April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and as a female college student I’m concerned proposed changes to the Title IX program would weaken protections for survivors on campus.
Since taking office, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and the Trump-Pence administration have worked to weaken the Title IX program, which prohibits sex discrimination in education and provides protections for victims of sexual assault.
In New Hampshire, 83 percent of sexual assaults are reported by people under the age of 25, meaning that the majority of survivors are students and are affected by the protections that Title IX provides.
If DeVos’s proposed revisions to Title IX go into effect, protections for sexual assault and harassment survivors would be weakened in many ways. One of the most concerning changes to me is that survivors could be subjected to direct cross-examination by the perpetrator, causing further trauma for the survivor.
With 77 percent of sexual assaults going unreported, DeVos’s proposed changes to Title IX would deter the minority that do report from coming forward. All students deserve to be protected from sex discrimination by their school, and we cannot allow survivors to be silenced.
I’m thankful that Planned Parenthood in New Hampshire is speaking out against DeVos’s attacks on Title IX and for the services Planned Parenthood of Northern New England provides for sexual assault survivors. It’s important that local organizations and local leaders speak out on Sexual Assault Awareness Month and every day.
KATHERINE M. GAGE
Allenstown