law. They’re not going away Jan. 20. They’re not going away because of anything Ms. DeVos does or doesn’t say.’”

Betsy DeVos Confirmation Hearings Spark Title IX Concerns

Teen Vogue | January 18, 2017 “While it remains to be seen whether or not DeVos will be confirmed by Senate and how exactly she would use her role as Secretary of Education if so, we hope that all members of President-Elect Trump’s cabinet will recognize the real epidemic of campus sexual assault and commit to giving a voice to survivors.”

Under DeVos, Education Department likely to make significant shift on sexual assault

The Washington Post | January 18, 2017 “Advocates for survivors of sexual assault sharply criticized DeVos’s answers. ‘Before the department turned its attention to enforcing survivors’ Title IX rights, schools routinely ignored their rights and swept sexual assault under the rug,” said the activist group Know Your IX. “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.’”

Incoming Trump administration heightens anxiety about reversal in Title IX progress

ESPN-W | January 17, 2017 “Mahroh Jahangiri, the executive director of Know Your IX, said that a change in direction by the new administration could undermine existing cases under investigation, many of which have already been underway for months. ‘We are not anticipating the OCR completely shutting down,’ Jahangiri said. ‘That said, the current OCR has been drastically understaffed; it can take years to complete an investigation, and by that time, the student that filed it is often out of school.’”

Courts, colleges aren’t meant to handle rapes in same way

St. Louis Post Dispatch | January 12, 2017 “Your Jan. 5 editorial, ‘Universities have no business adjudicating rape cases,’ wrongheadedly conflates criminal and campus processes. Courts and schools play different — and complementary — roles: The former respond to rape as a crime; the latter, as a violation of a victim’s civil right to education.”

This Campaign Wants Donald Trump to Take Sexual Assault More Seriously

Teen Vogue | January 11, 2017 “End Rape on Campus partnered with Know Your IX for the #DearBetsy campaign, an initiative to let Donald Trump’s secretary of education Betsy DeVos know just how important it is to her constituency that the administration continue to enforce Title IX to protect campus sexual assault survivors. The initiative is sending Betsy that message through a social media hashtag, videos and a petition.”

People Are Telling Trump’s Education Nominee To Protect Rape Survivors

BuzzFeed News | January 9, 2017 “End Rape On Campus and Know Your IX sent a letter of testimony emphasizing these points to leaders of the Senate HELP committee. Seventeen other rape victim advocacy groups co-signed the testimony.

There is a ‘misperception that the Obama administration ‘created’ survivors’ rights,’ said Sejal Singh, a policy coordinator for Know Your IX. But without federal enforcement and guidance, Singh told BuzzFeed News, it will make it more difficult for young college students to know their rights.”

This Restaurant Wants Patrons to Order a ‘Shot’ If They Feel Unsafe on a Date

Yahoo! | December 30, 2016 “Sejal Singh, a policy organizer with the student-led activist group specializing in combating gender-based violence in school settings Know Your IX, tells Yahoo Beauty that she applauds what Andrade and the Iberian Rooster are doing to combat sexual aggression — and destigmatizing the act of asking for help.

Furthermore, Singh notes, the bar and restaurant industry is uniquely positioned to successfully intervene and prevent such violence.

‘Research suggests that a perpetrator’s degree of intoxication has almost nothing to do with their level of sexual aggression —  but there’s a strong correlation between a perpetrator’s aggression and a victim’s level of intoxication. That means bars and restaurants that are serving those drinks have a special responsibility to take action against perpetrators who are intentionally targeting drunk women, using alcohol as a tool of coercion,’ she says.”

How Survivors of Sexual Violence Have Responded to Trump’s Presidential Victory

Alternet | November 30, 2016 “A huge increase in calls were made to crisis hotlines,” said Sejal Singh, policy coordinator for Know Your IX, a survivor- and youth-led organization that empowers students to end sexual violence. “His cavalier attitude about harassment may have serious policy consequences.”

Obama Championed The Fight Against Sexual Assaults. Will Trump?

NPR | November 24, 2016 “Sejal Singh, with the advocacy group Know Your IX, says the government already has a backlog of hundreds of cases, and survivors often wait years to have their complaints investigated. Any reduction, she says, will seriously undercut enforcement.

SINGH: If the administration is willing to look the other way on campus sexual assault, we really do risk going back to the days when schools would routinely discourage survivors from reporting, would refuse to investigate reports. And they do nothing to support survivors and keep campuses safe.”

How Donald Trump’s Presidency Will Impact Campus Sexual Assault Laws

Teen Vouge | November 22, 2016 “Singh says that she sees the work of groups like Know Your IX as even more pressing in the face of an administration headed up by a man ‘who has openly bragged about committing sexual assault — and then got elected.’ Instead, she says, ‘we need to be vigilant in saying that we survivors, we students are going to demand better and insist on working to change the culture.’”

Will Trump turn back the clock on campus sexual assault?

POLITICO | November 11, 2016 “Not only have Trump’s surrogates suggested he’ll try to get rid of the Office for Civil Rights, which enforces Title IX, but the country on Tuesday elected a man who was caught on tape bragging about sexually assaulting women. It’s ‘disturbing to many survivors on a deeply personal level,’ said Alyssa Peterson, a policy coordinator at Know Your IX, a group that advocates on behalf of sexual assault survivors. ‘After I was raped at school, I was able to access counseling because of OCR’s protection. But if OCR is closed, we risk going back to the days when colleges did nothing to support survivors like me and keep campuses safe.’”

‘It’s going to silence people’: setback feared in fighting campus sexual assault

The Guardian | November 11, 2016 “Bolger, 25, who has spoken publicly about her rape while at Amherst College, noted that campus Title IX offices also help survivors and victims of other forms of discrimination access counseling, healthcare, extensions on papers and other services as they cope with trauma.

‘If one in five women aren’t getting the support they need to stay in school, we are going to see women dropping out, queer and trans students taking time off school, people really struggling to get an education.’”

College violated rights of accused student in sex misconduct hearing, Department of Education says

ABA Journal | October 13, 2016 “Know Your IX, a student organization focused on ending sexual and dating violence, applauded the recent OCR finding. ‘As we know all too well, a commitment to fair process benefits not only accused students but also survivors who are, too often, harmed by the same lack of procedural protections as the accused. What’s more, these procedural protections are critical to limiting discrimination, including on the basis of race and class, in campus investigations and adjudication,’ Dana Bolger, a Yale Law School student and co-founder of the group, told the ABA Journal.”

Baylor sexual assault scandal led to shakeup, but no Title IX investigation

POLITICO | October 13, 2016 “The fear now for some advocates is that as cases drag on, the number of victims who file complaints may drop. ‘They don’t want to wait four years to get structural change,’ said Alyssa Peterson, a policy coordinator at Know Your IX, a group that advocates on behalf of sexual assault victims. ‘We think [the Office for Civil Rights] made a policy choice to sacrifice people to secure structural changes, whereas a lot of people are filing because they want relief for themselves. … The way the process is bearing out is not resolving the reason people are filing, which is to get help.’”

8 activists using social media to fight for irl change

i-D Magazine | August 17, 2016 “Bolger is also a co-founder of Know Your IX (Title IX is the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination). The group works to improve the ways campuses and courts deal with sexual assault so that female, transgender, and gender-nonconforming students can have full equality in their academic environment. Bolger says that because of social media, ‘rape survivors and student activists are able share our stories with the click of a button, leverage public pressure to push universities to shape up, and teach each other our rights to go to school and feel safe.’ She says that the online tools she and other activists have at their disposal have ‘been a total game-changer.’”

Two Utah schools under federal investigation for handling of sexual assault cases

Deseret News | July 27, 2016 “As of Wednesday, 260 sexual violence cases are under investigation at 202 postsecondary institutions by the Office for Civil Rights.

It’s a ‘massive increase’ from 2009, when the office had 20 open investigations, according to Sejal Singh, policy coordinator at the sexual violence advocacy group Know Your IX.

On the one hand, the increase in complaints — and the rapid clip at which the office has been opening investigations — is a sign that the federal government and student activists have been successful at shedding light on campus sexual assault, Singh said.

But the situation has created a “massive backlog” for investigators, according to Singh. According to a report from The Yale Law Journal, the average federal investigation last year took 1,032 days to complete.”

Emmanuel College freshman says she won’t return after school’s handling of sex assault case

Metro US | July 26, 2016 “According to Know Your IX, an advocacy group that works to empower students to stop sexual violence on campus, many victims of campus sexual violence are reluctant to turn to the criminal justice system, and having a Title IX grievance process for claims of sexual harassment or assault can help adjudicate such concerns without involving the criminal justice system.

Nothing about filing an internal grievance with the school would preclude a victim from going to the police, though the group notes that is a rarely successful recourse: only a quarter of reported rapes lead to an arrest, and only a fifth lead to prosecution.”

How Women Are Harassed Out of Science

The Atlantic | July 25, 2016 “The first hard step: Universities need a best-practice sexual harassment policy that protects the rights of survivors while also giving alleged harassers due process—not immunity. The hysteria suggesting that these two goals are irreconcilable is unjustified. Many advocates are working on this, from well established national groups like American Association of University Women to grassroots efforts such as Know Your IX.”

Stop Attacking The Education Department For Enforcing Title IX, 80 Advocacy Groups Say

The Huffington Post | July 13, 2016 “Major civil rights groups like the Anti-Defamation League, NAACP, National Council of La Raza and the Human Rights Campaign signed the letter. The two biggest teacher unions, the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers, also added their names to the list.

Other groups that signed the letter include the American Association of University Women, End Rape On Campus, Know Your IX, Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality, Women’s Law Project and Campus Pride.”

7 Little Ways To Support Sexual Assault Survivors

Bustle | July 1, 2016  “3. React To Their Reactions: As we’re learning, reactions to sexual assault are varying and complex, and one of the most subtly supportive ways to help a survivor of sexual assault is to understand that fact. How do you put that into practice? By reacting to their own reactions, rather than what you assume about how they’re feeling. The student sexual violence organization Know Your IX has a good summary of the most effective approach: ‘Just as you shouldn’t minimize the assault, don’t catastrophize either.’ The assault is important and deeply invasive, but the survivor may not appreciate being treated as if it’s the end of their world unless they feel that way as well.”

Is any school properly managing sexual assault on campus? 

ESPN W | June 23, 2016 “‘Universities are giant bureaucratic machines, so I think it’s really difficult to know who’s doing it well because our only real measure is when they don’t do it well,’ Jessica Luther, a freelance journalist who reports on sexual assault on college campuses, said. ‘One of the things I think about when I meet Title IX coordinators and talk to them about their jobs is that they care a lot about survivors and the climate on campus, but translating that to 15,000, 25,000, 40,000 people is when it gets harder.’

Organizations such as End Rape on Campus (EROC) and Know Your IX have stepped in to fill the perceived void left by universities, informing students on how to file Title IX complaints with the Department of Education.”

There Are Far More Title IX Investigations Of Colleges Than Most People Know

The Huffington Post | June 16, 2016 “Spokespersons for these schools largely said they hadn’t reached out to their students about the investigations because there was nothing they could share — beyond the fact that a federal review is happening.

Alyssa Peterson, a policy coordinator for the educational and advocacy group Know Your IX, doesn’t think that’s good enough.

‘I think a school should alert its students if it’s under investigation for sexual harassment,’ said Peterson. ‘Very few will because they’re more concerned about reputational costs than the harassment of their students.'”

When Jail Time Isn’t Justice

MTV News | June 8, 2016 “There are many for whom justice simply does not equate to any kind of prison sentence — no matter how lenient or how severe. As [Know Your IX Co-Founder Alexandra] Brodsky said, ‘I think that our politics have to be driven by the real needs of real people … people are different from one another and want really different things and that is really tricky when you’re trying to design a system.’ Rather than look toward a single solution, then, perhaps we’d do well to accept we cannot create a universal understanding of justice. Instead, we might just have to do the very thing our nation is perhaps worst at, the thing we failed to do for Cosby’s survivors, for the Stanford victim, and so many more: Give them choices, and trust that they’ll make the one that’s best for them.”

Sex Harassment and Teens: Title IX Moving Into High Schools

Women’s eNews | June 2, 2016 “Launched in 2013 to publicize gender-based discrimination law on college campuses, [Know Your IX] is now seeking to make sure teens know about the law, which in addition to protecting gender equity in team sports opportunities also guarantees them a learning environment safe from assault and harassment.

As instances of campus rape at high schools and in college dominate the headlines, the documentary “The Hunting Ground” and artists such as Lady Gaga and Kesha are hoping to de-stigmatize the issue.

But student advocates, not celebrities or media projects, are best positioned to address the issue, says Zoe Ridolfi-Starr, deputy director of the Know Your IX Campaign.”

Activism Is the New Girl Gang

Flavorwire | May 31, 2016 “When speaking about collaborating with Brodsky, Bolger told me, ‘We found commonality in our shared experiences of violence, and in our schools’ responses to it. And through talking to students all over the country, we realized that one of the single biggest barriers keeping survivors from getting the support they needed from their schools was their lack of knowledge that they were legally entitled to that support to begin with. So we decided to do something about it.’ And do something they did. The two, who are also editors at Feministing, raised $11,000, created a website, and curated content from their organizer friends to launch Know Your IX, the national campaign which aims to educate all students in the country on their rights under Title IX.”

The Forced Heroism of the ‘Survivor’

The New York Times | May 3, 2016 “A word that was conceived to free women from stigma now feels, to some, prescriptive. ‘Compulsory survivorship depoliticizes our understanding of violence and its effects,’ Dana Bolger, the executive director of Know Your IX, a ‘survivor and youth led organization’ dedicated to fighting sexual violence in schools, wrote at Feministing.com. ‘It places the burden of healing on the individual, while comfortably erasing the systems and structures that make surviving hard, harder for some than for others.'”

Campus Sexual Assault Is an Epidemic – But What Are We Doing About It?

Teen Vogue | April 20, 2016 “Alyssa Peterson, a survivor of on-campus sexual assault and a policy organizer for Know Your IX, adds that when she was assaulted in 2011, she didn’t realize that Title IX afforded her protections against gender-based violence. ‘I think that was a common sentiment across the country — and because we didn’t know our rights, schools could abuse us with impunity,’ she tells Teen Vogue. ‘But through the work of activists that protested the Department of Education, held demonstrations on their campuses, and filed a record number of complaints, thousands of students now know their right to access an education free from violence under Title IX and can hold their schools accountable.'”

‘They’re Emboldening My Rapist’: Sexual Assault Victims at BYU Are Investigated by the Honor Code

Jezebel | April 20, 2016 “While BYU’s involvement of the Honor Code might not be a clear violation of Title IX, some experts say that it violates the law’s spirit. Alexandra Brodsky, co-founder of Know Your IX, told Jezebel that Title IX obligates universities to ‘take affirmative action to reduce gender violence’; the federal law, she added, ‘is also sensitive to the environment of the school and not just the impact on the individual student.’ Brodsky elaborated:

Schools have to make sure that there’s no hostile environment on campus. I think there’s a real argument to be made that having these Honor Code restrictions can be used in a retaliatory way.

[BYU’s procedures] can very reasonably be read as perpetuating a hostile environment because the school is constructing roadblocks to students reporting harassment and assault and abuse, therefore putting future students at risk.”

What We Still Get Wrong About College Sexual Assault: “We Don’t Believe That It Could Happen to Someone We Know”

Glamour | April 7, 2016 “The student and survivor activist group Know Your IX has gone so far as to assemble an alumni toolkit to help alums do just that. The organization also suggests that alums call their alma maters and ask for answers as to what the school is doing to prevent sexual violence on campus, what services and accommodations are available to student survivors of violence, and how the school hold perpetrators accountable and prevents them from re-victimizing classmates.

Know Your IX points out that many schools, other intentionally or unintentionally underreport their data of number of sexual assault per year. What’s a red flag? While a low rate might make someone think that that’s a safer school, a zero report rate should raise eyebrows. If students aren’t reporting, that means they don’t feel safe reporting. A school may have a higher number of reported assaults, but that could also mean that a more invested administration has created a climate where students feel they can safely report, or that community resources offer a strong safety net for survivors.”

The Shocking Reason High School Girls Are Targets of Violence

Teen Vogue | March 9, 2016 “According to Know Your IX, a survivor- and youth-led organization that aims to empower students to end sexual and dating violence in schools, if a friend is the victim of GBV, a crucial first step you can take to help is to listen to them and believe them. It’s important to listen without interrupting or trying to problem solve, but just give the survivor space to vocalize and come to terms with their own experience.”

Love and hate for Miami Sen. Diaz de la Portilla who hasn’t taken up gun bills

Tampa Bay Times | February 10, 2016 “‘I write to commend you for your courage and steadfast commitment to student safety,’ Dana Bolger, executive director for Know Your IX (a national campus sexual assault prevention organization), wrote in a letter to Diaz de la Portilla that was given to the Times/Herald. Download Know Your IX Letter to Senator Diaz de la Portilla (The same letter was also sent to Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando.)

“But It Doesn’t Happen at a Place Like Stanford”

The Huffington Post | February 4, 2016 “Activism, however effective it is on its own, is most potent when centralized. National leaders on this issue like Annie Clark and Andrea Pino of The Hunting Ground and Alexandra Brodsky of Know Your IX have fought for so long to find a space for these conversations on college campuses. Now that we have finally made room, it’s time to unite separate strands of thought amongst highly disparate and disconnected communities. It’s time for the fraternity brothers and survivors and athletes and student government officials to sit side by side and develop an intersectional, inclusive, and result-oriented template for this discourse.”

Campuses may be ill-equipped to handle sexual assault, but it’s the law

Education Dive | February 4, 2016 “Survivor and youth-led advocacy group Know Your IX conducts a mixture of policy and student engagement work around Title IX and sexual assault. While Deputy Director Mahroh Jahangiri says colleges and universities are failing to meet their responsibilities under the gender equity law, she says she does not believe that is a good reason to lessen their burden.

Schools, Jahangiri said, are in a unique position to respond to the needs of survivors. They have the power to move victims of sexual assault out of dorms they share with their assailants. They can change their class assignments, and offer counseling services.

‘We don’t think it’s a question of schools being unable to do this,’ Jahangiri said. ‘It’s a matter of better federal enforcement of Title IX to hold schools accountable.'”

What Can Be Done To Address Harassment In Science?

Forbes | January 29, 2016 “There are relevant federal regulations here. Title IX and Title VI are supposed to protect people from gender-based discrimination (including sexual harassment) and race-based discrimination in educational environments and workplaces. However, the mere existence of a regulation doesn’t guarantee vigorous enforcement. According to Know Your IX:

The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), the office tasked with enforcing Title IX, has never once sanctioned a college or university for sexual assault-related Title IX violations. Instead the agency quietly concludes investigations, asks universities to sign voluntary resolution agreements (VRAs) — essentially signed promises to do better next time — and issues no finding of violation.”

How Two Girls Are Teaching Students Their Rights to Fight Campus Sexual Assault

Teen Vogue | January 14, 2016 “We were frustrated by our schools’ lackluster responses to assault complaints. We quickly realized that we weren’t alone in our exasperation, and in 2013 these shared experiences prompted us to create Know Your IX, a survivor-led organization working to build safer campuses. Soon we were activist partners and, eventually, best friends.”

Bernie Sanders Means Well, But He’s Out of Step With Young Feminists on One Crucial Issue

Slate | January 13, 2016 “Perhaps most importantly, universities can do a lot to protect a rape victim’s rights to an education, with or without weighing charges against the assailant. As Alexandra Brodsky, co-founder of the group Know Your IX and an editor at Feministing, wrote this week:

At Iowa Forum, Democratic Candidates Weigh in on Campus Sexual Assault, Hyde Amendment

RH Reality Check | January 12, 2016 “In a post for Feministing urging Sen. Sanders to revisit his position, senior editor Alexandra Brodsky, who co-founded Know Your IX, an organization that works to end sexual violence on campus, explained that ‘school responses to gender violence are necessary to protect students’ right to an education regardless of gender.’

‘Absolutely, it’s essential that students who feel like reporting to the police is best for them be able to do so,’ explained Brodsky. ‘At the same time, school remedies, like dorm changes and tutoring, are crucially important for a survivor’s ability to learn. That’s why the anti-discrimination law Title IX requires schools to prevent and respond to sexual assault in addition to, not in place of, criminal law enforcement,’ she continued.”

Bernie Sanders Comments on Campus Rape, And Totally Drops The Ball

The Huffington Post | January 12, 2016 “Alexandra Brodsky, a Yale Law student and co-founder of the advocacy group Know Your IX, said Sanders has ‘a lot to learn.’

‘Without key interventions by their schools, many survivors won’t be able to continue their educations,’ Brodsky wrote on Feministing, where she is an editor. ‘An extension on a paper due the week after an assault might make the difference between a victim staying in school and dropping out. No police force can provide that kind of accommodation. Don’t want victims ‘sitting in a classroom alongside somebody who raped them’? A school can often make that happen more quickly than a student can get a restraining order, particularly if he or she has trouble accessing a court.'”

Sanders: Law enforcement should handle campus rape

The Hill | January 11, 2016 “He added that too many schools are treating it as a ‘student issue’ instead of referring accusations to law enforcement and added that victims shouldn’t have to be in classes with their rapists.

But the idea of mandatory law enforcement referral has long been met by with skepticism by advocates trying to stop sexual assaults on college campuses. Ninety percent of survivors polled by the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence and Know Your IX said they wanted to have the choice of whether to report or to whom, while 80 percent agreed that mandatory police reporting could ‘have a chilling effect on reporting.'”

Victims of Rape and Sexual Assault, Failed by Criminal Justice System, Increasingly Seek Civil Remedies

RH Reality Check | January 8, 2016 “The group Know Your IX, started in 2013 by a group of sexual assault survivors and their supporters, explains on its website that ‘many victims of sexual violence don’t want to turn to the criminal justice system.’

The group states: ‘[Victims] may fear skepticism and abuse from police, prosecutors, or juries; they may not want to go through the ordeal of a long trial; they may fear retaliation from their assailant, who will most likely not end up prosecuted, let alone convicted; and they may be hesitant to send their assailants to prison. But even survivors who do report to the police are often abandoned by the system.'”

Rape Reports and The Cosby Effect

WNYC News | December 29, 2015 “Zoe Ridolfi-Starr, the deputy director of Know Your IX, a national organization focused on campus sexual violence, many more students are coming forward with rape accusations (both recent and older), but are less willing to deal with the criminal justice system.

‘We hear from students often, students who are black, undocumented, gay or transgender, they actually feel extremely uncomfortable going to the police,’ she said.”

The Year We Doubled Down on the Worst Part of the Campus Rape Debate

Slate | December 21, 2015 “Feminists and victims’ advocates saw the storm coming when Rolling Stone retracted its story in December 2014. ‘Rolling Stone’s letter will be the first citation for every rape denialist,’ Alexandra Brodsky, a co-founder of the student campaign Know Your IX and an editor at Feministing, wrote on MSNBC. ‘They screwed up and now students will pay the price.’ In the wake of the story, national Greek organizations lobbied hard for legislation that would have made it extremely difficult for universities to punish perpetrators of sexual violence. They dropped the bill after a backlash this November, but this yearlong effort to institute regressive policies symbolized the way the Rolling Stone controversy set the clock back on the campus rape debate.”

Sexual Assault Survivors Are Asking: Campus or Courtroom?

TakePart | December 14, 2015 “‘We consistently hear that if survivors were required to report to police, most of them would choose not to report at all,’ says Zoe Ridolfi-Starr, deputy director of the survivor advocacy organization Know Your IX, which focuses on holding schools accountable under the law that requires them to protect women and minorities from civil rights violations, known as Title IX.

Survivor-focused groups are unilaterally opposed to the Safe Campus Act. Know Your IX instead supports a bill introduced in June by Democratic Reps. Jackie Speier of California and Patrick Meehan of Pennsylvania, which would amend the Higher Education Act to allow students to sue their college or university if they violate the Clery Act, which requires colleges and universities to publish crime statistics and annual security reports. It would also provide $5 million in additional funding to the Education Department to enforce it and Title IX.”

The Other Side of the College Sexual Assault Crisis

Newsweek | December 10, 2015 “Advocates for sexual assault victims are scornful of these Title IX lawsuits. ‘I worry that it encourages or it incentivizes universities to evaluate actual allegations of sexual assault and dating violence not based on their merits, and not to investigate the truth of what happened, but simply to evaluate who poses the greater sort of threat of litigation,’ says Zoe Ridolfi-Starr, a recent Columbia graduate. She helped Sulkowicz carry her mattress at graduation and is now deputy director of Know Your IX, a survivor-run anti-sexual-violence campaign. ‘The impact on individual survivors can be tremendous,’ she says, adding that the lawsuits can expose survivors to unwanted publicity and give the impression that the number of false rape accusations is higher than it is.”

2015 Impact25 Influencers: Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Claire McCaskill

ESPN | December 7, 2015 “In an effort to gain more transparency, Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) co-sponsored the Campus Accountability and Safety Act, which demands much more stringent and detailed sexual assault policies on the part of universities. This policy proposal comes at a time of increased focus on campus sexual assault, thanks in large part to the student activists of End Rape on Campus and Know Your IX, who have led the movement that has placed over 100 schools under investigation by the Department of Education for violations of Title IX.”

91% of Colleges Claim Sexual Assault And Dating Violence Don’t Happen There

Mic | November 24, 2015 “The Clery Act, which requires schools to disclose crimes committed on their campuses and from which these numbers were gathered, exists not only to publicly hold campuses accountable, but also to ‘disclose educational programming, campus disciplinary process and victim rights regarding sexual violence complaints,’ according to the anti-sexual assault organization Know Your IX, as well as to ‘address all incidents of sexual violence, sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking.'”

‘The Hunting Ground’: Tackling campus sexual assaults

CNN | November 22, 2015 “Sexual and gender-based violence is a topic of national conversation, and in addition to End Rape on Campus, groups such as SAFER, Know Your IX, Carry That Weight, and Callisto are collectively responsible for headlines that call out campuses who mishandle complaints of sexual violence.”

An unsafe campus

Yale Daily News | November 19, 2015 “The police force has long been a perpetrator of violence and discrimination against women of color and individuals with non-binary gender identities, two groups that are disproportionately at risk of sexual violence and disproportionately unlikely to report it. According to the advocacy organization ‘Know Your IX,’ many states do not recognize rape against someone of the same gender, or rape against men, as a crime at all. Additionally, given the likelihood that there are no direct witnesses, it is extremely hard to find someone guilty of rape using the ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ standard of evidence used in courtrooms. At the college level, however, the standard used is ‘preponderance of the evidence,’ since the most serious penalty is expulsion — not jail time. Since the stakes are lower, victims are more likely to come forward and see their attackers punished.”

After 43 years of Title IX, women find their voice

San Francisco Chronicle | November 17, 2015 “Survivors of sexual assault have formed advocacy groups like Know Your IX that outlast their individual terms at school. In 2011 the U.S. Office for Civil Rights gave colleges and universities explicit instructions on how to comply with Title IX. Complaints by students have generated federal investigations of more than 140 post-secondary schools and 40 school districts. Lawsuits have followed.”

Alpha Phi Breaks From National Greek Life Organizations on ‘Safe Campus’ Bill

Law Street | November 12, 2015 “Additionally, requiring victims of rape to report their assaults to the police opens up a whole new set of issues–including the fact that rape victims often aren’t treated with respect or dignity. Dana Bolger, co-founder of Know Your IX, an advocacy group, explains:

Many survivors of color, who experience police surveillance and brutality every day, don’t want to go to the very people who have been agents of violence against them. And for male survivors and survivors assaulted by someone of the same sex, reporting to the police won’t do anything: Many states still don’t recognize rape against people of the same gender, or against men, as rape at all.”

Police rape: Like most rape, it’s hard to report and aimed at the disadvantaged

Raw Story | November 4, 2015 “When the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, the largest anti-sexual assault organization in the United States, suggested in its White House recommendations that campus rape be curbed by increasing efforts around criminal justice as opposed to campus adjudication processes, for example, younger activists weren’t pleased. Wagatwe Wanjuki, a board member of Know Your IX and a sexual assault survivor,wrote at the time : ‘I chose a school judicial process for many reasons.’

She continued: ‘I was a young woman of color uncomfortable with the use of an institution that is often violent, distrustful, and discriminatory towards people who look like me, it was preferable to using the criminal court process.'”

220 Sexual Assault Victims’ Groups Warn Against Safe Campus Act

The Huffington Post | November 2, 2015 “Several advocacy and activist groups, some of whom signed Monday’s letter, have previously complained that the Safe Campus Act was flawed legislation. Higher education officials have also been reluctant to support the bill.

A petition in opposition to the Safe Campus Act, started by the college sexual assault victims’ advocacy group Know Your IX, has so far collected more than 20,000 signatures.”

The Game Is Rigged: Why sex that’s consensual can still be bad. And why we’re not talking about it.

New York Magazine | October 20, 2015 “In this line of thinking, sex after yes, sex without violence or coercion, is good. Sex is feminist. And empowered women are supposed to enjoy the hell out of it. In fact, Alexandra Brodsky, a Yale law student and founder of anti-rape organization Know Your IX, tells me that she has heard from women who feel that ‘not having a super-exciting, super-positive sex life is in some ways a political failure.'”

This Powerful Politician Is Lobbying Congress To Make Reporting Assault More Difficult

Mic | October 19, 2015 “‘Many survivors choose not to go to the police simply because nothing in the criminal justice process is set up to support them as survivors,’ Dana Bolger, founding co-director of the national, student-driven campaign to end campus sexual violence, Know Your IX, told Mic in April.

Activists are fighting back. Plenty of campus-based activists are fighting the act and efforts to promote it. Know Your IX launched the hashtag #UnSafeCampusAct to counter it, for example, and other activists — like Julia Dixon of PAVE: Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment and Matt Leibowitz of Consent is So Frat — have launched Change.org petitions countering the legislation.”

Activists Take Aim At High Schools For Mishandling Sexual Assault

The Huffington Post | October 5, 2015 “Activists are now beginning to sharpen their focus on the K-12 level, examining how schools — especially high schools — handle sexual violence, and whether they comply with the gender equity law Title IX.

The advocacy group Know Your IX has recently put out a toolkit to explain how Title IX applies to high school sexual assault cases. Directors of End Rape On Campus are advocating to expand affirmative consent education into high schools. The social impact team behind the campus rape documentary “It Happened Here” has worked to facilitate screenings in high schools.”

California Just Took A Huge Step To End Sexual Assault In High School

MTV News | October 2, 2015 “In an email to MTV News, Mahroh Jahangiri, the deputy director for youth power and strategic partnerships at Know Your IX, said California’s bill is ‘a big step forward.’

‘When I was in high school, teachers ignored the harassment and violence in our hallways, despite their clear obligations under Title IX to prevent it,” Jahangiri wrote. “It’s encouraging to see California requiring schools to proactively teach students about healthy relationships, consent, and gender violence.'”

Private Colleges Keep Sexual Assault Data Secret

The Huffington Post | October 1, 2015 “‘One of the primary reasons we’re in the situation we are today where schools are flagrantly violating the law [handling sexual assault cases] is because they have been allowed to do so without any transparency for decades,’ said Zoe Ridolfi-Starr, deputy director of Know Your IX, an advocacy group fighting sexual violence on campus.”

The ‘Safe’ Campus Act Is Anything But

RH Reality Check | October 1, 2015 “But the bill isn’t just sexist; it’s dangerous too. As deputy director of Know Your IX, I hear every day from student survivors who say that, were the police further enmeshed in the campus process, they’d report to no one at all. A survey of student survivors that Know Your IX conducted with the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence confirmed that further involving the police will dramatically decrease reporting to schools, leaving perpetrators free to roam campuses with impunity.”

Politico 50: Dana Bolger & Alexandra Brodsky

Politico Magazine | September 2015 “The survivor-led campaign they founded in 2013, Know Your IX, informs women of their rights under Title IX, which prohibits gender-based discrimination in federally funded education programs; because women are disproportionately the victims of sexual assault, Bolger and Brodsky say, colleges that don’t address that problem are giving women uneven educational access.”

Survey Shows Prevalence of Campus Sexual Assault

RH Reality Check | September 29, 2015 “‘This survey is significant confirmation of a major problem, and it confirms what we’ve been saying about the mind-set on campus and the reception survivors expect to encounter,’ Zoe Ridolfi-Starr, deputy director of Know Your IX, told the New York Times.”

What It Will Take to End Sexual Assault

HuffPost Blog | September 29, 2015 “Groups like Know Your IX and local campus organizations across the country are doing the vital work of helping those who experience rape take steps to seek healing and justice. They’re also working hard on prevention, to get college administrations to focus on meaningful training of students and those charged with handling intake and investigation of complaints, and to be transparent and produce regular reports on the outcome of those complaints.”

1 in 4 Women Face Sexual Assault in College: Study

Yahoo Health | September 22, 2015 “Colleges, particularly ‘elite’ institutions, attract some of the most privileged students in the country. “That privilege sometimes breeds a certain arrogance and entitlement, whether to a desired grade in the classroom, or to women’s bodies,” Know Your IX co-founder Dana Bolger told Yahoo Health.”

Undeniably massive study confirms campus rape is an undeniably, massive problem

VICE | September 21, 2015 “‘There’s a cultural obsession in this country to pick apart the 1-in 5 statistic,’ said Dana Bolger over email. Bolger is the co-founder of the anti–campus sexual assault organization Know Your IX. ‘No number of studies, all confirming the 1-in-5, will ever be good enough for a particular segment of the American population, which insists that women lie, that justice is readily attainable, and that rape is an anomaly rather than an epidemic.'”

Here’s A Handy Guide For High School Sexual Assault Survivors To Learn Their Rights

MTV News | September 21, 2015 “Conversations around sexual assault on college campuses have helped many survivors — and anyone concerned about gender-related violence — come together for support, information and healing conversations. But activism doesn’t start or end on the quad.

That’s why the lovely folks at Know Your IX — a group that educates people about the protections in the 1972 anti-gender discrimination law, Title IX — created the High School Title IX Tool Kit to help get younger people in on the action.”

1 in 4 Women Experience Sex Assault on Campus

The New York Times | September 21, 2015 “‘This survey is significant confirmation of a major problem, and it confirms what we’ve been saying about the mind-set on campus and the reception survivors expect to encounter,’ said Zoe Ridolfi-Starr, deputy director of Know Your IX, an advocacy group that fights sexual assault.”

Why Sexual Assault Survivors Won’t Support the Safe Campus Act

Teen Vogue | September 16, 2015 “According to a survey of sexual assault survivors, conducted by the groups Know Your IX and the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, 88% of them said that they believe the requirement of police involvement would result in even fewer victims reporting to anyone at all. And given that, according to the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network, only 32% of all sexual assaults are reported to police already, that’s far from a step in the right direction.”

How the ‘Safe Campus Act’ Would Protect Rapists

VICE | September 14, 2015 “According to Know Your IX co-founder Dana Bolger, there are many ways in which asking marginalized survivors to report to the police can result in increased violence. ‘Many survivors of color, who experience police surveillance and brutality every day, don’t want to go to the very people who have been agents of violence against them,’ she said in an email. ‘And for male survivors and survivors assaulted by someone of the same sex, reporting to the police won’t do anything: Many states still don’t recognize rape against people of the same gender, or against men, as rape at all.'”

28 Groups That Work With Rape Victims Think The Safe Campus Act Is Terrible

The Huffington Post | September 13, 2015 “Dana Bolger, co-founder of Know Your IX: ‘Some states still don’t recognize men as victims of rape, leaving them without recourse in the criminal legal system. For undocumented student survivors, reporting to law enforcement can trigger deportation proceedings. And for student survivors from heavily policed and criminalized communities, interacting with law enforcement can feel like the furthest thing from safe. Who do you turn to for protection when the very people entrusted to do so are agents of violence against you? For many student survivors, the answer has been their college.'”

The Laws Targeting Campus Rape Culture

The Atlantic | September 11, 2015 “Traditionally, schools across the country have invested astonishingly disparate amounts of resources in sexual-assault awareness and prevention. Some schools, like Moraine Park Technical College, for example, are launching programs for the first time this year, while others, like the University of Texas, already had Campus SaVE-esque policies prior to its passage. It seems that few institutions, however, fall into the latter category, according to Know Your IX policy coordinator Alyssa Peterson, who noted that the government has never really had a streamlined way to comprehensively track schools’ sexual-assault programs. A major goal of Campus SaVE was to implement minimum standards to make policies more uniform nationwide and ensure that more people on more campuses gain exposure to the complexities of the sexual-assault problem and the most effective means to address it.”

Activists, College Officials Protest Controversial Campus Rape Bill

The Huffington Post | September 10, 2015 “‘We wanted to find a way to bring survivors’ silenced voices to the Congress members,’ Dana Bolger, co-founder of Know Your IX, told HuffPost as she explained why her group helped promote the petition against the bill.”

Letter: A dangerous take on campus assault

Chicago Tribune | September 2, 2015 “As an advocate with Know Your IX, a student-survivor group, I hear every day from survivors who say unequivocally that they would never have reported an assault to their school if they were forced to go to the police first. In fact, a survey conducted by Know Your IX and the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence found that 88 percent of survivors said that, were their campuses required to turn rape reports over to the police, fewer victims would report to anyone at all.”

Government launches video to tackle sexual assault rates in US colleges

The Guardian | September 2, 2015 “‘We have seen two really big problems with the It’s On Us campaign,’ said Mahroh Jahangiri, a co-organizer with the Know Your IX, a student-organized group focused on teaching peers how to use Title IX statutes.

‘If someone just watches this video, you still walk away not really knowing what consent is. You’re not taught how to ask for it,’ Jahangiri said. ‘It’s On Us places the burden of stopping violence on us as students.'”

‘Asking for It’: Why We Need to Get Angry About Rape Culture

RH Reality Check | August 21, 2015 “Not only are survivors’ stories being told every day online, but the telling and retelling has awakened would-be activists, joining together to demand comprehensive sex education, recognition from authorities, and form groups like Know Your IX, which puts the “how-to” of filing Title IX complaints in students’ hands.”

The toughest issue on (any) campus

Yale Alumni Magazine | July/August 2015 “We have to remind ourselves why schools are involved in this anyway. This is probably the most common question that Know Your IX [the national nonprofit she codirects] gets: isn’t this criminal? Shouldn’t we just hand this over to the cops?

Title IX, which is the 1972 Education Amendment, doesn’t say anything about violence. What it says is that all students should be able to learn and have equal access to educational opportunities regardless of gender. It’s through pioneering feminists’ work—that came from Yale—that we got the Title IX that we have today, which encompasses sexual harassment, including sexual violence.”

Momentum for Senate bill to address sexual assault in college

The Washington Post | July 29, 2015 “Dana Bolger, a 2014 graduate of Amherst College involved in an anti-sexual-assault group called Know Your IX, said the federal anti-discrimination law known as Title IX requires schools to be fair and equitable in handling cases. ‘At the end of the day, we’re all really on the same page here,’ she said.”

‘Culture’ Change Needed to Curb Campus Assaults

US News | July 29, 2015 “[Know Your IX co-founder] Dana Bolger, an advocate for victims of campus gender violence, told the committee not enough is being done to help victims protect their rights and continue their education in the wake of attacks. Bolger, who graduated last year from Amherst College in Massachusetts, said she was a victim of a sexual assault.

‘I was urged to drop out and return after my rapist had graduated,’ Bolger said.”

Senators Push for Confidential Advisers to Campus Assault Survivors

Diverse: Issues in Higher Education | July 29, 2015 “Dana Bolger, co-founder of Know Your IX, said that survivors of sexual assault were reluctant to go to law enforcement officials for a myriad of reasons. ‘The reality on the ground is that survivors tell us again and again that, were their schools forced to go to the police, they would report to no one at all,’ she said.

When no action is taken on behalf of victims, Bolger said, ‘The costs of violence are very real.’ Students who fail to receive adequate support may be forced to drop out or suffer physical and mental health problems. ‘Accommodations like housing changes and mental health services may seem trivial to the outside observer,’ she said. ‘But to student survivors across the country they are making the difference between staying in school and dropping out.'”

A ‘scarlet letter’ for students implicated in sex assaults: D.C. bill sparks debate

The Washington Post | July 20, 2015 “Know Your IX, another national advocacy group, has not taken a position on ‘scarlet letter’ legislation, said Zoe Ridolfi-Starr, program coordinator and youth engagement coordinator there.

It’s controversial, she said, in part because mandating tough penalties can make people more hesitant to report unwanted sexual encounters. On the other hand, they have seen students get a slap on the wrist, she said, then go on to hurt someone else. ‘It’s tricky to walk that line.'”

US Colleges Given Greater Role in Preventing Sexual Assaults

Voice of America | July 5, 1015 “Dana Bolger is a co-founder of Know Your IX, whose name refers to Title IX, a group of U.S. laws prohibiting discrimination and guaranteeing equal opportunity for all in educational institutions that receive federal funds. Her organization educates and provides aid to students on matters involving sexual assaults. Bolger, who is a sexual assault survivor herself, said there are many reasons that survivors choose not to report incidents.

‘We know that most victims were assaulted by a friend or partner, and there can be a lot of confusion and doubt that comes along with that experience, and hesitation to report [someone] whom you know or love,’ she said.”

Panelists talk about campus sexual assault — the scope of the problem, and ways to prevent it

The Washington Post | June 17, 2015 “Dana Bolger, director of Know Your IX, said society spends ‘so much time and energy and money telling women not to get raped and so little time and energy and money telling men not to rape.'”

Need help after a sexual assault? Want to help someone else? Here are some options.

The Washington Post | June 17, 2015 “The college-focused advocacy group Know Your IX explains students’ rights under Title IX (the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in education), how to report a crime and how statistics are made public under the Clery Act (which was named for a student raped and murdered in her dorm room), and how to support someone who needs help.”

Changing the discussion on sexual assault: UCLA grad went from survivor to activist

The Washington Post | June 15, 2015 “Activists such as Badalich are seeking to get campuses to face the issue.

They are mobilizing under banners national and local: End Rape on Campus, Know Your IX (referring to a federal law that prohibits gender bias), One Less, Stand Up and many more. They are the engine for Take Back the Night, Consent Week, the Clothesline Project, Project Unbreakable, It Happens Here, the Red Flag Campaign, and other events and programs that reflect a demand for a cultural shift in attitudes toward sexual violence.”

Teaching women to avoid rape works, but it’s controversial

Vox | June 15, 2015 “Still, placing some of the responsibility on women — teaching them it’s their burden to fight protect themselves against assault — troubles some advocates. It treats rape as an inevitable threat that women must guard against, rather than something men could be taught not to do. In the flu analogy, this type of course focuses on treating the disease — rather than finding a vaccine to eradicate the virus in the first place.

‘As a friend of mine once said, “If you’re pushing a woman to change her behavior to ‘prevent’ rape, rather than telling a perpetrator to change his, you’re really saying, ‘Make sure he rapes the other girl.'”‘ There will always be another girl at the bar,’ Dana Bolger, a co-founder of Know Your IX, which advocates for sexual assault victims on campus, wrote on Feministing.”

Training to prevent sexual assault halves risk of rape on campus: study

Reuters | June 12, 2015 “‘It’s always encouraging to hear of new ways to prevent rape,’ Alexandra Brodsky, co-director of Know Your IX, a campaign to end campus sexual violence, told Thomson Reuters Foundation.

‘But I hope we take this as an opportunity to develop additional methods that take the burden to stop violence off potential victims.'”

Domestic Violence On Campus Is The Next Big College Controversy

Buzzfeed | June 9, 2015 “Even so, ‘schools are totally lost on how to respond to violence when it occurs in the context of a dating relationship,’ said Dana Bolger, co-founder of Know Your IX, an activist group that has lobbied for dating violence to be taken seriously on campuses.

Activists have long felt frustrated that physical, emotional and psychological abuse is seen as secondary to sexual assault, unless a student is seriously injured or killed. That may be because college dating violence victims are often dismissed as being young and inexperienced, Bolger said. When people think of domestic violence, they think of marriage and children, not first-time relationships built over late-night fries in the cafeteria.

‘Students may live in a different dorm than their perpetrator,’ she said, ‘but that doesn’t mean their lives and education aren’t threatened.'”

Critical Juncture: Johns Hopkins University struggles with ongoing issues of gender discrimination and sexual assault

Baltimore City Paper | June 9, 2015 “But police departments can’t address the effects of sexual violence in the ways that universities can under Title IX. When universities handle sexual assault cases properly, they can be crucial in providing the accommodations or support systems that a sexual assault survivor needs after an assault, such as a new dorm room to be farther away from their rapist, academic accommodations in classes, or counseling services on campus—resources that a police department can’t provide. My strong belief in the potential that Title IX has to provide much-needed victim-centric care to sexual assault survivors is why, for about a year, I worked with Know Your IX, a grassroots advocacy organization that educates students on their rights under Title IX and advocates for stronger federal enforcement of Title IX.”

When “enough” is too little: Why the visibility of “Mattress Girl” isn’t the end of the campus rape fight

Salon | May 28, 2015 “In order to answer Daum’s question about why ‘we’ aren’t having these conversations, it’s useful to get specific about whom she means. If ‘we’ is the feminists doing the work on the ground, I’d point to the intersectional organizing and advocacy being done by the people at Know Your IX. Their focus spans from administrative failures at schools across the country to the financial and mental health burden on victims and police violence and the carceral state. Or the women graduating from these colleges and entering education, public policy, community organizing and the media to make these intersections — informed by their own experiences — visible for others.”

One Woman’s Quest to Fix the Process of Reporting Sexual Assault

Pacific Standard Magazine | May 28, 2015 “But while the amount of sexual violence on our nation’s campuses may not be increasing, awareness of the problem certainly is. Many survivors, no longer content to suffer in silence, have become activists, forcing universities, lawmakers, and the rest of us to confront an issue that has been blocked from our collective conscience for far too long.

There’s Columbia University’s Emma Sulkowicz, who’s been carrying a mattress around campus in protest after her school neglected to punish the student who allegedly assaulted her. Or Dana Bolger and Alexandra Brodsky, survivors who launched ‘Know Your IX,’ a campaign to educate students about their rights and their universities’ legal responsibilities, when their own colleges discouraged them from filing reports on their assaults.”

Ending Campus Rape Won’t Be Easy, But These Activists Aren’t Going Anywhere

The Huffington Post | May 6, 2015 “[Know Your IX cofounder Dana] Bolger notes despite the progress, undocumented, queer and trans students, as well as other marginalized communities still face unique challenges that aren’t being addressed yet.

For many campuses, she said, ‘I think we’re still at square one.’

‘At the end of the day,’ Bolger added, ‘we want there to be no more violence in schools, and I don’t think that’s too much to ask for.'”

U. of Montana, Back in the Sexual-Assault Spotlight, Ponders What’s Changed

The Chronicle of Higher Education | April 21, 2015 “The book’s lack of attention to the university’s role and policies is problematic, says Alexandra Brodsky, a Yale law student and co-founder of the group Know Your IX, which advocates for stronger enforcement of Title IX, the federal law that forbids gender discrimination in education.

Students’ complaints to the Education Department about how colleges deal with sexual misconduct generally have little or nothing to do with how cases have been handled by the police, Ms. Brodsky says. ‘That’s not where the action is on most campuses,’ she says.”

We Have to Stop Telling Survivors It’s Their Duty to Report Sexual Assault

Mic | April 15, 2015 “Dana Bolger, founding co-director of the national, student-driven campaign to end campus sexual violence, Know Your IX, agrees. ‘Many survivors choose not to go to the police simply because nothing in the criminal justice process is set up to support them as survivors,’ she told Mic. This is demonstrated by the fact that many states’ laws still don’t protect some victims at all — such as those whose assailant is the same sex as them, or male survivors — nor do many states recognize particular forms of dating or domestic violence, such as cyberstalking.”

An Arc of Outrage

The Chronicle of Higher Education | April 13, 2015 “While the movement a generation ago was angry, Ms. Baumgardner says, this one is savvy, its sights set on policy. Organizers have access to high-level political appointees, and the promise of enforcement has brought more students forward. In the summer of 2013, they rallied outside the Education Department in college T-shirts — Carleton, George Washington, Maryland, Tufts. Alexandra Brodsky, a recent graduate of Yale, appealed directly to Arne Duncan: ‘We need you to have our backs.’ The following year, as the White House prepared its campaign “Not Alone,” President Obama answered her: ‘I’ve got your back.'”

Forget FratPAC, Greek life should support Title IX

The State Press | April 12, 2015 “Know your IX argues that universities can handle these cases in ways that criminal proceedings can’t, stating, ‘A criminal trial is brought against a defendant by the state — not the victim — in defense of the state’s interests. That means that what the survivor needs is sidelined. In contrast, schools, unlike criminal courts, are focused on the victim and are required to make sure he or she has everything they need to continue their education.’

For example, a rape victim’s case could have been resolved through a criminal court, but the victims perpetrator could still be roaming on the same college campus. This scenario could easily be resolved if the university stepped in.”

In Campus Rape Tribunals, Some Men See Injustice

The Wall Street Journal | April 10, 2015 “The directive’s proponents point out that the ‘preponderance’ standard is used in most civil courts. Schools must treat violence against women as a civil-rights injury, not a crime, says Alexandra Brodsky, co-founder of Know Your IX, a student advocacy group.”

What to Know About Campus Sexual Misconduct

The Wall Street Journal | April 10, 2015

“Why is there so much attention to campus sexual misconduct now?

More students are reporting sexual assaults and more are suing over their schools’ handling of claims. “Almost all schools had some kind of procedure before the ‘Dear Colleague’ letter, it’s just that it was bad,” says Alexandra Brodsky of Know Your IX, a student group. Education Department Assistant Secretary Catherine Lhamon says federal focus helped prompt a national conversation about campus sexual violence.”

Four Charts Show What Happens to Colleges Accused of Discrimination

Bloomberg | April 8, 2015 “From 2012 to 2013, the number of Title IX complaints nearly quintupled. Brett Sokolow, whom BuzzFeed called ‘the most successful sexual assault consultant in the country,’ attributed that rise to a 2011 ‘Dear Colleague Letter’ released by the DOE to make it clear what colleges and universities must do to combat sexual harassment on campus. He also attributes it to the efforts of such organizations as Know Your IX, which are designed to help students combat sexual violence through Title IX.

The rise is ‘mostly because of the efforts of Know Your IX, in light of the 2011 DCL,’ he said.”

Law student: Rolling Stone passed up ‘normal rape stories’ at Yale

The Washington Post | April 8, 2015 “‘The stories that the media are taking are the really graphic, really brutal ones,’ said Brodsky at the panel discussion. Regardless of whether Jackie’s tale of a seven-man gang rape proved true, says Brodsky, it was never going to represent the common experience of campus sexual assault. ‘If what’s happening at Yale isn’t bad enough for you, you’re not really trying to support students. You’re not really trying to bring the truth to light. You’re trying to write a viral article,’ says Brodsky, who is also co-founder of Know Your IX and an editor at Feministing.”

3 Sexual Assault Resources For College Students That Seek To Tackle Sexual Violence On Campus

Bustle | April 6, 2015 “Run by survivors of sexual assault, Know Your IX is a student-driven campaign aimed at educating U.S. college students about their rights under Title IX as well as empowering them to stop sexual violence. The website shares students’ first-hand experiences with violence, legal battles, and activism. An advice section called “Dealing With…” offers specialized help on everything from how to handle “finding a lawyer” to “being a religious survivor” and “surviving intimate partner violence.”

The advocacy group also pushes for policy and legislative change for improved federal enforcement of Title IX. Know Your IX was co-founded in 2013 by Dana Bolger and Alexandra Brodsky, two women who said they were raped while attending college.”

Greek Students Denounce FratPAC’s Proposal On College Rape Investigations

The Huffington Post | April 1, 2015 “‘Requiring an “either-or” approach unconscionably denies survivors necessary services and demands that they decide whether their assaults be addressed as crimes or civil rights violations when they are, in fact, both,’ said Alexandra Brodsky, a Yale Law student and co-founder of the advocacy group Know Your IX.”

Frat Lobby Wants Congress to Block Schools From Investigating Rape

Jezebel | March 25, 2015 “Other critics of the FratPAC lobbying effort pointed out to both HuffPo and Bloomberg that the group fails to recognize that campus proceedings are frequently about determining whether a student violated the school’s code of conduct, not whether they’re guilty of a crime. Know Your IX argues that colleges can handle sexual assault cases in ways that criminal proceedings cannot:

A criminal trial is brought against a defendant by the state – not the victim – in defense of the state’s interests. That means that what the survivor needs is sidelined. In contrast, schools, unlike criminal courts, are focused on the victim and are required to make sure he or she has everything they need to continue their education. Examples include academic accommodations, dorm and class transfers, and mental health support. While many observers assume victims’ first priority is retribution, that may be one (or none at all) of many valid needs – and the police just can’t get a survivor an extension on her English paper due the week after he or she was raped.”

Entire college rugby team suspended over recorded “fuck a whore” chant

Jezebel | March 23, 2015 “While many of the complaints originated with colleges’ mishandling of sexual assault cases, Title IX is much bigger than rape. ‘If a school knows or reasonably should know about discrimination, harassment or violence that is creating a ‘hostile environment’ for any student,” explains Know Your IX, “it must act to eliminate it, remedy the harm caused and prevent its recurrence.’ Title IX even applies to students who don’t directly experience sexual harassment or discrimination.”

Rape Survivors Tell The NRA To Stop Speaking For Them

ThinkProgress | March 16, 2015 “If my rapist had a gun at school, I have no doubt I would be dead,” Landen Gambill, one of the activists working with Know Your IX, wrote in a recent petition aimed at the politicians currently debating proposed campus carry bills. “That’s why I started this petition asking legislators in these states not to allow guns on campuses and put survivors like me in even more danger.”

Who’s who in feminism

The Oakland Post | March 16, 2015 “This 25-year-old Yale Law student gets around. She’s a writer for feministing.com, a founding member of Know Your IX, is currently working on the Feminist Utopia Project, has been published in big newspapers like the New York Times and The Guardian and has appeared on news networks like CNN and FOX News. As a writer for feministing.com, Brodsky tackles campus culture issues like rape, sexual harassment and violence. Her latest post is about new legislation that, if passed, would require colleges to report all gender-related violence to the authorities. ‘Consequently, if schools are required to pass along all reports to the cops, survivors may just report to no one at all, losing out on much-needed support services from their colleges,’ Brodsky writes. From reading her posts, one thing is clear: Brodsky has a passion, and she won’t be backing down anytime soon. Frank said that Brodsky is an important player in the feminism game and that she will be heard due to her passion. ‘Young girls like her bring renewed and vigorous action,’ Frank said.”

The answer to campus rape: more guns, say NRA-backed lawmakers

The Huffington Post | March 12, 2015 “College anti-rape advocates have joined a pro-gun control group to oppose National Rifle Association-backed lawmakers who say allowing students to carry firearms on college campuses will deter sexual assaults. Know Your IX, founded by student sexual assault survivors, is working with the gun control advocacy organization Everytown For Gun Safety to demand that pro-gun lawmakers stop “exploiting” the issue of campus rape to loosen gun laws.”

Sex, Lies, and Justice: A Discussion of Campus Sexual Assault, Title IX Compliance, and Due Process

The American Constitution Society, The American Prospect, and the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) | March 12, 2015

Shame on universities that tolerate sexual assault

Al Jazeera America | March 7, 2015 “College anti-rape advocates have joined a pro-gun control group to oppose National Rifle Association-backed lawmakers who say allowing students to carry firearms on college campuses will deter sexual assaults. Know Your IX, founded by student sexual assault survivors, is working with the gun control advocacy organization Everytown For Gun Safety to demand that pro-gun lawmakers stop “exploiting” the issue of campus rape to loosen gun laws.”

Timehop: Evaluating the SaVE Act, one year later

USA Today | March 4, 2015 “The SaVE Act builds on what the letter began by taking the next step in preventing sexual assault on campus by requiring colleges and universities to have designated confidential sources for victims to report sexual misconduct. Those sources can help the victim learn his or her options for reporting and about support services available through the college. ‘What we’ve seen is a lot of schools have been forced to basically put measures in place that would actually support survivors,’ says Alyssa Peterson, policy organizer with Know Your IX, a student-led campaign to end sexual violence.”

“Campus-carry bill raises safety concerns

CBS News | February 27, 2015 “Yale Law student Alexandra Brodsky helped start ‘Know Your IX,’ a nationwide advocacy group that helps survivors of sexual violence. She believes campus-carry laws won’t work.

‘We’re talking about why shouldn’t a woman be able to carry a gun to protect herself. But if you’re going to give her a gun, you’re also going to have to give rapists a gun, and I think we can all realize that’s a really bad idea,’ Brodsky said.”

Campus gun proponents slammed for ‘grotesque’ opportunism on campus rape

Al Jazeera America | February 20, 2015

“‘By saying that guns will prevent rape, they’re putting the burden on the victims,’ reads the letter, which is co-sponsored by Know Your IX, an advocacy group that works against gender-based violence on campuses.

‘And they’re denying the indisputable fact that the vast majority of campus assaults are perpetrated by a partner, friend, or close acquaintance — the types of people around whom people would never think to carry a gun.'”

First, Do No Harm

Inside Higher Ed | February 19, 2015 “More than a dozen student affairs associations, nonprofit organizations and victims’ advocate groups [including Know Your IX] are releasing an open letter today urging state legislators to reconsider pending bills in several states that the letter says would interfere with colleges’ efforts to prevent campus sexual assault.

The letter, written by NASPA: Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, was sent to lawmakers in all 50 states; in several states, legislatures are considering bills that would require college officials to refer all reports of sexual violence to law enforcement or that would give accused students judicial rights, such as allowing a lawyer to fully participate on their behalf, that are not available to accusers.”

Finally dealing with campus rape means that some men will have it tougher

The Guardian | February 11, 2015 “Maybe it’s that we’re not used to seeing gender justice in action, so it feels strange and new … and therefore off. Alexandra Brodsky, a co-director of anti-rape organization Know Your IX, compared the situation to someone who has unwittingly been living in an apartment with a tilted floor their whole life.

‘You become used to that, so if you wake up one day and your floor is level, it’s going to feel uneven,’ she told me.”

Four Va. universities respond to bill that would require police notification of sexual assaults

The Washington Post | January 27, 2015 “The Post also spoke with Dana Bolger, a 2014 graduate of Amherst College, who is co-founder of a group called Know Your IX. The name of the group refers to the 1972 law known as Title IX, which prohibits gender discrimination at schools that receive federal funding. The group’s stated mission is to empower students to stop sexual violence.

‘This bill will absolutely have a deterrent effect on survivors reporting’ sexual assaults, Bolger said of the Virginia measure. ‘Survivors tell me time and again that if their school had been required to hand their reports over to the police, they would never have come forward to anyone at all.'”

These Are The Colleges And Universities Now Under Federal Investigation For Botching Rape Cases

ThinkProgress | January 13, 2015 “Some student activists have raised concerns that, in order for Title IX investigations to be effective, Congress needs to change the way that the federal law gets enforced. Currently, if a school is found guilty of violating of Title IX, administrators typically come to a ‘voluntary resolution‘ with OCR that gives the college another chance to clean up its act. The advocates behind Know Your IX, a survivor-led group working to address campus violence, believe that’s often not enough of a punishment — and want schools to get slapped with a fine for their violations.

‘Many of us have filed Title IX complaints, which has been sort of the celebrated tool over the past year, and have been really displeased with the outcome,’ Alexandra Brodsky, one of the co-directors of Know Your IX, told ThinkProgress this past summer. ‘If we’re going to celebrate students for coming forward, we have to make sure that we, as a country, have their backs.'”

2014 was the year college sexual assault became impossible to ignore

Vox | January 6, 2015 “Title IX gave victims ‘a legal framework for what otherwise could have been easily dismissed individual narratives,’ says Alexandra Brodsky, one of the founders of Know Your IX, an activist group on campus sexual assault.”

Women’s eNews Announces 21 Leaders 2015

Women’s eNews | January 1, 2015 “After she learned that the federal education law, Title IX, entitled her to stay on campus [Know Your IX cofounder Dana Bolger] decided she needed to inform others, especially at this moment when the frequency of sexual assault and the impunity often provided by the campus administration has become the subject of forums, widespread protests and discussions on social media.

‘Once I learned I had that right I was able to stand up for myself and march into meetings with administrators and demand my place on campus,’ Bolger said.”

Department of Education tells Harvard to Protect Students from Sexual Assault

Tucson Weekly | December 31, 2014 “Because of increased attention and organizations like Know Your IX—a very cool organization that helps students deal with sexual assault at their colleges—there’s been a lot of pressure to get things right.

Yesterday was a big day in the direction of progress. The U.S. Department of Education announced it had found Harvard University and its Law School had fallen short in its campus sexual assault responsibilities. The ruling means that Harvard will have to redo it’s sexual harassment policies.”

Title IX often used to force colleges to investigate sexual assaults

The Columbus Dispatch | December 28, 2014 “The ‘Dear Colleague letter,’ as it has come to be known, spelled out that the Title IX prohibition against sex-based discrimination also applies to sexual harassment and violence. Colleges, the Education Department said, must respond to sexual-violence allegations in a ‘prompt, fair and impartial’ way. They also must take steps to prevent harassment and violence.

That makes Title IX a ‘powerful tool’ to lobby for change, said Dana Bolger, a graduate of Amherst College in western Massachusetts, who co-founded Know Your IX, a Title IX literacy and advocacy organization.”

12 Ways Young People Organized for Human Rights in 2014

RH Reality Check | December 19, 2014 “5. Know Your IX kept leading a grassroots movement to demand accountability on campus sexual assault. There is no one better to organize against oppression and injustice than those most directly affected, and the growing organization Know Your IX—a reference to Title IX, under which educational institutions receiving federal funding must address sexual assault as a civil rights obligation—does just that. The survivor-led and student-driven group, founded last year, remained at the forefront of efforts to inform students who have been sexually assaulted of their rights and demand that the Department of Education improve its enforcement of the law. These efforts played a clear role in a new national dialogue about campus sexual assault and the unveiling of the It’s On Us campaign by the Obama administration in September.”

Rape culture isn’t a myth. It’s real, and it’s dangerous.

Vox | December 15, 2014 “There isn’t any single program or law that can magically fix rape culture. However, advocacy campaigns run by groups like Know Your IX and Hollaback have brought attention to the problems fueling rape culture and have helped women to organize in opposition to it. Because rape culture derives some of its power from unconscious biases and hidden assumptions, simply drawing attention to it is a step towards changing it.”

The Wrestler and the Rape Victim

Vice Sports | December 15, 2014 “Over the last 18 months, the problem of campus sexual assault has received unprecedented national attention, with investigative journalists looking into a range of policies at schools from the University of Kansas to Columbia University. In addition to increased media coverage—highlighting grim statistics such as one in five women being the victim of an attempted or completed sexual assault during college—advocacy groups like Know Your IX and End Rape On Campus have pushed the issue to the forefront, helping assault survivors file federal complaints under Title IX with the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) and sue universities directly.”

You don’t need to be a feminist to help stop rape. You can even be a frat boy!

The Guardian | December 15, 2014 “Wagatwe Wanjuki, a writer and activist associated with Know Your IX, an anti-sexual violence group focused on college students, isn’t sold on Edwards’ arguments. ‘The best way to stop rape is prevention and stopping the culture that normalizes rape,’ she explained.

‘Bystander intervention is great, but afterwards, the rapist still exists and he’s still out there in the world.'”

When the Victim is Male

Inside Higher Ed | December 12, 2014 “‘Because of pervasive myths about who ‘can’ and ‘cannot’ be a rape victim, male survivors often aren’t provided the same remedies and protections in schools as female survivors,’ said Dana Bolger, co-founder of [Know Your IX]. ‘These are protections they deserve and are owed under the law.'”

What It’s Like Being A Campus Sexual Assault Activist

The Huffington Post | December 12, 2014 “Alexandra Brodsky, a Yale University law student and co-founder of Know Your IX, recalled similar pushback from alumni when she helped file a complaint against her school in 2011. She said some complained of constantly hearing about the issue at cocktail parties.

‘I remember thinking, huh, that’s interesting. I resent having been sexually assaulted,’ Brodsky said. ‘I’ll just never believe a school’s reputation should be prioritized over the safety and equality of its students — which sounds uncontroversial, but was very much counter to what we heard from classmates and alumni.'”

How Rolling Stone’s campus rape story could discourage victims from speaking out

The Washington Post | December 7, 2014 “Reporting on sexual assaults on college campuses is particularly difficult. The explicit violence in the experience Jackie relayed makes her story something of an outlier, said Dana Bolger, founding co-director of Know Your IX, an organization that works to end campus rape. More often, sexual assaults in college occur in situations where the level of consent is likely to be called into question.

‘Rape in college looks like rape by a friend, by a partner, rape when someone is incapacitated or unconscious,’ Bolger said. ‘All of these are real experiences of violence that don’t look like what we traditionally point to as violence.’”

Doubts About Uva Rape Account Leave Concerns About Consequences

The Chronicle of Higher Education | December 7, 2014 “‘If Rolling Stone feels like it should’ve conducted its research more fully, it should’ve done that,’ Dana Bolger, a founding co-director of Know Your IX, a victims’-rights group, wrote in an email to The Chronicle. ‘But throwing Jackie under the bus for its journalistic mistakes is not only unfair to her but to survivors everywhere. Victims were already met with skepticism when they spoke out. Who’s going to possibly want to speak up now?'”

On Being A Journalist And A Sexual Assault Survivor

Buzzfeed | December 6, 2014 “My decision a year ago to join Know Your IX, an activist group committed to ending gender-based violence on college campuses, was borne out of the same urge to instigate change and reveal the truth of that violence. And that, too, has become thoroughly entwined in my identity as a journalist. I profile journalists and activists for Know Your IX and write guides for journalists on how to ethically report on gender-based violence; I write about sexual assault for the alt-weekly I now work for. For me, journalism and activism are two sides of the same (perhaps foolish) ideal: bringing the truth to light so that it may help others.”

Rolling Stone scapegoats rape victim, makes matters worse

MSNBC | December 5, 2014 “Reporting on gender-based violence is always tricky. I help run [Know Your IX] a national campaign by and for student survivors, and I know classic symptoms of trauma include memory loss and inconsistent narratives, presenting challenges to journalists. Plus, the stakes for reporting are so much higher when confirming a story that may trigger violent retaliation against a survivor.”

Why It’s Dangerous to Discuss Campus Rape Only at Its Most Extreme

The Chronicle of Higher Education | December 4, 2014 “‘These stories really capture the public’s imagination and bring much-needed attention to the issue,’ says Alexandra Brodsky, founding co-director of Know Your IX, a victims’ rights group. ‘But there’s clearly a cost to that. When members of a university community start to expect these really gruesome details, it makes the reality of violence in most other cases pale in comparison. And that’s a shame.'”

Survivors Share Some Of The Hidden Costs Of Sexual Assault In College

The Huffington Post | December 2, 2014 “For example, Know Your IX co-founder Alexandra Brodsky explained in a recent Washington Post op-ed how it could cost a survivor thousands in expenses to break a lease and move away from an abusive ex. One woman, who Brodsky referred to as Allison, essentially lost a semester at her college and was denied a tuition refund, what Brodsky called ‘a $19,000 fine for victimhood.'”

How ‘Carry That Weight’ Is Changing The Conversation On Campus Sexual Assault

Rolling Stone | December 1, 2014 “Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex at educational institutions that receive federal funding, and a 2011 letter from the Department of Education requires institutions to take “immediate and effective steps to end sexual violence and sexual harassment.” Thanks to organizations such as Know Your IX, which educates survivors about their Title IX rights, and End Rape on Campus, which helps survivors file federal Title IX complaints with the Department of Education, 85 American universities are currently under investigation for the way they handle gender-based violence cases.”

Ms. Wonder Awards Honor Young Grassroots Leaders in Anti-Violence, Fair Wage Movements

Ms. Magazine | November 19, 2014 “Know Your IX, Black Women’s Blueprint, the #CarryThatWeight Movement, and End Rape on Campus were all honored for their work to end campus sex assault at colleges and universities nationwide.”

Reporter: Sexual Assault on Rhode Island College Campuses

Rhode Island Monthly | November 3, 2014 “In 2013, a group of student survivors founded Know Your IX to educate rape survivors about their rights and advocate for better federal laws and enforcement. For example, currently, the DOE’s only penalty for Title IX violations is to remove all federal funding, a weapon so financially devastating it’s never been used.

‘These complaints almost always terminate in finding of no wrongdoing or a voluntary agreement promising to do better,’ says cofounder Dana Bolger, who became an activist after an Amherst College dean advised her to leave the campus until her attacker graduated. ‘In the same way campus administrators are telling victims to be patient, the DOE says wait for this school to do better. We are putting pressure on them to make those rights a reality.'”

Students get creative to confront rape culture with Carry That Weight

Waging Nonviolence | November 1, 2014 “Columbia students, however, are by no means the first to expose universities’ mistreatment of survivors. Wednesday’s actions are the latest spike in a national, multi-year effort to change the way colleges deal with sexual assault. Organizers — working as individual campus groups and with national networks like Know Your IX and Ending Rape on Campus — have kicked off federal investigations at over 55 colleges and universities, according to a list released by the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights last May. The schools represented on the list speak to the widespread nature of the problem — from Ivy League universities like Dartmouth and Princeton, to elite liberal arts colleges, to massive state institutions like Penn State University and Ohio State University. Since May, the number of schools being investigated has jumped from 55 to 79.”

Consent Bro: Meet the guy who teaches frat brothers what ‘yes means yes’ means

The Washington Post | October 29, 2014 “But the reality on campuses is less ground-shaking, said Alexandra Brodsky, a second-year law student at Yale University and co-founder of Know Your IX.  ‘”Yes means yes” is not going to revolutionize everything,’ she said. ‘It’s actually a really low bar: We want people to have sex they’re really excited about. That’s mostly confusing to people who want to have sex with incapacitated women.'”

Group Builds Novel Sexual Assault Reporting System — By Talking To Survivors

The Huffington Post | October 21, 2014 “Callisto was developed with input from the anti-sexual assault advocacy and activist groups End Rape On Campus, Futures Without Violence, Know Your IX, Surviving in Numbers, the Clery Center, Faculty Against Rape and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.”

Colleges Are Already Screwing Up New Campus Safety Law That Includes Domestic Violence

The Huffington Post | October 17, 2014 “Know Your IX embarked on the campaign of identifying schools that failed to share dating violence reports to emphasize that the gender equity law Title IX covers more than just sexual assault and harassment.

‘This Campus SaVE data is such a perfect place to start,’ said Know Your IX co-founder Dana Bolger, ‘because publishing the number of reports a school receives of dating violence and stalking is so easy — it’s such low-hanging fruit, it’s such an easy ask. It’s absurd that schools are not following it.'”

Next Up For Feminist Activists On Campus: Dating Violence

Slate | October 14, 2014 “Perhaps more troubling is that the statistics at some schools that do report are clearly all wrong. Dana Bolger of Know Your IX explains at Feministing:

It’s Time to Show Your Support for Your #GIRLHERO

MTV Act | October 11, 2014 “The topic of sexual assault on college campus has been on the minds of millions these past few weeks. As the news comes and goes, however, there are several girls who are working tirelessly to make sure students around the country know about their Title IX rights. If you’re in college or know someone who is, make sure you let them know about Know Your IX.”

Campus Sexual Assault: Will Victims Trust the System?

CBS St. Louis | October 9, 2014 “Advocate and Yale University law student Alexandra Brodsky cautions, the ultimate decision on what steps to take should still remain with the student, ‘Most of the survivors that we have spoken to out of hundreds said that they would be less likely to report to their school if that would necessitate some sort of police involvement. So I think we have to be clear that everyone is working together if they want them to work together but that that decision is ultimately up to them.'”

La rebelión de las supervivientes

El País | October 6, 2014 “También han surgido movimientos espontáneos. Es el caso de Know Your IX, una web de apoyo, contacto y asesoramiento fundada por Dana Bolger y Alexandra Brodsky.”

Campus Sexual Assault Law Now Includes Language On Same-Sex Violence

NPR | October 1, 2014 “In the past year, [John] Kelly has testified before the U.S. Senate and spoken at the White House. Earlier this year, [they were] the student alternate member on a committee of educators, government officials and advocates who were chosen to write the regulations for implementing the Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act.”

New Law Sets Bar for Sexual Consent on California’s Campuses

Newsweek | September 29, 2014 “The bill ‘is a significant victory for survivors and students,’ Dana Bolger, co-founder of Know Your IX, a survivor-run campaign to end campus sexual violence tells Newsweek in an email. The group educates students of their rights under Title IX, which calls for gender equity in every education program that receives federal funding.”

He, She, Us: Emma Watson, the White House, and Efforts to Change the Culture on Women’s Rights

RH Reality Check | September 24, 2014 “‘I know that the Internet has been one of the biggest reasons why the campus sexual assault movement even made it to the White House,’ campus sexual assault activist and writer Wagatwe Wanjuki told RH Reality Check. (Wanjuki is a former RHRC employee.) ‘If it wasn’t for that, who knows how much longer we would have had to wait to have the president acknowledge that college rape is an issue and we need to do something about it.'”

‘It’s On Us’

Inside Higher Ed | September 22, 2014 “Dana Bolger, the founding co-director of Know Your Title IX, said she worries that the administration is moving onto the ‘next step’ before finishing the previous one. While the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is still investigating nearly 80 colleges and universities for how they handle sexual assault investigations, Bolger said the federal government has not done a good enough job sanctioning institutions.”

Wagatwe Wanjuki, Sexual Assault Activist, Nominated for Tufts Honorary Degree

Bustle | September 21, 2014 “After her grades suffered in the aftermath of the assault (not unusual for survivors and especially for those who don’t get support from their schools), Wanjuki was eventually forced to leave the university without graduating, even though her grades still qualified her for graduation.

Since then, Wanjuki has been outspoken against sexual assault, and is involved in groups such as Know Your IX. She also started the hashtag #SurvivorPrivilege in response to George Will’s Washington Post column about campus sexual assault.”

The White House’s New Rape Prevention Campaign Puts The Emphasis On Men

ThinkProgress | September 19, 2014 “Sexual assault prevention activists have long argued that addressing the issue of campus rape involves this type of cultural approach. ‘Don’t be friends with rapists,’ Alexandra Brodsky, one of the founders of Know Your IX, a survivor-led group working to address sexual assault, argued in Feministing earlier this year. ‘My honest belief is that social ostracism could do more than our current laws. My senior year, I saw a known repeat offender question his treatment of women for the first time because he wasn’t invited to a big party thrown by one of his victim’s friends.'”

The Ugly Truth College Officials Often Ignore About Sexual Violence

RH Reality Check | September 18, 2014 “Last year, activists Alexandra Brodsky and Dana Bolger, along with a number of other students, started the survivor-run education and resource website ‘Know Your IX’; that’s really had a huge impact on college campuses. An offshoot of that was ED Act Now, through which students got hundreds of thousands of signatures on a petition to pressure the Department of Education to increase its enforcement efforts. That’s been a huge impetus for the Department of Education to enforce Title IX.”

White House to unveil new campaign for sexual assault prevention

MSNBC | September 18, 2014 “Bringing the spotlight of the White House to sexual assault is a good start, advocates say, but more attention is needed on issues like dating violence and stalking as well. ‘What’s needed is a focus on how to recognize and dismantle the power structures that enact and perpetuate violence in the first place,’ Dana Bolger, founding co-director of Know Your IX told msnbc in an email. ‘Being a proactive bystander should mean it’s on you to learn how to recognize the signs of an abusive relationship and connect a survivor with support services. Or if you attend a school that doesn’t expel repeat rapists, it’s on you to call out your school for that and hold it accountable.'”

How many young women can a school legally punish for dress code violations?

The Guardian | September 17, 2014 “The rules are so disproportionate, they could be a violation of Title IX, the federal law that ensures non-discrimination in educational environments. Alexandra Brodsky, co-founder of Know Your IX, told me, ‘If women are missing out on opportunities to learn [by being pulled out of class], that looks like a violation to me.'”

Princeton is the final Ivy Leaguer to lower burden of proof for sexual assault

The Washington Post | September 16, 2014 “Princeton is only the most recent of many of these institutions to revamp its sexual misconduct policies, underscoring that change, unfortunately, has been largely reactive rather than proactive (think Amherst College, Columbia University, Dartmouth College and Harvard). For others involved in this fight, that means holding their respective campuses accountable and supporting and sharing student survivors’ stories, as Know Your IX, a national ‘survivor-run, student-driven campaign to end campus sexual violence,’ has successfully done all over the country.”

“We Will Not Be Silenced”: Students Denounce Rape at Columbia as Schools Face Scrutiny for Inaction

Democracy Now! | September 16, 2014 “AMY GOODMAN: Columbia University is under federal investigation, along with scores of other universities around the United States. And, Zoe, you’re very active on this national level. You’re an organizer with the ED Act Now campaign, as well as Know Your IX. Explain what these are. And what does it mean for your campus, to your university, to be under investigation?

ZOE RIDOLFI–STARR: So, Know Your IX is a survivor-led, student-driven campaign that works to empower students to end sexual violence on college campuses, and ED Act Now is sort of the organizing branch of that group. So we’re pushing for improved policies at both campus, state and federal levels around these issues of sexual violence on campuses.”

Profit And Peril In The Anti-Rape Industry

ThinkProgress | September 10, 2014 “‘I don’t rule out the possibility that there could be an effective anti-rape effort that would take some sort of business model. That being said, it makes me really uncomfortable that there could be a tool that would only be accessible to some people depending on their ability to pay,’ Alexandra Brodsky, one of the founders and current co-directors of Know Your IX, a survivor-led group working to address campus sexual assault, said.”

18 Questions to Ask About Your School’s Sexual Assault Policy

Cosmopolitan | August 28, 2014 “‘A school that has adopted an affirmative consent standard is more likely to understand that sex should be an act of joy for everyone involved and that all of their students are sexual agents,’ says Alexandra Brodsky, co-founder and director of Know Your IX, an organization that combats sexual assault and educates students on their rights under Title IX. ‘Not all survivors are women but most are, and schools that have other standards are seeing their female students as gatekeepers to sex who sometimes regret making the wrong decision, as opposed to sexually autonomous people who have preferences and desires, and sometimes that desire is not to have sex.'”

Student Activists Keep Pressure on Campus Sexual Assault

NPR | August 26, 2014 “After finishing her degree, [Dana] Bolger co-founded Know Your IX with Alexandra Brodsky of Yale University, to educate students about their rights. The group has a growing network of campus activists, including [Chandini] Jha at Georgetown. It connects assault survivors to pro bono attorneys. It staged protests at the Department of Education. That led to meetings with White House officials and members of Congress.”

Why a New Nail Polish Cannot Gloss Over Rape Culture

The New York Times | August 26, 2014 “Ms. Culp-Resser spoke with Alexandra Brodsky, a founder and co-director of Know Your IX, a ‘survivor-run, student-driven campaign to end campus sexual violence,’ according to its website. ‘One of the reasons we get so excited about these really simple fixes is because it makes us feel like the problem itself is really simple,’ Ms. Brodsky explains. ‘But I really wish that people were funneling all of this ingenuity and funding and interest into new ways to stop people from perpetuating violence, as opposed to trying to personally avoid it so that the predator in the bar rapes someone else.'”

Why Rape Prevention Activists Don’t Like The New Nail Polish That Can Detect Roofies

ThinkProgress | August 25, 2014 “According to Alexandra Brodsky, one of the founders and current co-directors of Know Your IX, a survivor-led group working to address campus sexual assault, well-intentioned products like anti-rape nail polish can actually end up fueling victim blaming. Any college students who don’t use the special polish could open themselves up to criticism for failing to do everything in their power to prevent rape.”

A Brief History of Sexual Violence Activism in the U.S.

Ms. Magazine | August 8, 2014 “In the past year, survivor-activists and allies have effectively put sexual violence on the national agenda, spurring White House, congressional, and state-level policy action. Movement leaders have worked tirelessly to make this happen, namely, Wendy Murphy, [Know Your IX founding co-director] Alexandra Brodsky, [KYIX alum] Wagatwe Wanjuki, Annie E. Clark, [KYIX alum] Laura Dunn, Andrea Pino, S. Daniel Carter, and [KYIX founding co-director] Dana Bolger. These leaders have created awareness and momentum through hands-on survivor assistance, lobbying, petitions and the creation of new organizations (e.g., Know Your IX, End Rape on Campus, and SurvJustice.”

 Bill Would Require Disclosure Of More College Rape Investigations

The Huffington Post | August 1, 2014 “Know Your IX, a survivor advocacy group that has worked with Karasek, said in a statement Thursday that the HALT Act would be needed to codify ‘openness’ and ‘ensure continued transparency in future administrations.'”

Bipartisan bill would tighten rules on campus sexual assault 

McClatchy Washington Bureau | July 31, 2014 “Under the measure, schools that violate Title IX, which bans gender discrimination in education activities and programs supported by federal funds, would be fined up to 1 percent of their budgets for each deviation from the federal law… Know Your IX, a student rights group, had filed a petition earlier this year that called on Congress to ‘give teeth’ to the Department of Education’s enforcement of Title IX.”

Senate Unveils Bill To Crack Down On Colleges Botching Sexual Assault Cases

The Huffington Post | July 30, 2014 “‘It’s really clear from this bill that the senators listened to the survivors that they talked to,’ Alexandra Brodsky, a Yale Law Student and co-founding director of the survivor advocacy group Know Your IX, told The Huffington Post. Brodsky, working with an advocacy group called ED Act Now, has long called for tougher penalties for colleges that botch rape cases.

‘It really shows this law is meant to respond to the on-ground experiences of students,’ she added.”

Campus Sexual Assault: What Are Colleges Doing Wrong?

ProPublica | July 29, 2014 “So many sexual assault victims have filed complaints that there are now 71 schools under federal investigation for Title IX violations across the country. knowyourix.org, a site set up by advocates, lays out how you can file a complaint.”

One Simple Solution to Make Sure Colleges Start Taking Rape Seriously

ThinkProgress | July 28, 2014 “Alexandra Brodsky and Dana Bolger — the founders and current co-directors of Know Your IX, a survivor-led group working to address campus violence — want to reform the enforcement process for the law that forms the foundation of their group’s name. They want the colleges that fall short of Title IX to be slapped with a fine.”

20% of colleges flout federal law in handling sexual assault, report finds

Mashable | July 17, 2014 “‘The report really confirms what survivors have been saying for years now. That essentially universities are failing all across the board, from prevention services to investigation to reporting to disciplinary procedures to even having the personnel they’re required under law to have,’ says Dana Bolger, founder and co-director of Know Your IX, a student organization against sexual violence.”

Sexual assault conference at Dartmouth skews toward schools

MSNBC | July 16, 2014 “Dana Bolger, a founding co-director of Know Your IX, a student-led campaign to combat sexual violence did not attend the summit, and questioned how a conference held at a school with such a terrible track record on sexual violence could be taken seriously.

‘Having that university host a conference at which very few to zero student survivor activists spoke says to me that Dartmouth isn’t particularly interested in changing life on the ground for students,’ Bolger said.”

Will campus sexual assault probes affect enrollment?

Ledger-Enquirer | July 16, 2014 “‘Schools are realizing that this is something that they have to stop (messing) up because it’s looking so bad for them,’ said John Kelly, special projects coordinator at Know Your IX, a student rights organization focused on the federal law that bans gender discrimination on campus, including sexual harassment and assault. ‘It’s not going to bode well.'”

A college sex assault firestorm ignites

All In with Chris Hayes | July 14, 2014

Survey: colleges struggling to combat sex assault

MSNBC | July 9, 2014 “Policy is part of it, ‘but as we move forward,’ Bolger said, ‘it’s important we don’t lose sight of the difference between policy and practice. One of the common things we see schools do in response to public pressure is change their policies – which is a very visible way to perform their concern – without actually changing their practices in the day to day.'”

Colleges lax over campus sexual assault cases, senator finds

McClatchy DC | July 9, 2014 “Know Your IX, a group working to help students know their rights under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits all forms of sex discrimination in education, is urging the senators to revise the law so that schools can be fined for violations regarding sexual assaults.”

Want colleges to protect students from sexual assault? Take action to give Title IX teeth

The Nation | July 8, 2014 “We wish we lived in a country where we could appeal to schools’ moral compasses—but US colleges and universities have proven time and again that they won’t take sexual violence, and equal access to education for all students, seriously, until they have more at stake. We need to speak to them in the twin languages they understand: money and reputation. Armed with the power to levy fines, the OCR could ensure that it is more expensive for schools to violate survivors’ rights than to respect them.”

Campus sex assault law could be ‘two years’ away

The Daily Beast | July 3, 2014 “‘I think we can forget what a month or a semester makes in a student’s lifetime, so that’s why it’s imperative we address it quickly,’ said Dana Bolger, founding co-director at Know Your IX. ‘Every day that goes by is a day a survivor has to sit in the dining hall with [his or her] perpetrator.'”

Senators eye new penalties for colleges mishandling sexual assault cases

The Huffington Post | June 27, 2014 “‘It’s clear that this methodology of endless second chances doesn’t work,’ Brodsky told The Huffington Post. ‘We’re seeing the same schools under investigation again and again, little changed because of the OCR’s first intervention. Voluntary resolution agreements devoid of sanctions for schools are the equivalent of the “slap on the wrist” book report for student rapists.'”

Connecticut advocates lobby Congress to tackle sex crimes on campus

The Connecticut Mirror | June 27, 2014 “‘Some people want vindication in the courts. Some just want an extension on their English papers. Some people just don’t want to see their rapist in the dorm the next day,’ said Yale law student Alexandra Brodsky.”

The unexpected victims of sexual assault

Ronan Farrow Daily | June 27, 2014

Round table reveals problems of reporting, prosecuting campus sexual assault

The Washington Post | June 23, 2014 “The choice on whether to proceed in court should be left up to the survivor. ‘Some people want public vindication through the courts,’ said Yale University law student Alexandra Brodsky, an organizer of Know Your IX, which aims to educate U.S. college students in about their rights under Title IX. ‘Some people just want an extension on their English paper, or to not have to see their rapist in their dorm the following day.'”

Senate Roundtable On College Sexual Assault Reveals Split On Campus Alerts

The Huffington Post | June 23, 2014 “Yale University law student Alexandra Brodsky, another panel participant, noted that warnings allow students to gauge whether a school underreports sexual assaults in periodic disclosures of crime reports.

‘It’s really hard to file a Clery complaint [against a university], because you’re dependent on your school’s information to know whether your school’s information is correct or not,’ Brodsky said.”

Alumni unite to press colleges on sexual assault

The Boston Globe | June 11, 2014 “Since then, [Bolger] has become an activist, helping to launch Know Your IX, a Web-based campaign that aims to educate students about Title IX, a law mandating gender equality on campuses. She is thrilled to see other alumni speaking out. ‘When you’re fighting against a power as big as American higher ed you need all of the help you can get.'”

‘They cared more about him than me’: real stories of reporting campus rape

The Guardian | June 10, 2014 “‘Survivors shy away from processes that are confusing, with lots of hoops to jump through,’ said Dana Bolger, founding co-director of Know Your IX. Bolger also recommend disclosing what sanction perpetrators will face because, ‘If the sanctions are meaningful, survivors will see that and feel that coming forward is worthwhile.'”