United States

Advocates Await New Guidance From DeVos on Campus Sex Assault

During his presidency, Barack Obama took on campus sex assault as a key issue after a series of reports suggested schools were not taking allegations seriously enough

Advocates for both survivors of campus sexual assault and the accused are bracing for a decision from Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who is currently considering changes to Obama-era directives for how schools deal with such allegations under the federal law known as Title IX, NBC News reported.

DeVos has indicated that she intends to reexamine Title IX enforcement and sexual assault guidance for schools, holding three 90-minute listening sessions with advocates for survivors, representatives of the falsely accused and higher education officials in July.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a federal statute intended to protect people from sex discrimination in education programs or other activities that receive federal financial assistance.

Some advocates said they hope DeVos will leave the existing guidance in place and continue to work with schools to do more to prevent sexual violence and help student victims.

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