BY BRIANNA ROBLES
Contributing Writer
What’s considered sexual assault in 2017? In recent news, Betsy DeVos, the United States Secretary of Education, has had controversial opinions about what should be considered sexual assault and who should be blamed. The revamping of the famous
Title IX law has been in the works since Devos has taken this position. Title IX, a law originally set into the Education Amendments of 1972, deals with the equality of genders in sports on both public and private campuses that are government funded. Title IX states, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”
This law was put into place to ensure that women would not be denied the right to participate in school sports specifically due to gender biases, as well as encourage fair treatment in the distribution of athletic scholarships.
In 2011, Title IX was reinterpreted and extended however, to discourage student to student sexual harassment in schools. Former President Barack Obama, when running for his second term, announced that the law would argue on a “more likely than not” basis in regards to sexual assault cases and use the highest amount of evidence in favor of the accuser. It also gave schools a sixty day limit before making a decision on sexual assault cases and discourages the interrogation of the accusers by the opposing party
DeVos, however, apparently is not a fan of the way campuses deal with sexual assault cases and is in the process of changing it. Her argument is more in favor of the accused rather than the accuser. She believes that the accused should be granted due process of law and should not have to sue in order to receive it. Also, she frowns upon the investigative process of sexual assault cases under Title IX believing that it causes more trauma to the accuser. Although DeVos believes that the Title IX extension brought awareness to college campus sexual assault cases, it doesn’t help solve them and is a step in the wrong direction.
Being a young woman living on a college campus, safety was one of the aspects that was considered when making my college choice. There is no doubt that sexual assault happens on college campuses around the United States and most of the victims are women. Statistics regarding sexual assault in general, but especially on college campuses, are tainted due to those victims who don’t report it for numerous of reasons, including blackmailing and interrogation from others. The revamping of Title IX regulations will definitely lower the rate of actual assault cases reported. Being that DeVos’s plan is in favor of the accused, victims will feel like reporting cases to their school will cause trouble and make them seem like they are seeking attention, when in reality they aren’t at all. In an interview, DeVos argues that “if everything is harassment, nothing is.”
If a woman feels comfortable enough to actually report a sexual assault case, who is the government to tell her that her case shouldn’t be considered and tried to the fullest extent of the law? What right does government have to tell the victim that a full process will leave them emotionally drained and give them trauma? The government should never have that right. The trauma in the process of sexual assault cases will never come from getting rightful justice but it will only come from being violated by some male in most cases who can’t control themselves.
I’m actually not even surprised at DeVos for wanting to change the implementation of Title IX despite her being a woman and knowing that over 75 percent of sexual assault victims are women. She works for someone who has sexually assaulted women and made disgusting remarks about the way women look and behave numerous times. A person does not intentionally work for someone who disrespects people and is a complete sexist unless they have the morals. America has been known for its mistreatment of women especially when it comes to their body. The government should have no right to dictate when a woman should feel uncomfortable enough to report sexual assault.
