Thread by @knowyourIX

This morning, we released a report drawing from our survey of over 100 student survivors who reported to their schools.

Our report outlines the alarming backlash survivors are facing when filing formal reports of sexual violence to their schools. Thread:
knowyourix.org/thecostofrepor…

We found that 39% of survivors who reported to their schools experienced a substantial disruption in their educations.

These educational interruptions were not from sexual violence alone, but because of violence exacerbated by schools’ harmful responses to reports of violence.

When survivors report to their school, instead of receiving support, they are blamed for the violence, told the school will do nothing, face name calling by school officials, have their cases drawn out for years, and get punished for their own assaults after seeking help.

While Title IX is intended to ensure survivors’ equal access to education, we found that nearly every single survivor who reported experienced a negative impact on their GPA.

Instead of being offered support, survivors were denied basic accommodations and victim-blamed.

Instead of fulfilling their obligations under Title IX, schools commonly encouraged students to take time off. And interviews with survivors revealed that this encouragement was often for respondents’ benefit.

An emboldened backlash to the campus survivor movement and a massive decrease in Title IX enforcement by ED has led to institutional neglect for survivor safety, a shocking trend of retaliation, a weaponization of defamation suits, and high rates of survivor pushout from schools.

Our report outlines an alarming pattern: The weaponization of Title IX by to retaliate against survivors and the use of defamation suits to threaten survivors into silence.

In fact, more than 1 in 5 survivors who report to their school are threatened with a defamation suit.

We need your help to ensure these trends don’t continue and that students can access their education free from the harms of violence. Sign our petition to demand #EDActNow on Title IX: actionnetwork.org/petitions/edac…