Understanding Your Rights
AGGREGATORS
The Academic Sexual Misconduct Database was initiated in February 2016. The compilation of the data and the creation of the database has been done with volunteer effort. This database includes public cases of academic sexual misconduct, including violation of related policies.
SHARE YOUR STORY
“Sexual harassment is rampant in the academy as it is in every other industry. The entrenched hierarchies of the academic world, the small size of most scholarly fields, the male dominance of virtually every field other than women’s studies, the culture of collegiality (read, evasiveness and pretense) that predominates, and junior scholars’ desperate dependency on good references for career advancement, make for conditions in which sexual abuse (and indeed abuse of all kinds) can flourish with impunity.
Because it is so difficult for many victims in the academy to speak out about cases of sexual harassment and sexual abuse, I have decided to create an anonymous, opensourced Sexual Harassment in the Academy survey (similar to the one I created years back on Ph.D. debt – see the Ph.D. Debt Survey here).”
Crowdsourced survey Karen Kelsky, “A Crowdsourced Survey of Sexual Harassment in the Academy,” The Professor is In, December 1, 2017, https://theprofessorisin.com/2017/12/01/a-crowdsourced-survey-of-sexual-harassment-in-the-academy/
INCIDENTS UNDERREPORTED
Despite numerous studies showing that rape is common on campuses, 89% of colleges and universities reported zero instances of rape.
“An Underreported Problem: Campus Sexual Misconduct.” American Association of University Women. https://www.aauw.org/resources/article/underreported-sexual-misconduct/.
TITLE 9
“Under Title IX 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.
Essentially, Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in educational institutions that receive federal funding (the vast majority of schools). While Title IX is a very short statute, Supreme Court decisions and guidance from the U.S. Department of Education have given it a broad scope covering sexual harassment and sexual violence. Under Title IX, schools are legally required to respond and remedy hostile educational environments and failure to do so is a violation that means a school could risk losing its federal funding.”
NOTE: the regulations interpreting Title IX are in flux, so always consult the most recent version of your university’s Title IX policy.
Before and After Title IX
This site listed as no longer active but offers a useful view of the past. Title 9 Before and After,” Women’s Equity Resource Center, http://www.edc.org/womensequity/resource/title9/before.html
This site is also a useful look into the world before Title IX.
Patt Morrison, “Before Title IX Came Along, Many People Didn’t Believe Discrimination Against Women was a Problem,” Los Angeles Times. August 16, 2017, https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-ol-patt-morrison-asks-bernice-sandler-title-ix-sex-discrimination-20170816-htmlstory.html
Know Your Rights Primer
Basic information on what Title IX covers and what action you can take under the law.
“Know Your Rights: Sexual Harassment and Assault on Campus,” American Association of University Women (AAUW), https://www.aauw.org/resources/legal/laf/title-ix/.
More in-depth information on Title IX
Law review article summarizing purpose and operation of law, focuses on standards of liability. Note this is from 1998, however.
Henry Seiji Newman, The University’s Liability for Professor-Student Sexual Harassment Under Title IX, 66 Fordham L. Rev. 2559 (1998), https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol66/iss6/12.
History of sexual harassment cases from 1974
Title VII might be more effective a remedy in some cases. Academia presents unique challenges. Nancy V. Aker, “Challenging Sexual Harassment on Campus,” https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ913098.pdf.
2020 Title IX Regulations Rollback Rights making challenge more burdensome
History of Title IX regulations, ending with Trump era regulations. Jasmine Wang, Peter Jacobs, Hannah Pugh, “Title Nine and Campus Sexual Assault.” The Regulatory Review, July 10, 2021, https://www.theregreview.org/2021/07/10/saturday-seminar-title-ix-campus-sexual-assault/.
Meghan. Downey, “The Trump Administration’s New Title Nine Rule,” The Regulatory Review, May 20, 2020, https://www.theregreview.org/2020/05/20/downey-trump-administration-title-ix-rule/