psychology and health, school and college

Sexual Violence in Schools

Art by Phoenix Rivera

By Eliza Peddi

Imagine: One day you go to school on a day like any other. You go to your classes, hang out with friends, and stay for a club. But unlike any other day before, one of your friends confesses to you that they were the victim of unwanted sexual contact. If you were in that situation, what would you do? Be angry that your friend was taken advantage of? Ask your friend who it was? Report the incident?

All of these emotions are felt on a daily basis from students all over the country hearing from a peer who experienced sexual harassment, unwanted contact, and even more egregious forms of assault. Sexual harassment is defined as unwelcomed sexual comments. This could be jokes, rumors, catcalling, and/or the spreading of sexual pictures. Sexual assault is defined as unwelcomed physical touch. This could be forced touch, forced intimacy, and/or rape. The main difference is that harassment is considered a civil offense, and is often found in workplaces. In most states, assault is a criminal offense. Statistics show that these offenses in the US may be as high as 570  day—That’s almost every 100 seconds per day. On average, 325,000 kids a year are at risk to becoming victims of sexual harassment and assault.

According to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), any incidents of sexual harassment, sexual assault, attempted rape, and rape amongst children and teens fall under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. The goal of Title IX is to prohibit discrimination based on a student’s sex, which includes their gender identity of course, but also their sexual orientation or if they are pregnant, in any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. Additionally, it aims to give survivors of sexual violence validation and recognition and to protect them whether they chose to file a complaint or not. The Title does this by not allowing for school systems to deny resources to affected students. However, due to regulations put in place during the Trump Administration, students are now less protected than adults in the workplace. The former President’s administration changed the qualifications for access to the Title to be “unwelcomed sexual conduct severe enough that the student no longer has equal access in school.”

In the 2017-2018 school year, 14,938 cases were reported to OCR. This number has been exponentially increasing over the past five years, with Georgia having 0.87 cases with every 1,000 students in the 2015-2016 year. This number increased to 1.09 cases every 1,000 students in the 2017-2018 year. With the increasing number of cases being reported, as well as acknowledging the fact that many cases aren’t reported to school systems, it must be asked: how are schools protecting their students?

Adding on to these growing nationwide concerns is the fact that many students feel ashamed to report what happened to them. If one looks at the college level, 90% of victims do not report. In some cases, after someone reports what happened to them, they may get the responses: “Why didn’t you tell them no?” or “You could’ve fought them off”. Those survivors may not be met with “Are you ok?” or “Do you need anything?” statements that would make the survivor feel seen. This has to change.

One step is through education: Today’s students need to be aware of what they can do if they are being sexually harassed. First, anyone in this situation should immediately go to a trusted adult. If your trusted adult is outside of your school, ask them to go with you when you report the incident. If you are able to have a teacher or someone within your school to go with you, that is also helpful, as multiple people are recommended. Once you have your trusted adult, one should find an administrator at the school and ask to speak with them. You will be bringing the incident to their attention, reporting the incident, and potentially stopping future behavior. Know that as a right under Title X, it is one’s own decision and right to report an incident.

The more awareness people have about the problems and the solutions associated with sexual violence of any kind, and not feel shamed by it, the more they can do about it. If you want to learn more about a student’s rights following a sexual assault, go to the following website: https://www.knowyourix.org.

Sources:

by China Cloutier

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