Transcript Title IX and Sexual Assault

Title IX, Clery and VAWA
What are we talking about and how does
an audit of these processes help you?
Jennifer Hammat & Roxanne Hall
What is Title IX?
• A section of the Education Amendments of 1972
– “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 education program
or activity receiving Federal financial
assistance.”
• This policy covers all people (irrespective of gender
identity/expression or sexual orientation identity.
Why now?
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Thousands of students are victims each year
Dear Colleague Letter 2001
Dear Colleague Letter 2011
Q&A document from OCR
White House Task Force (NotAlone.gov)
It’s On Us campaign (White House)
The Law Makers are Onboard
Terminology
• Sex Discrimination, Sexual Harassment
• Sexual assault
• Sexual violence/Interpersonal Violence
(domestic violence & dating violence)
• Stalking
• Sexual Misconduct (vs. sexual misconduct)
• Consensual v. Nonconsensual Relationships
• Versus CLERY ACT terms
Term Overlap
Sexual
Assault
Relationship
Violence &
Stalking
Sexual Discrimination &
Sexual Harassment
Common discrimination
• For Employees
– Pregnancy
– Hiring practices
– Hostile environment issues overlooked/ignored
– Someone told you something in confidence
• For Students
– Dating violence, domestic violence, stalking, and
sexual assault
– Pregnancy
Reporting
• “Once a school knows or reasonably should
know”, it must take immediate action to end
the discrimination and right the wrong
• Schools have responsibilities to respond;
faculty and staff have responsibilities to report
– Reports can be anonymous, but they must be
reported.
• Tell faculty not to handle it on their own.
• Call one of the Title IX Coordinators
Due Process for Accused
• Due process is required for both parties
• Interim measures can be taken to protect both
parties and prevent recurrence
• “No Contact Directive”
• Cooperation with the investigation
• If you want to bring an advisor, either party
may do so
• Informal vs. formal investigations
Publicize
Title IX Coordinators
• Who are they?(Names)
• Where are they? (Office and the physical
address) How can I reach them? (Telephone
number & email address)
Distribute the Notice of Non-Discrimination
(separate communication)
Publish Grievance Procedures & how to file a
complaint with your campus AND with OCR
Retaliation
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Threats, intimidation
Discipline
Failure to accommodate needs
Forcing or pressuring accuser or accused to
take time off from school
• Removing accuser from teams, clubs, etc.
• It doesn’t matter if the claim is true.
Retaliation is prohibited.
Traps
• The tendency is to hyper provide for the
students, and forget the employees – or
continue to process them at Title VII
exclusively
• If it can be a Title VII it can be a Title IX – and
they haven’t set limits for damages under Title
IX yet
• Failing to adequately provide process for the
accused – more litigation and counter
complaints in this area
VAWA Provisions
• Policies that encourage prompt reporting of
crimes when "victim elects or is unable to make
such a report"
• Addition of categories of prejudice to hate
crimes (national origin and gender identity)
• Must start collecting and reporting on domestic
violence, dating violence and stalking incidents
reported to campus security authorities or local
police
VAWA Continued
• Maintain confidentiality of victims' names when
sending a warning to the campus community
• The term "dating violence" means violence committed
by a person (A) who is or has been in a social
relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the
victim; and (B) where the existence of such a
relationship shall be determined based on a
consideration of the following factors: (i) The length of
the relationship. (ii) The type of relationship. (iii) The
frequency of interaction between the persons involved
in the relationship.
VAWA Continued
• The term "domestic violence" includes felony or
misdemeanor crimes of violence committed by a
current or former spouse of the victim, by a person
with whom the victim shares a child in common, by a
person who is cohabitating with or has cohabitated
with the victim as a spouse, by a person similarly
situated to a spouse of the victim under the domestic
or family violence laws of the jurisdiction receiving
grant monies, or by any other person against an adult
or youth victim who is protected from that person's
acts under the domestic or family violence laws of the
jurisdiction.
VAWA Continued
• The term "stalking" means engaging in a course
of conduct directed at a specific person that
would cause a reasonable person to - (A) fear for
his or her safety or the safety of others; or (B)
suffer substantial emotional distress.
• The term "sexual assault" means an offense
classified as a forcible or nonforcible sex offense
under the uniform crime reporting system of the
FBI.
VAWA Continued
• 1) In collecting statistics re: murder, sex
offenses, robbery, and hate crimes (including
national origin and gender identity), etc. use
definitions provided by the DOJ and FBI
2) In collecting statistics re: domestic violence,
dating violence and stalking, use definitions
provided by VAWA
VAWA Continued
• Include in ASR a statement of policy re:
programs to prevent domestic violence, dating
violence, sexual assault and stalking
• Include in ASR procedures that will be
followed after an incident of domestic
violence, dating violence, sexual assault or
stalking has been reported
• Include in the ASR information about
education programs
VAWA Continued
• Include in the ASR information re: possible
sanctions or protective measures that may be
imposed following a final determination of the
institution's disciplinary procedure re: a sexrelated allegation
• ASR to include information re: procedures
victims should follow after a sex-based offense
has occurred
VAWA Continued
• ASR to include information re: institution's
disciplinary procedures
• ASR to include information re: how institution
will protect confidentiality of victims
• ASR to include information re: on- and offcampus physical and mental health resources
• ASR to include information re: victims' ability
to request an accommodation
VAWA Continued
• Institution to provide written explanation to
students and employees of his/her rights and
options
• Prohibition on retaliating against anyone
exercising his/her rights under Clery Act
Clery Connection
• Because the Department of Education developed for
institutions and handbook on the requirements for
compliance under the Clery Act, developing audit tools
may be slightly easier.
• The Handbook for Campus Safety and Security
Reporting,
https://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/safety/handbook.p
df , Appendix E provides a “Checklist for the Various
Components of Campus Safety and Security
Compliance”
• We can use this checklist as a starting point for our
audit instruments
Clery Compliance
Considerations
• We must also look to Department of
Education Final Program Review
Determinations.
• The determinations give us insight into the
standard that the DOE Program Review Team
uses for their review.
Determination Findings
• From The Clery Center for Security on Campus
training:
o Inadequate Systems for Collecting Statistics
o Failure to Report Crimes Based on Geography
o Improper Classification of Crimes and Incorrect
Reporting of Referrals
o Lack of or Inadequate Policy Statements
o Failure to Publish and Distribute the ASR as a
Comprehensive Document
Call if you have questions
Dr. Jennifer Hammat
Ms. Roxanne Hall
• Assistant Vice President for
University Compliance
Services UT Austin
• Title IX & Clery Coordinator
• 512-232-3992
• [email protected]
du
• Police Records
Administrator for The
University of Texas at Austin
Police Department
• 512-232-9615
• [email protected]
.edu