Know Your IX

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Know Your IX is an American political advocacy group founded in 2013. It aims to inform students of their right to an education free from gender-based violence under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits sex discrimination in institutions receiving federal government funding. The organization also seeks to influence legislation and policy to improve federal enforcement of Title IX and treatment of student victims.

Contents

Founding

Know Your IX was co-founded in 2013 by Amherst College student Dana Bolger and Yale Law School student Alexandra Brodsky, both of whom were sexually assaulted on college campuses, as a "survivor-run, student-driven campaign to end campus sexual violence." [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Goals include clarifying misconceptions regarding Title IX, explaining statutory requirements, and documenting complaint filing protocols. [6] The organization's website explains:

Running on grassroots energy, we educate students across the country about their civil right to education free from sexual violence and harassment while also pushing policy and legislative change on the national level for better federal enforcement of that same right. [1]

In July 2016, Mahroh Jahangiri became Executive Director of Know Your IX. In fall of 2017, Sage Carson assumed leadership of the organization.

The Know Your IX website hosts resources including "know your rights" materials on Title IX and the Clery Act. Know Your IX maintains an active social media presence through which it shares its educational resources, [7] [8] The organization also encourages visitors to its website to share educational resources through social media or by printing posters. [9] In October 2013 Amy Poehler's Smart Girls project released an education video promoting the Know Your IX project [10] A number of schools promulgate the information Know Your IX publishes about Title IX, including the Smart Girls video. [11] [12] [13] [14]

Audience

Know Your IX attempts to reach both students who don't know their Title IX rights and existing activists. It aims to be broad based to counter the historical trend that "Feminism and the movement against sexual violence has historically been a very white, upper-middle-class movement", according to Bolger. [6]

Policy advocacy

Know Your IX advocates for state and federal policy and legislative reform. [15] Through its "ED ACT NOW" campaign, the organization first focused on the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, from which it demanded increased transparency and Title IX enforcement. [16] Since ED ACT NOW's launch, OCR has released the list of schools under investigation for sexual assault-related violations of Title IX and begun finding schools officially out of compliance with the law. [15] Know Your IX also advocates for legislative change, including authorizing the OCR to fine schools for Title IX violations. [17] In June 2014, Brodsky, Bolger, and former Know Your IX members John Kelly and Laura Dunn participated in federal Senate roundtables regarding changes in Title IX enforcement. [5] [18] [19] [20] Know Your IX has also vocally opposed state laws to require colleges and universities to refer sexual assault reports to law enforcement. [21]

Journalism guide

In fall of 2014, the organization published a guide for journalists writing about gender based campus violence. Reaction was mixed; the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault described it as a "comprehensive guide" for "accuracy and objectivity", [22] whereas in the Washington Examiner , Ashe Schow claimed that Know Your IX "cares less about actual justice and more about automatically believing every accuser and labeling the accused as rapists". [23]

Related Research Articles

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Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that receives funding from the federal government. This is Public Law No. 92‑318, 86 Stat. 235, codified at 20 U.S.C. §§ 1681–1688.

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is a sub-agency of the U.S. Department of Education that is primarily focused on enforcing civil rights laws prohibiting schools from engaging in discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, or membership in patriotic youth organizations.

Rape in the United States is defined by the United States Department of Justice as "Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim." While definitions and terminology of rape vary by jurisdiction in the United States, the FBI revised its definition to eliminate a requirement that the crime involve an element of force.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victim Rights Law Center</span> American non-profit organization

The Victim Rights Law Center (VRLC) is a non-profit organization that provides free legal services to victims of rape and sexual assault in Massachusetts and Oregon. Established in 2003, it became the first nonprofit law center in the United States solely dedicated to serving the legal needs of sexual assault victims. The VRLC mission is to "provide legal representation to victims of rape and sexual assault to help rebuild their lives and to promote a national movement committed to seeking justice for every rape and sexual assault victim." VRLC also seeks to transform the legal response to sexual assault in the United States.

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Annie Elizabeth Clark is a women's rights and civil rights activist in the United States. She was one of the lead complainants of the 2013 Title IX and Clery Act charges lodged against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, claiming that the institution violated the law by the way they handled sexual assault complaints. Clark and Andrea Pino, then a fellow UNC student and also a victim of sexual assault, launched a nationwide campaign to use Title IX complaints to force U.S. universities to address sexual assault and related problems more aggressively. Clark is co-founder with Pino of End Rape on Campus, an advocacy group for victims of campus sexual assault.

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Angie Epifano, a former student at Amherst College, gained widespread media attention and millions of page views after she wrote an essay on her personal experience of sexual assault that was published in the Amherst student newspaper, The Amherst Student. After the publication of her essay, Amherst College began investigating its sexual assault procedures, and women from other college campuses in the United States came forward to file federal complaints under Title IX and to form groups to reduce sexual assault on college campuses.

The White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault was formed on January 22, 2014, after President Barack Obama directed the Office of the Vice President of the United States and the White House Council on Women and Girls to "strengthen and address compliance issues and provide institutions with additional tools to respond to and address rape and sexual assault". The Task Force is part of a wider federal move to bring awareness to sexual violence on American campuses, which also included the Office for Civil Rights release of a list of American higher education institutions with open Title IX sexual violence investigations and the It's On Us public awareness campaign. The co-chairs of the Task Force are Vice President Joe Biden and Senior Advisor to the President Valerie Jarrett.

The Campus Accountability and Safety Act (CASA) was a bill introduced in the 114th United States Congress with the goal of reducing sexual violence on college and university campuses. First introduced in 2014, a revised bill was introduced in February 2015 by Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri with nine bi-partisan cosponsors. 43 cosponsors eventually signed on. The bill died in committee at the end of the session without reaching a floor vote in either house.

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The Hunting Ground is a 2015 American documentary film about the incidence of sexual assault on college campuses in the United States and the reported failure of college administrations to deal with it adequately. Written and directed by Kirby Dick and produced by Amy Ziering, it premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. The film was released on February 27, 2015, an edited version aired on CNN on November 22, 2015, and was released on DVD the week of December 1, 2015. It was released on Netflix in March 2016. Lady Gaga recorded an original song, "Til It Happens to You," for the film, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Families Advocating for Campus Equality (FACE) is an American advocacy group whose stated goal is to ensure fairness and due process for all parties involved in allegations of sexual misconduct on college and university campuses. FACE was started by Sherry Warner Seefeld and two other mothers who say their sons were falsely accused of sexual misconduct on their college campuses.

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References

  1. 1 2 "About Know Your IX". Know Your IX. Retrieved March 12, 2015.
  2. ↑ Neel, Aly (2014-09-16). "Princeton is the final Ivy Leaguer to lower burden of proof for sexual assault". Washington Post.
  3. ↑ "Sexual Assault Survivor Activists Launch 'Know Your IX' Campaign". Huffington Post. 2013-04-08.
  4. ↑ Rosch, Amelia (8 August 2013). "Get to Know "Know Your IX"". Ms. Magazine. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  5. 1 2 Radelat, Ana (27 June 2014). "Connecticut advocates lobby Congress to tackle sexual crimes on campus". Connecticut Mirror. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  6. 1 2 Lachman, Samantha (8 August 2013). "Know Your IX". The Nation. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  7. ↑ "Know Your IX". Twitter. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Know Your IX Facebook". Facebook. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
  9. ↑ "I Want to Spread the Word". Know Your IX. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
  10. ↑ "KNOW YOUR IX – YouTube". Amy Poehler's Smart Girls. 14 October 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  11. ↑ "Title IX: The Basics | Know Your IX" (PDF). Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  12. ↑ "James Madison University – Do you know your IX?" . Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  13. ↑ "Texas A&M University School of Law > Current Students > Know Your IX" . Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  14. ↑ "Know Your IX – Learn about Title IX". Texas A&M University School of Law. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
  15. 1 2 "ED ACT NOW". knowyourix.org. Retrieved March 12, 2015.
  16. ↑ Ramanathan, Kumar (July 16, 2013). "Student Activists Demand Stronger Punishment For Colleges That Fail To Address Sexual Assault". Think Progress. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
  17. ↑ Culp-Ressler, Tara (July 28, 2014). "One Simple Solution To Make Sure Colleges Start Taking Rape Seriously". Think Progress. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
  18. ↑ "Sexual Assault on College Campuses". C-SPAN.org. National Cable Satellite Corporation. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
  19. ↑ "Campus Sexual Assault". C-SPAN.org. National Cable Satellite Corporation. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
  20. ↑ "Sexual Assault on College Campuses". C-SPAN.org. National Cable Satellite Corporation. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
  21. ↑ Bolger, Dana; Brodsky, Alexandra (February 12, 2015). "Victim's choice, not police involvement, should be lawmakers' priority". MSNBC. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
  22. ↑ Sanchez, Crystal (7 Nov 2014). "A Guide for Journalists & Editors by Know Your IX". California Coalition Against Sexual Assault. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  23. ↑ Schow, Ashe (3 Nov 2014). "New guide for journalists reporting on campus sexual assault ignores accuracy, objectivity". Washington Examiner. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
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