Press "Enter" to skip to content

Advocate for victims of Campus Sexual Assault

Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, announced earlier this month that she will be revising Title IX protections for sexual assault survivors on college campuses. By no means did it seem hopeful, considering she dedicated many of her statements to helping those who have been accused, even though false reporting makes up only 2%-10% of cases and under-reporting is a much more pervasive issue—63% of rapes are never reported to the police. Additionally, DeVos’s Civil Rights Chief, Candice Jackson, shockingly commented, “The accusations — 90% of them — fall into the category of ‘we were both drunk.'” She later apologized, but clearly, they need to loudly hear from sexual assault survivors and allies.

Title IX guarantees students a safe and equal environment for education. The Obama administration strengthened enforcement of Title IX by creating the Dear Colleague guidelines to address sexual assault. For example, if there is enough evidence of sexual assault, the survivor can be moved to a new dorm or have their assaulter change classes. It holds universities accountable by publishing their Title IX lawsuits when previously universities kept them hidden, considering they have a financial incentive to side with perpetrators to maintain their reputation. There is still a lot of work to be done, but why take away any progress?

ACTION ITEMS:

1.) Call Betsy DeVos’s office:
* 1-800-872-5327, option 3, (Dept. of Education) I was on hold for about 2 min and then I spoke with a really nice lady who said they are DEFINITELY tallying these phone calls and reporting them to DeVos.
* 1-202-401-3000 (Secretary DeVos’s office) I left a voicemail on this phone line, but the woman I spoke to from the Dept. of Education said that they are most likely tallying the phone calls from DeVos’s office line as well.

2.) Write a postcard to DeVos:
Secretary Betsy DeVos
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Ave, SW
Washington, D.C. 20202

3.) Watch the documentary The Hunting Ground:
Streaming on Netflix.  Education around this topic is so important.

 

From our Allies at The Activist Cartel