Education

Betsy DeVos Confirmation Will Weaken Campus Sexual Assault Response

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Ted Eytan on Flickr, under Creative Commons

A protest opposing Betsy DeVos's confirmation in Washington, D.C.

(WOMENSENEWS)—Here’s some free advice for Betsy DeVos, the billionaire nominee tapped by President Donald Trump to head the Department of Education: Do your homework.

Over the past several years, sexual assaults on U.S. college campuses have become an epidemic. Twenty-three percent of female undergraduate students have experienced some form of unwanted sexual contact, according to reports. Not only can this leave the student struggling with physical and emotional damage caused by the assault, survivors continue to be stigmatized. Some colleges also choose to sweep reports of these assaults under the rug.

Given that, it was very troubling that DeVos failed the series of questions she was asked during her Jan. 17 confirmation hearing about Title IX, the 1972 law that says that any federally-funded educational program must ensure safety and protection against sexual discrimination. The Trump nominee for secretary of education should have been better prepared for this topic.

Instead, DeVos refused at her hearing to articulate a firm commitment to using Title IX to respond properly to sexual assault on college campuses. Her answers side-stepped the issue and did not signal a pledge to use the weight of federal civil rights law to stop sexual assault at colleges and universities.

Advocates for survivors of sexual abuse are now concerned that DeVos’s tepid answers suggest she is not committed to continuing the expansive view of Title IX put in place during the Obama administration. There’s reason for concern, especially given DeVos’s financial support for groups that have challenged federal policy strengthening the application of Title IX to combat sexual assault on campus. In light of that, her confirmation could lead to the weakening of how we handle these cases.

2011 Guidance

In 2011, under President Barack Obama, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights released official guidance that imposed mandatory obligations on colleges and universities to combat sexual assault on campuses. It advised school officials that sexual assault should be considered a form of sexual harassment prohibited under Title IX. The measure was long overdue. For years, several colleges were dismissive of sexual assault complaints. Many perpetrators were not punished at all, while others were treated with kid gloves.

The standards from the Office for Civil Rights link the mandatory requirements to the receipt of federal money. More importantly, the new guidance requirements force schools to respond seriously to sexual violence. Among the obligations outlined in the guidelines is the use of a “preponderance of the evidence” standard, which means it was more likely than not that sexual violence occurred, in investigating complaints of sexual assault; adherence to protocols for confidential reports; designation of a Title IX coordinator on campus; and notices to students and parents about procedures for filing a complaint. The goal, according to the Department of Education, is to make explicit a school’s responsibility “to respond promptly and effectively to sexual violence against students in accordance with the requirements of Title IX.” The guidelines also offer examples of specific remedies and enforcement strategies to respond to sexual violence.

Critics charge that the push from the federal government runs the risk of propping up investigations by people who are not equipped to handle the issues. They say it undermines due process that should extend to the accused.

Avenue for Relief

However, the Department of Education intervention guidelines for Title IX offer sexual assault survivors an important avenue for relief. There are still due process guarantees in place for accusers, and the requirements in no way strip the ability of local police to investigate charges of sexual assault. The guidelines also acknowledge the reality of young women and men on college campuses who need a safe, accessible alternative to seek help.

Linking heightened Title IX guidelines to federal funding is intended to improve the campus response to sexual violence. Survivors are extremely reluctant to report sexual assault or misconduct. In one survey, for example, more than one-third of students who had been sexually assaulted on campus said they did not report the incident to officials because they did not believe anything would be done.

Given the personal hurdles in place for any student to report sexual assault, we should be taking steps to make it easier to report and seek redress, not refusing to commit to a more responsive process.

There are already more than enough reasons to find DeVos unfit to lead the Department of Education – she is hostile to public schools, ignorant of federal law protecting students with disabilities and open to guns in public schools (particularly if they are needed to fend off grizzly bears). Her refusal to commit to the application of Title IX to combat sexual assault on campus is another disqualifier.

A DeVos confirmation as secretary of education would likely mark a shift in federal policy to one that weakens, rather than strengthens, response to sexual assault on college campuses. Survivors need more tools in their arsenal to fight back, and they need an advocate in the Department of Education who will fight for them. They do not need DeVos.

  • paulmclements

    If “Betsy DeVos Confirmation Will Weaken Campus Sexual Assault Response”, then that’s a good thing, considering that the majority of sexual assault accusations are phony.

    • Joanna
    • CatDiva

      Sez Mr Privileged Whiteboy and what rape victims?

      • paulmclements

        There’s several false accusations right there.

    • Aaron King

      woman hater.

      • paulmclements

        Do you have any reasonable logic to offer, other than back alley name calling?

    • 73angelD

      Says the rape apologist.

      • paulmclements

        Says the “protect the false accuser” apologist.

        • 73angelD

          spoken like a true rapist.

    • theghostofjh

      Actually, we simply don’t have methodologically sound data in which to draw conclusions concerning the rate of false accusations. All the studies done have important flaws — with the rate of false accusations ranging from 2% to 50%+.

      • paulmclements

        Just because you said so, doesn’t mean that the studies cited are flawed. Or do you question the USAFA?

        • theghostofjh

          Do you have any studies I can take a look at? I know one thing, I certainly question those done by the AAUW, or the IWPR!

    • Rob

      I agree with the first part but not sure about the second. We don’t know what accusation is true of false and it is best to let professionals handle it under a very high bar for proof. BS that Obama pushed is wrong and evil. He told colleges to either persecute men without any proof or get their funding cut. The word for what the criminal Obama did is BLACKMAIL. He should be prosecuted under the same lax rules he put and get a good taste of the hell he put men through.

  • lissack

    Ms. Duhart is being disingenuous. She knows fully well that Title IX enforcement at colleges is a huge problem and that the Obama solutions were anything but. She is afraid of meaningful change. See http://empoweringvictims.org/DCL.pdf

  • Jody Watkins

    The sexual assault stats and programs are not going to change whether or not DeVos is in or out. This is the most ridiculous article. I worked as a SART team member for years. These programs receive funding via justice department and health and human services. This is a stupid article that lacks research and fact.

  • Antel Lopez

    Maybe we can decrease binge drinking of underage kids on college campuses too. Strong association with that and crimes/hazy memories. Is it really surprising that Banks would be angry after being falsely imprisoned on raped charges for 5 years? Omg. That’s probably 20% of his life… No wonder he’s mad Turner only got a few months!

  • Yo2mas

    If by “weaken” you mean introduce ‘due process’ into college gender-buses political “trials,” then bring it on!

    • paulmclements

      Well said! Thank you.

  • terrencebradley

    I fail to understand how Devos’s confirmation is going to weaken women’s sexual response.

  • debthater

    Know-nothing female administrators who make $120,000 (or more) a year spouting leftist nonsense are afraid of losing their cushy jobs. Also, one is forced to conclude, given that campuses are becoming more and more liberal, that leftists have a penchant for sexually assaulting each other. Or maybe Clarissa Snowflake just gets off on claiming it.

    • paulmclements

      Truth is, the latter!

  • dAVID

    I want to know exactly what she has said that leads the author to this conclusion.

  • Michael Beard

    Why aren’t sexual assaults on campus just handled by local police like all other cdrimes?

    • debthater

      Because it would reduce the University’s power and some of its cushy jobs.

    • Aaron King

      Campuses tend to have a higher rate of sexual assault, and have their own dedicated police forces.

      • theghostofjh

        No, campuses in fact have a lower rate of sexual assault compared to its non-campus counterpart.

        • paulmclements

          True, televised schools have a higher rate of sexual assault.

      • paulmclements

        Police(Security) forces, yes. Courts, no!

        • Rob

          I don’t have a problem with campus police as long as they are properly trained. My college hired retired regular police officers. I knew two and they were great people and very professional. They handled the immediate problem and then handed it to regular prosecutors and judges. My problem is with unfair rules administered by unqualified and political hack who are pressured by criminal administrations like that of Obama.

      • Rob

        Sorry wrong. That is proven wrong. If you were right it doesn’t matter. If a neighborhood has more crimes we don’t set up vigilantly gangs. That is exactly what university tribunes are and they have no business getting involved. Obama administration promoted what is essentially rule of the mob. It was and is illegal and is already outlawed. No more pitchfork wielding lynch mobs promoted by Obama and the left going after people without any proof.

  • John

    By the articles implication clearly ” sexual assaults on U.S. college campuses have become an epidemic” inspite of 2011 OBAMA GUIDANCE. Ladies 5 years, let’s try another approach

  • Dick Shepherd

    I would probably be more sympathetic to the crisis of sexual assult on campus if I could trust the statistics. I simply don’t believe the methodology used to come up with the numbers. What exactly is considered a “sexual assult”? Somebody asking her out?

    • theghostofjh
      • paulmclements

        Deeply flawed by whom? You? Politifact?

        • theghostofjh

          The statistics in the article are deeply flawed! Read the info at politifact!!

    • paulmclements

      The lesser of many studies, but probably the most recent, indicates that previous statistics would have you believe that one out of five college girls was raped, EACH YEAR. Multiple that by four years, and see if you believe that that many rapes really occur. Many in college believe that even false accusations should be prosecuted to the fullest, because that sends a message to all men, who are all considered to be rapists anyway.

  • PatrickSchrote

    This nominee does not represent a step forward.
    She, like Mr.Trump, does not see women the way that most women see themselves: As worthy of not only the progress that has been made, but more.
    Until women’s rights match human rights, let alone matching the rights of men in this country, the job is not done.
    Part of taking that step involves taking action. Please call your representative, yes, call. Tell them that this nomination must not be confirmed.
    Rape culture is condoned by Mr. Trump, confirmed by his own admission of his behavior and attitudes about women made over the years. He is seventy and unlikely to change his world view, especially that toward women.
    Women …… do not provide men with sex until you get what you want.
    That is what it is going to take.
    No sex till we get: equal rights.
    Does anyone remember laws governing men’s reproductive health??
    Women systemically getting more money for equivalent work than men??
    I would also suggest that to the men trolling women on here, safe behind their computers, hiding their little dicks, that women simply reply:
    I don’t see or hear you anymore.

    Devos is also an active Dominionist.
    Dominionism is the belief that all social institutions should be run by the Christians, and specifically, Christians with their fundamentalist ideology.
    These religious zealots are very dangerous.
    They contend that ALL of the laws of the Old Testament, unless specifically revoked later in the Bible, are still valid and they want to literally replace the U.S. Constitution and legal system with the Ten Commandments and the Mosaic laws of the Bible.
    If you:
    don’t follow the Christian faith
    leave it
    commit theft,
    blaspheme
    commit heresy
    have an abortion
    provide an abortion or assist in one
    homosexual
    witch
    astrologist
    children who disobey their parents
    women who commit adultery
    rape victims who don’t resist

    All of the above and more call for the death penalty!!!!!!

    Dominionists would nearly dismantle government, and establish the family as the basic governing unit of society – a family that would be mandated by god to unchallenged rule by the father.
    Guess his gender …..

  • theghostofjh

    “Over the past several years, sexual assaults on U.S. college campuses have become an epidemic. Twenty-three percent of female undergraduate students have experienced some form of unwanted sexual contact, according to reports.”

    This “report” is totally bogus.

    http://www.politifact.com/virginia/statements/2015/jan/04/mark-warner/warner-sexual-assualt-its-safer-women-not-be-colle/

    • paulmclements

      Sorry, but those figures were soundly thrashed well over a year ago.
      Never mind Politifact. They would have you believe that there are 5,000 rapes, on every college campus, every year. Try getting accurate and truthful news from FOX, not a Soros network.

      • theghostofjh

        “Sorry, but those figures were soundly thrashed well over a year ago.”

        I know. I was one of those who was doing the thrashing.

        So, I’d like to know, what is your problem? What is your argument? Did you bother taking a look at the link I provided? Not everything Politifact puts up is poor. This is one of those instances.

        • paulmclements

          No, I didn’t follow up on your link. For that, I must apologize profusely, to you and to Politifact. I have read it now, and found it substantiating. The final phrase says it all: The main reports and the politician’s claims were, “MOSTLY FALSE”. That does not bode well for the veracity of feminists, and for academic faculty.

          • theghostofjh

            No problem, and I agree.

  • Chris

    If someone were to ask me “Why I have never raped or physically assaulted a women?” I would credit my parents and not the schools I’ve attended. There is a whole generation out there that have raised children with timeouts rather than discipline, received participation awards instead of competitive rankings, encouraged to voice their feelings yet show no respect for others … etc. etc. etc..

    I honestly don’t see how any answer by DeVos would effect the number of rapes on campus or create moral values in children raised without them.

    • paulmclements

      The rate of “rapes” on campus would decrease dramatically if those women who falsely accused were punished for their crimes.

  • Erwin Schrödinger

    University’s should have no role in issues such as punishing people for sexual assault. This is a matter for the criminal justice system not an educational issue.

    • paulmclements

      If all sexual assault accusations were handled by city or state police, the feminists would lose a lot of undeserved control.

  • Heroes On Line Defense Network
  • paulmclements

    I’ve already been called a woman hater for bringing truth to this forum. I’m not a woman hater, unless she’s a false accuser. I despise a rapist as much as anyone.

    But you have to understand that a false accusation is just as much a crime as a rape, with penalties equally severe. How would YOU like to spend six years in jail just because some woman you don’t even know, wanted an excuse for a day off work.

    WHY WOMEN LIE ABOUT RAPE
    The
    National Organization for Women , radical feminists, and Women’s Studies
    departments, often deny that women make false accusations about rape by asking
    the naïve, simplistic, and self-serving question:

    “Why would a woman lie?”
    It turns out that there are plenty of reasons women lie about rape,
    either deliberately or out of desperation.

    A U.S. Air
    Force study, “The False Rape Allegation in the Military Community.(Forensic
    Science Digest.Vol II, No.4, Dec. 1985)
    investigated 556 cases of alleged rape, and found a 60% rate of false
    accusations. As part of the study, women
    who were found to have made false accusations were asked “WHY?”

    Motivations
    given by the women who acknowledged they had made false accusations:

    REASON/ PERCENT

    Spite or revenge 20

    To compensate for feelings of guilt or shame 20

    Thought she might be pregnant 13

    To conceal an affair 12

    To test husbands’ love 9

    Mental/emotional disorder 9

    To avoid personal responsibility 4

    Failure to pay, or extortion 4

    Thought she might have caught VD 3

    Other 6
    TOTAL 100%

    The study
    found that most false accusations are “instrumental” – they served a
    purpose. If the purpose isn’t avoiding
    guilt, or getting revenge, it might serve a more focused purpose, for example,
    telling her parents; “I didn’t just go out and get pregnant, I was raped.” Or, telling her husband, “I didn’t have an
    affair, it wasn’t my fault, I was raped.”

    An
    unrelated Washington Post article, “Unfounded Rape Reports Baffle
    Investigators” (6/27/1992)
    also found a wide range of motivations to falsely accuse men of rape. Anger toward boyfriends was common. One woman had her boyfriend spend 13 months
    in jail before she acknowledged that she had lied. One woman accused her newspaper delivery man of raping her at gunpoint because she needed an excuse to be late to work.

    Neither woman was prosecuted or even reprimanded for lying
    to the police and attempting to have a man frivolously imprisoned. In another case, police say the young woman who admitted to
    falsifying two rape reports only wanted a day off from work.

    All rape accusations need to be considered seriously, as, no doubt, rape does
    occur. But a balance needs to be maintained between the claims of the accuser against the all-too-often legitimate denial of the accused.
    Women who are found to have made a false sexual assault complaint should be punished with lengthy prison sentences. Perhaps that will make other women think twice before making false complaints.

  • Rob

    The best way to avoid problems is to use one justice system for everybody. If a woman is assulted in her home or working at her job then she goes to police. The regular justice system which is trained and suited for the job will handle it. Universities have no business getting involved in criminal justice. The only things they should handle are cheating and related infractions. We pay taxes to support our police and judges so let them do their job and get out of their way.