New rules on campus sexual assault issued
WASHINGTON — Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Friday rescinded controversial Obama-era guidelines that had prodded colleges and universities to more aggressively — critics said too aggressively — investigate campus sexual assaults.
The decision was not a surprise given DeVos’ past criticism of her predecessor’s policy. But it left women’s groups worried that victims of sexual assault will lose protections or face intimidation to remain silent.
Supporters of DeVos said the change would lead to greater consideration of the rights of those accused of sexual assaults.
The department said it was withdrawing the Obama administration’s policy — which had been spelled out in a 2011 letter — because of criticism that it placed too much pressure on school administrators, favored alleged victims and lacked due process for those accused.
Obama’s Education secretary issued the guidelines under a federal law designed to prevent discrimination on the basis of sex and gender, known as Title IX, and indicated federal funding could be at risk if the department’s recommendations were not followed.
“Those documents have led to the deprivation of rights for many students — both accused students denied fair process and victims denied an adequate resolution of their complaints,” the department’s acting assistant secretary for civil rights, Candice Jackson, said in a letter Friday.
Advocates for victims complained that DeVos and the department had not spent enough time listening to survivors.
“Survivors are now scared to utilize their schools’ process,” said Sage Carson, project manager for the advocacy organization Know Your IX.
Carson, a survivor herself, said she would have dropped out of school after her assault if not for the Obama guidelines that ensured she didn’t have to see her respondent on campus. The decision to rescind those guidelines was alarming and made too quickly, she said.
The department released a new, temporary questionand-answer statement, replacing one issued by the Obama administration in 2014, to advise colleges and universities about how their responsibilities have changed.
It emphasizes providing the same information, rights and opportunities to both parties in a sexual assault investigation.
David Shapiro, a San Diego-based criminal defense attorney who has advocated for people accused of sexual assault, said he welcomed the changes as a way to consider everyone’s rights equally.