In Defense of Title IX
Fall 2017 | By Laura J. Cole
Catherine Kaukinen, professor and chair of the criminal justice department, assumed changes to Title IX would follow shortly after President Trump 麻豆精品 S檚 election. Like many other Title IX scholars, she 麻豆精品 S檇 been following Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos 麻豆精品 S� every announcement. And on September 22 麻豆精品 S� nearly two months after the book Kaukinen co-edited, Addressing Violence Against Women on College Campuses, was released 麻豆精品 S� DeVos 麻豆精品 S� Title IX announcement came.
Responding to complaints, DeVos rescinded the guidelines put in place under the Obama administration because 麻豆精品 S渕any schools have established procedures for resolving allegations that 麻豆精品 S榣ack the most basic elements of fairness and due process, are overwhelmingly stacked against the accused, and are in no way required by Title IX law or regulation. 麻豆精品 S� 麻豆精品 S�
That same day, 笔别驳补蝉耻蝉听interviewed Kaukinen about the history of Title IX, what it does right, what UCF has been doing and what DeVos 麻豆精品 S檚 announcement means for college campuses.
Laura J. Cole: For 45 years, Title IX has perhaps been best known as the historic decision to stop discrimination against women in collegiate sports. For those who don 麻豆精品 S檛 know, how did it also come to cover sexual assault?
Catherine Kaukinen: Title IX has always included nondiscriminatory treatment of women, which was broadly defined to include athletics, but also admissions, recruitment and, particularly, sexual harassment.
Clearly, the 2011 麻豆精品 S淒ear Colleague 麻豆精品 S� letter [issued by the Office for Civil Rights] codified what it means when we say harassment. Harassment includes sexual violence. It seems really obvious now 麻豆精品 S� why wouldn 麻豆精品 S檛 sexual assault, which is the most severe form of sexual harassment, be included? 麻豆精品 S� but to have that codified led to a cascading effect in terms of some of this later legislation now in place. It makes universities accountable to ensure they provide a safe campus and redress sexual violence within a timely manner.
I think Title IX is a game-changer in terms of safeguarding students 麻豆精品 S� rights during investigations and providing services for victims.
LJC: With or without Title IX, how do you think universities should address complaints of sexual violence? Why not leave that to local police departments?
CK: First and foremost, universities should provide a safe campus.
When it comes to sexual violence on campus, the majority of campuses are not accurately reporting it. A recent study found that more than 89 percent of colleges reported no sexual violence on their campuses, an improbability given other data suggests the reverse is true. Campuses that accurately report sexual violence statistics have large numbers 麻豆精品 S� those are campuses doing something about it. They 麻豆精品 S檙e providing a safe place for their students. They 麻豆精品 S檙e redressing crime.
The most important reason why we don 麻豆精品 S檛 or why we shouldn 麻豆精品 S檛 rely on city-level or county-level law enforcement is because the majority of rapes are never reported to the police. Among college-age students, 90 percent are not reporting their assaults. If we aren 麻豆精品 S檛 dealing with it on campus, we make this false assumption that local law enforcement 麻豆精品 S檚 going to deal with it, but reports rarely make it there. If they do, there 麻豆精品 S檚 a small chance it will go to trial and an even smaller probability that there will be a conviction.
When a victim comes forward, campuses have an opportunity to report the assault. If the victim doesn 麻豆精品 S檛 want to legally prosecute, the university can still provide assistance, accommodations and a whole host of services to ensure that students stay on the campus聽and finish their degree.
LJC: You hear a lot about women and sexual assault, but Title IX also covers sexual assault against men. Can you discuss how many men experience this and why it 麻豆精品 S檚 not reported?
CK: Yes. There are some estimates that assert roughly 8 percent of college men experience some type of sexual assault, which covers a whole continuum of behaviors. Men are sexually assaulted by both women and other men.
There 麻豆精品 S檚 a stigma associated with all of those experiences for young men. Being the victim of sexual assault leads to fear of being disbelieved, accused of weakness or, in the case of heterosexual men, being perceived as gay. And being sexually assaulted by a woman carries the stigma that men should want and be ready for sex at all times.
For men, it 麻豆精品 S檚 particularly challenging to report any crime, especially sexual violence. Men are less likely to report all types of violence, as compared to women, because of the belief that they should be able to defend themselves.
LJC: What are some things you think Title IX does right, and where do you think it could be improved?
CK: The 2011 麻豆精品 S淒ear Colleague 麻豆精品 S� letter ensured that victims of sexual assault are protected, so for victims it is 180 degrees from what it was. Is it perfect? No, for victims there are still problems if universities don 麻豆精品 S檛 have policies and procedures put in place. For example, smaller universities often struggle to hire attorneys with Title IX expertise. On a big campus like UCF, we can afford attorneys who specialize in cheating, drugs, alcohol and sexual violence, but this isn 麻豆精品 S檛 a federally funded mandate. There 麻豆精品 S檚 no federal money available to help universities do this.
I don 麻豆精品 S檛 think Betsy DeVos 麻豆精品 S� main concern is victims. Rather, it is a聽perceived failure to ensure due process for accused individuals, which is largely part of a backlash to progress made for victims. I agree that we could do better, but doing better does not mean undoing where we are. It means continuing to move forward rather than going back to when we did nothing.
LJC: How is UCF addressing sexual violence on campus?
CK: I 麻豆精品 S檓 part of the university 麻豆精品 S檚 Title IX task force. It 麻豆精品 S檚 a large group run by Dawn Welkie, who 麻豆精品 S檚 the Title IX coordinator for the campus. We meet monthly to discuss compliance and crime prevention, address the crimes that the university is aware of as well as conduct and disciplinary functions.
I 麻豆精品 S檓 incredibly impressed with UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 commitment to Title IX because, again, it 麻豆精品 S檚 an unfunded mandate, and the university has committed a sizeable amount of money and staff time to be both compliant and innovative in how it deals with issues related to Title IX. Our new campaign, , lets victims know that the university is committed to reaching out and protecting them. It 麻豆精品 S檚 a huge step for a campus to make such a bold statement. We also require all students to complete an online sexual assault awareness module before the end of their first semester.
Recently, UCF committed $1.25 million to start a new five-member faculty cluster to conduct research on violence against women, broadly defined. I 麻豆精品 S檓 part of that cluster along with co-lead Jana Jasinski [associate dean of the and a professor of sociology]. The cluster 麻豆精品 S檚 goal is to expand our ability to research violence against women in terms of health outcomes 麻豆精品 S� mental health, behavioral health and physical health. It will also incorporate a public health perspective, not just an individual level perspective, by examining how this violence impacts public health.
We are excited that UCF has committed substantial resources to support the faculty and establish UCF as a leader in this area.