Betsy DeVos and the Trump administration have brought a new storm down upon themselves as they suggest controversial new changes to Title IX.
Trigger warning: this article contains mentions of rape and sexual harassment. Those of our readers who have suffered these encounters should know that they have our support and are encouraged only to read on if they feel that it will not harm them.
Title IX, the amendment that defends students against sexual harassment.
Title IX, the amendment that has at least started building a barrier between those who are broken and those who do the breaking.
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, as we know it now, prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs and activities.
Students know this amendment well, going through training on it each semester. Incoming freshmen must attend presentations defining and explaining in depth the ideals and protections critical to Title IX.
But what happens now that DeVos wants to change nearly everything about it, specifically sections that deal with sexual harassment?
The Students Active for Ending Rape have made it clear what they think will happen. In a formal letter to DeVos, SAFER wrote that they believe these changes will lead to a decrease in reporting sexual harassment, an increase in university cover-ups of sexual harassment and make it more likely that sexual predators go unpunished for their crimes.
Perhaps the biggest change that sparks this worry is the redefining of sexual harassment. Under the Obama administration and Title IX as it is known now, sexual harassment is “unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and other verbal, nonverbal or physical contact of a sexual nature.”
This could be any type of sexual rumor-spreading, gestures, groping, comments and et cetera. The definition as we know it now covers quite a bit of ground.
Sexual harassment as defined by DeVos and the Trump administration would be “unwelcome conduct on the basis of sex that is so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person equal access to the recipient’s education program or activity.”
This leaves a lot of gray area, gray area that can lead to an excruciating amount of cover-ups, condescending talks down to victims, and brush-offs of crime.
With this potential change in definition, repeated devastating comments and rumors that will ruin reputations could be brushed off simply because they are deemed “not severe enough.” It will make it hard to claim that anything is sexual harassment because victims will have to prove the severity of their encounter.
This also brings in the potential for retraumatization. Students who are suffering rape may be forced to go through the violating experience of getting a rape kit done in order to prove the severity.
Sparing the horrible details, a rape kit is a complete medical examination of the victim’s body as close to right after the incident as doctors can get it. While this is one of the most definitive ways of getting proof, it is also one of the most invasive ways. That is why the Obama administration referred to it as a method of retraumatization.
The sad fact of the matter is that, with the new definition of sexual harassment, victims could be forced to go through this just to prove that they’ve gone through encounters severe enough to even be defined as sexual harassment.
Despite all this havoc, there is still hope. The changes are not set in stone. Standing together, in one unified voice, we can tell DeVos that what she is proposing is wrong. These suggestions are dangerous and harmful and will only end in disaster. We can tell DeVos to end this before it even starts.