Title IX is Supposed to Protect K-12, Too

Sometimes I forget that Buzzfeed is capable of some really strong long-form pieces. Last week, I came across this story about a thirteen year old girl from Brooklyn who was the victim of rape at the hands of one of her classmates, and then was sent home indefinitely when she reported it to school administrators. To make matters worse, the girl (referred to only by her middle initial "G." to protect her identity) had her rape publicized across the city as the boy who raped her secretly filmed her and sent it to classmates. A video of him orally and anally penetrating her went viral.

Very few people were on G.'s side when the video was released. Many of her classmates were guilty of victim blaming: "G. insisted she didn’t want to have sex with her classmate. But other kids told G. it was her fault for not putting up enough of a fight. 'They said I allowed it to happen to me,' G. said. 'But I had no idea what I was supposed to do.'"

The case was also mishandled by administration, and they, too turned to victim blaming and the endorsement of numerous rape myths. When G. finally told someone what had happened to her, the first adult she told didn't report it, and "another asked her why she hadn't fought the boy off." School administrators and police also noted that the two students were friends before the assault and deemed the sex consensual, as though "prior friendship negated the occurrence of sexual assault."  Nobody directed her to legal or counseling services, nobody sent her homework while she was at home, and after four days, G.'s principal said that a "safety transfer" had been arranged for her. This was untrue, and G.'s mother had to figure out a transfer and legal council herself.

According to the article, kids in elementary, middle, and high school are entitled to Title IX protection, too. But there are numerous hurdles in reporting, including lack of knowledge and awareness, which results in significantly lower numbers of reporting compared to college complaints.

In 2013, 32 Title IX complaints of sexual violence were filed against colleges and universities. The next year, there were 105; in 2015, there were 164. Far fewer complaints were filed against elementary and secondary schools: 31 in 2013, 22 the following year, and 65 the next.

As of Feb. 3, 2016, there were 81 sexual violence cases open for investigation (as opposed to complaints filed) at 73 elementary and secondary schools, including two at the NYC Department of Education, one of which is G.’s. At the university level, there were over 200. 

Where Title IX gets tricky in K-12 cases is that when both parties are minors and have the right to education (whereas this is not true at the University level), schools find complaints are harder to resolve.

This story is abhorrent, and I was shocked to read that such blatant mishandling and victim blaming of a child could come from adults whose job it is to ensure her wellbeing. Just about everything the could do wrong, they did. This story, which is a long one, covers quite a few things we've talked about in class, such as the endorsement of rape myths and victim-blaming, Title IX, sexual assault in schools, and naming/not naming the victim and assailant. I think it was important that the journalist didn't name anybody part of the school and only named those known as legal counsel or government officials. Even naming school administrators could have given away G.'s identity, and I applaud the writer for being so caution, especially for a case that's still unfolding.