COMPLIANCE

RESPONSIBILITIES: REPORTING SEXUAL

HARASSMENT & SEXUAL VIOLENCE

CHAIRS WORKSHOP APRIL 21, 2014

INTRODUCTION: THE PREVALENCE AND PERNICIOUS EFFECT OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE ON

CAMPUS

Data from Christopher P. Krebs et al., THE CAMPUS SEXUAL ASSAULTS (CSA) STUDY: FINAL REPORT, published by the U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice (October 2007):

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• Nineteen percent of undergraduate women—almost one in five—experience attempted or completed sexual assault while in college.

• 4.7 percent of undergraduate women are forcibly sexually assaulted during their college years.

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• Sexual assault victims are thirteen times more likely to attempt suicide than non-crime victims, and six times more likely than victims of other crimes.

• 19 to 22 percent suffer from genital trauma; up to 40% get sexually transmitted diseases; and up to 5 percent become pregnant, resulting in an estimated 32,000 rape-related pregnancies in the United States annually.

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“The prevalence of rape and sexual assault at our Nation's institutions of higher education is both deeply troubling and a call to action.”

White House Memorandum – Establishing a White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault, January 14, 2014 www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/01/22/memorandum-establishing-white-house-task-force-protect-students-sexual-a

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TIMELINE OF SIGNIFICANT MILESTONES IN HIGHER EDUCATION’S RECOGNITION OF SEXUAL ASSAULT

AS A MAJOR CAMPUS ISSUE

• April 11, 2011: The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights issues its critically important Dear Colleague Letter, which focuses entirely on student-on-student sexual assault.

• October 2012: Amherst College. • January 2013: UNC Chapel Hill. • May 2013: Swarthmore College.• May 2013: OCR and U.S. Department of Justice

settlement with the University of Montana.

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• May 2013: OCR complaints against the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Southern California, and Swarthmore College.

• January 2014: The University of Missouri.• January 2014: White House establishes its Task

Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault.• This week: Florida State University?

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SUMMARY

• Serious threat to the physical and emotional health of students on campus, especially women.

• Tsunami of regulatory activity emanating from OCR, the U.S. Department of Justice, the White House, and Congress.

• Expense, embarrassment, and legal risk for institutions subject to enforcement proceedings.

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I. TITLE IX

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. All public and private institutions of postsecondary education that receive federal funding from any source must comply with Title IX.

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I. TITLE IX, cont’d

Brief Summary: To be in compliance with Title IX, an institution of higher education must—  

(1) Have grievance or adjudication procedures providing for (i) prompt and equitable resolution of complaints of sexual harassment, (ii) ending the harassment and preventing its recurrence, and (iii) remedying any effects of the harassment on the complainant. 

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I. TITLE IX, cont’d

(2) Designate one or more employees (“Title IX coordinators”) to coordinate compliance with Title IX regulations.  (3) Provide periodic training programs for institutional personnel to ensure that legal concepts associated with sexual harassment are understood, that sexual harassment is prevented, that instances of sexual harassment are promptly investigated and remediated, and that support services are available for complainants. 

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I. TITLE IX, cont’d

Summary: The biggest risk to the institution would arise if a responsible official were aware of an incident or allegation of sexual harassment and (a) failed to inform the complainant of her or his procedural rights under institutional policy or (b) failed to take immediate steps to investigate what happened and protect the complainant from any recurrence. 

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II. UNIVERSITY POLICY

Non-Discrimination: The University of Delaware does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, religion, age, veteran status, gender identity or expression, or sexual orientation in its programs and activities as required by Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972. …The University of Delaware prohibits sexual harassment, including sexual violence.

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II. UNIVERSITY POLICYNon Retaliation: It is a violation of University policy to retaliate in any way against students or employees because they have raised allegations of sexual or other discriminatory harassment. Person(s) against whom the complaint is lodged also bear a responsibility to abstain from retaliatory behavior toward the complainant(s) and/or any individual participating in the investigation.

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III. 11 DEL. CODE § 903

Any person, agency, organization or entity who knows or in good faith suspects child abuse or neglect shall make a report in accordance with § 904 of this title.

The Delaware Child Abuse Protection Act applies to ANY person in Delaware who knows about child abuse or has a good-faith reason to suspect that someone has committed child abuse.

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III. 11 DEL. CODE § 903, cont’d

The University, as a Delaware corporation, also has an obligation to report. This means EVERY member of our University community (including any student, faculty member, staff member or volunteer) must report known or suspected cases of child abuse.

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IV. SIMPLE RULES1. The University is dedicated to the

physical and emotional safety of its students. That is the starting point always.

2. Institutions get in legal trouble for two reasons: because they don’t report, and because they report too slowly. If you aware of an act of sexual violence, report it and do it with without delay.

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3. Find the rules on where to report and what to do; understand the rules; and follow the rules. If you need help with the rules, call the General Counsel’s Office.

4. Be careful what you write. Look at what you write through the prism of possible after-the-fact second-guessing. (Corollary: this doesn’t mean you should write nothing down.)

5. Learn to “issue spot.”6. Follow up to ensure that the situation

has been addressed.

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Contact Information

Larry White Vice President & General Counsel

lawwhite@udel.edu x 7361

Dr. Margaret L. Andersen Interim Vice Provost for

Faculty Affairs & Diversity

mla@udel.edu x 7299

Laure Ergin Associate Vice President

& Deputy General Counsel

lbergin@udel.edu x7366

Thomas LaPenta Chief Human Resources Officer

lapenta@udel.edu x8306

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