By T’Reyah Johnson
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
While U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos finalizes new rules on campus sexual assaults, supporters and opponents are gearing up for a fight.
The controversial ruling would allow students accused of sexual assault to cross examine the accuser in person.
“This creates a pro perpetrator narrative from the beginning of the case, which puts the person accusing them of the crime in an unfair and retraumatizing situation,” Sherifa Razaq, director of a newly formed group, Towson Freedom School, told the Baltimore Watchdog recently.
Also, DeVos wants the definition of sexual assault to be changed to “unwelcome conduct on the basis of sex that is so severe, pervasive and objectively offensive that it denies a person access to the school’s education program or activity.” The regulations revise Title IX, which bars any sex discrimination at any school receiving federal funding.
In addition, there would be “rape shield protections,” such as a ban on questions about an accuser’s sexual history.
It is unclear when the new rules will be put into effect, although DeVos has been pushing to publish the final regulation at the end of December, officials said. The Washington Post, however, said meetings have been scheduled into January on the matter at the White House Office of Management and Budget, which reviews all regulations.
Regardless of the publication date, advocates for sexual assault survivors said that they are already planning to fight against these regulations in court.
Sage Carson, manager of “Know Your Title IX Project” at the nonprofit Washington, D.C. based Advocates for Youth, said opponents have been energized by the 124,196 comments filed once the proposal was announced last year.
Supporters, however, applaud the new rules, especially those dealing with cross-examination of the accuser. Officials said this approach is the most effective way of finding the truth of what happened in a situation.
Josh Richards, an attorney with Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr in Philadelphia, said “the system should allow a neutral investigator to ask the questions, not attorneys or representatives of the parties involved.”
Peer mediator Tia Breckenridge agreed with Richards.
“The accused should have the right to give their side but not in a manner that will intimidate or further traumatize the accuser,” Breckenridge said in a phone interview. “This may come in the form of a written statement for an interview conducted by a neutral party. There would likely be no positive outcome or information gained by allowing the accused to question the accuser except to cause more damage.”
Towson University’s campus recently held a forum to discuss multiple incidents involving sexual assault. Razaq said concerns at the forum, plus other reasons, led to the creation of Towson Freedom School as a safe space for students to come together and express themselves.
A lot of Towson students were not aware of the new rules under consideration but were eager to express their views once the details were explained.
“I don’t see any good that will come out of this decision,” said Towson senior Jamila Brown. “This would be a very uncomfortable and triggering moment to the victim and just the presence of [his or her] attacker could make them feel small.”
Brown is an IT major planning to graduate in the spring. She said she is eager to get off campus because she is disappointed by the new rules that would be put into action on college campuses.
However, Jeremiah Johnson, a Towson junior, said the new rules probably would help a lot with sexual assault cases and could be a better way to help identify the victim.
“Everyone has a right to defend themself [sic] because if I was being accused of something, I would want the option to speak up,” he said. “I do understand it can be triggering for the victim, but who is to say the real victim is the one being accused of the crime.”
“Both the accuser and accused party are being put in an uncomfortable position,” Johnson insisted.
The final regulation is expected to still allow universities to choose the standard of proof to use in judging harassment and assault cases, officials said. Schools will be allowed to choose between “preponderance of the evidence” or the higher bar of “clear and convincing evidence.”
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