Education: Title IX

Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM)

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The recognized color for sexual assault awareness is teal.

Sexual Assault Awareness Month: “I Ask” campaign is an annually occurring campaign that aims to raise public awareness of sexual assault, harassment, and abuse. It also seeks to educate people on how to prevent sexual assault, harassment, and abuse from happening (NSVRC, 2019).

Social movements sometimes fall short, and when they fall short, they can do more harm than good. 

For example, The “It’s On Us” Campaign is a social movement created to increase awareness of sexual assault on college campuses and fight against it for both men and women. The campaign was created by the Obama-Biden White House in September of 2014.

Despite the idea behind the creation of the campaign, and despite the good that the campaign can do, the “It’s On Us” campaign has the potential to look like it’s creating positive change without actually creating it. 

For example, an article in The Daily Illini detailed one student’s experience with the campaign that opened her eyes to the harm the campaign could be causing. During a University of Illinois Student Government meeting, two students proposed an initiative asking for funding to pay for swag that would be given out to students who signed the campaign’s pledge. One student was adamant that Student Government not fund the campaign and brought up a personal experience she had where she saw her rapist on campus wearing an “It’s On Us” t-shirt (Dunlop, 2017). The only way he could have gotten the shirt was by signing the campaign’s pledge.

Another article, written by Dana Bolger, criticized the campaign for failing to recognize the problem of sexual assault as being systemic and structural (2014). Bolger argues that the campaign is highly appealing because it does not require people to challenge the status quo. She asserts that in order to actually create the kind of change the “It’s On Us” campaign endeavors to create, institutions that “tolerate and perpetuate violence” must be dismantled (2014).

Non-profit organizations are typically hugely reliant on volunteers; in fact, this is one of the key factors that distinguishes the non-profit sector from the private and for-profit sectors (LeRoux & Feeney, 2015, pg. 144). So why do so many non-profit organizations have such high volunteer turnover rates? Well, there are a variety of explanations:

1. the non-profit does not have a strong mission;

2. the non-profit is not making sure their volunteers feel appreciated; and

3. the non-profit is giving volunteers too much work. 

These are just three reasons that could contribute to a non-profit organization’s high turnover rate of volunteers.

In my experience the times where I volunteered for an organization (non-profit or otherwise) and ended up not volunteering for them again, the reason why I chose not volunteer again was either because I did not like the organization’s environment, I did not feel appreciated, or because I did not feel like my values aligned with the organization.

During the Obama Administration, the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (O.C.R.) issued a warning to colleges and universities: failure to prevent and resolve sexual violence among students would result in a loss of federal funding. Although this was an informal warning, the O.C.R. followed it up with guidelines for schools to keep their federal funding and posted a “shame list” of schools under investigation for noncompliance with Title IX.

How is this an example of Quid Pro Quo? The government -- specifically the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights -- made a mutually beneficial “deal” with federally-funded higher education institutions: comply with current Title IX policy (government would not have to exhaust their resources in investigating these schools, handling lawsuits from students whose complaints were never addressed or inappropriately addressed, etc.) in exchange for federal funding. In this exchange, compliance with Title IX policy would mean that the government would not exhaust its resources (time, money, manpower) in investigating schools for noncompliance, and they would not have to handle lawsuits from students whose complaints were never addressed or were inappropriately addressed at federally funded institutions.

You would be hard-pressed to find someone who has not heard of the #MeToo movement. The sexual harassment and sexual assault movement exploded online in 2017, but Tarana Burke, the founder of the movement, was using the language as early as 2006 on social media platforms. 

The #MeToo movement is a great example of community building online. Individuals who wished to share their experiences with sexual harassment and sexual assault stood by each other in solidarity via computer, phone, tablet, etc.

When building a community, a commonality is important. Although it is unfortunate that communities are sometimes brought together on the grounds of tragedy (Black Lives Matter) or violation (#MeToo) to fight for justice, change, equality, etc., there is something to be said for the strength that such communities have. 

Futures Without Violence is a nonprofit organization that focuses on health and social justice. Founded by Esta Soler, the organization’s mission is “to heal those among us who are traumatized by violence today -- and to create healthy families and communities free of violence tomorrow.”

Futures Without Violence focuses on educating and involving children, youth and teens; engaging men, advancing quality healthcare for everyone, workplace safety & equity, preventing human trafficking, influencing policy and advocacy, holding colleges and universities accountable, global violence prevention, and promoting and encouraging leadership and professional development in individuals.

The organization has offices in San Francisco, Washington D.C., and Boston and has been active for more than 30 years. Futures Without Violence was very influential in passing the 1994 Violence Against Women Act. According to their website, the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 was “the nation’s first comprehensive federal response to the violence that plagues families and communities.”

SOURCES

 The Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence is a nonprofit organization based in Arizona. Founded in 1980, ACESDV was originally concerned with ending solely domestic violence. In 2013, however, that changed; ACESDV became known as it is today as an Arizona based nonprofit fighting to end both sexual and domestic violence and abuse.

ACESDV’s mission is to “end sexual and domestic violence in Arizona by dismantling oppression and promoting equity among all people.”

ACESDV primarily serves those who provide direct services for victims and survivors of sexual and domestic violence. As ACESDV’s website states, “Victims and survivors are the beneficiaries of our work.”

The organization’s purpose is to spread awareness concerning issues of sexual and domestic violence, aid and improve the services for and safety of sexual and domestic violence victims and survivors, and to end the sexual and domestic violence present in Arizona communities.

Title IX is a centralized policy. The definition of sexual harassment, what constitutes gender-based discrimination, and the standards of procedure are all determined by policymakers in Washington D.C. Title IX investigators, the bureaucrats and secondary actors who specialize in the policy’s definitions and standards of procedure, are then legally obligated to enforce the policy.