Tag Archives: discrimination

Know Your Title IX Rights

Leave a reply

Title IX is a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex against any person who participates in any federally funded education program. This means that many schools, colleges and universities across the country are subject to Title IX laws.

Contrary to popular opinion, Title IX does not apply just to college athletics. Title IX typically applies to 10 topics, ranging from standardized testing to technology.  We focus here specifically on sexual assault and sexual harassment cases, and we have a history of representing clients in Title IX matter against their schools.

Furthermore, Title IX law does not just apply to female students. Title IX protects equal rights in federally funded education for each and every person involved. This includes students, staff, faculty and other employees. It also includes women, girls, men and boys; those with or without disabilities; and international and undocumented workers. Under Title IX, every person has a right to pursue education or work in education, free from sex discrimination, sexual violence and sexual harassment.

Colleges failing to properly investigate sexual assault

Leave a reply

A new study has found that around 40% of colleges have failed to investigate a single incident of sexual assault on their campuses in the last five years.  Furthermore, 51% of colleges admit they have no hotline to report sexual assaults, and 10% have no Title IX coordinator.

These findings come after a survey conducted by Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo, who is focusing on campus sexual assaults after passing legislation earlier in 2014 to confront rape in the military.  To read the full report, click here.

Title IX and the Clery Act require colleges to report, investigate and prevent campus sexual assault, but these figures highlight a systematic failure to act in a significant portion of colleges. In the survey, colleges also showed a tendency to report sexual assault but not investigate it. The investigation process itself also remains highly fraught with many colleges not permitting the involvement of the victim in the case, while others involve a student body to adjudicate, leading to major privacy concerns and potentially discouraging student to report assault if it ends up under peer review.

There remains a significant lack of training and education to teach staff and students about sexual assault. 20% of colleges fail to provide sexual assault training for their staff, 31% fail to provide training for their students and 30% fail to provide training for on-campus security or police.

If you have any questions about sexual assault on campus or Title IX, please contact us today.

All statistics are from July 9, 2014 report issued by United States Senator Claire McCaskill.