Critics Warn 'Heartless' New Rules by Betsy DeVos Will Encourage Schools to 'Be More Complicit in Sexual Violence'
"With sexual assaults already under-reported and routinely ignored, these new rules will make campuses dramatically more dangerous."
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Friday officially unveiled her long-anticipated "heartless and immoral" proposal to overhaul how universities respond to sexual harassment and assault allegations, inciting outrage among survivors, their advocates, and educators alike.
"This draft rule is a cruel attempt to silence sexual assault survivors and limit their educational opportunity."
—Vanita Gupta, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
—Vanita Gupta, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
"With one in five women sexually assaulted while in college, we are facing a national rape epidemic on our campuses, yet Betsy DeVos and the Trump administration just put out new rules encouraging schools to be more complicit in sexual violence," declared Shaunna Thomas of the women's rights group UltraViolet.
As anticipated from a draft leaked earlier this year and recent reporting by the Washington Post, DeVos' proposal narrows the definition of sexual harassment, reduces schools' liability, and enables attorneys for the accused to cross-examine survivors.
"These rules further protect abusers in a system that is already rigged in their favor and dramatically reduce requirements that schools protect their students," Thomas warned. "With sexual assaults already under-reported and routinely ignored, these new rules will make campuses dramatically more dangerous."
Betsy DeVos has *finally* released her proposed rules on Title IX, and they’re worse than we could have imagined. These rules would make schools more dangerous and push survivors out of school. It's time to tell her to keep her #HandsOffIX pic.twitter.com/olWrJ9q8Gm— Know Your IX (@knowyourIX) November 16, 2018
DeVos' proposed changes to how universities enforce Title IX—the federal law that bars sex-based discrimination in schools—come after she was widely condemned for scrapping less formal guidelines established under the Obama administration as well as for touting concerns about false allegations, which research shows are incredibly uncommon, after meeting with "men's rights" groups.
We advocate for fair school disciplinary processes that uphold the rights of both parties in campus sexual assault and harassment cases.— ACLU (@ACLU) November 16, 2018
Today Secretary DeVos proposed a rule that would tip the scales against those who raise their voices.
We strongly oppose it.
American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten charged that the "announcement of Title IX rollbacks is the latest in a troubling pattern of Secretary DeVos' efforts to dismantle the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights and turn the federal government's back on students who are suffering, vulnerable, or disenfranchised."
"This rule abdicates the responsibility to protect every student's right to safety on campus. It tells academic institutions that they needn't bother helping to protect Continue reading: Critics Warn 'Heartless' New Rules by Betsy DeVos Will Encourage Schools to 'Be More Complicit in Sexual Violence'
