Philadelphia Office of Engagement for Women Issue Statement on Recent Federal Title IX Rollbacks

PHILADELPHIA – Today, Jovida Hill, Director of the Office of Engagement for Women, released a statement in response to U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights September 22 decision to roll back 2011 Title IX guidelines for how institutions of higher education investigate and handle sexual assault cases:

‘The rollback of these important protections by Secretary Betsy DeVos are devastating to the victims of sexual assault at educational institutions.  By changing the standard by which sexual assault is reported and investigated, victims may be less likely to report incidents. This action will have the chilling effect of re-victimizing individuals by removing the urgency and accountability for universities in providing recourse for an individual’s trauma.

‘Under the 2011 provisions, institutions were mandated to investigate claims of assault within 60 days. The new guidelines of “good faith effort” could potentially result in the accused or the accuser dropping out of school or graduating before claims of sexual assault are investigated. The new guidelines changes the standard from one of “preponderance of evidence”, a civil standard weighted equally for the accused and the accuser, to the criminal standard of “clear and convincing”, which in practice has proved to be weighted heavily in favor of the accused.

‘Administrators and educational institutions bear the responsibility of protecting all members of their student bodies by responding to reports of sexual assault promptly and equitably.  The Department of Education provided interim guidance to educational institutions, found HERE.  We encourage individuals and institutions to comment directly to Secretary DeVos and to the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Education, at ocr@ed.gov or 800-421-3481 (TDD: 800-877-8339).’