On Monday, the Trump administration made yet another move to diminish Title IX protections for students by finalizing a rule to officially resurrect the sexist, anti-survivor regulations the first Trump administration issued in 2020. While this action does not change the sexual harassment policies that the Trump administration has been following since last year, the Department of Education, Congress, institutional leaders, and the public must make a new commitment to meaningfully ensure students are protected from discrimination. 

Congress enacted Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 over fifty years ago to ensure the harms of sex-based harassment (including sexual violence) and discrimination did not derail students’ educations. Title IX has since been a critical mechanism to expand opportunities for all students, particularly women and girls, facing discrimination in schools. However, we are far from achieving Title IX’s purpose. Sexual violence is still incredibly prevalent on college campuses, and in the face of egregious instances of sexual violence, responses to are still largely to blame a survivor and make jokes about their victimization and protect their abusers—Cornell and LSU being the latest examples.

The 2020 rule made it harder for students to report sexual misconduct, easier for schools to ignore it, and implemented unfair and traumatic grievance procedures. Those rules were premised on the sexist myth that students—especially women and girls—lie about sexual assault and therefore, need to be subjected to more scrutiny than students reporting other misconduct.  In fact, while the 2020 Rules were being developed, officials in the Trump administration sought advice from “men’s rights” advocates and minimized sexual violence in schools. After years of outcry from student advocates and their supporters, the Biden administration issued new Title IX rules in 2024 (following extensive public engagement) removing much of the anti-survivor 2020 rule and emphasizing safety for all students consistent with Title IX’s broad mandate.

As groups who advocate against sexual violence and discrimination, we will also continue to call out the Trump administration’s attacks on transgender students for what they are—just another attempt to force us all into rigid sex stereotypes while violating the spirit and intent of Title IX. 

It couldn’t be clearer: the Trump administration does not care about women and girls, only about perpetuating its hateful crusade against transgender students.

Every student deserves better than the hostile actions of this administration. At a minimum, The Department of Education must prioritize investigation of complaints it has long been ignoring. Schools and education leaders must also not be complicit in turning their backs on student survivors. They must go beyond the 2020 rules to create safe and welcoming campuses for all students. And Congress must halt the Trump administration’s illegal removal of civil rights enforcement from the Department of Education and provide explicit statutory protections for student survivors of all races, backgrounds, and genders, so their ability to learn in safety is not subject to the whim of sexist politicians. We can and must do better to ensure educational opportunities for all students.

National Women’s Law Center, joined by:

Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE)

Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools

American Association of University Women (AAUW)

California Women’s Law Center

Clearinghouse on Women’s Issues

Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault

ED/OCR Alumni Collective

End Rape On Campus

Equal Rights Advocates

Feminist Majority Foundation

Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault

Institute for Women’s Policy Institute

Just Solutions

Know Your IX at Advocates for Youth

Legal Defense Fund

Legal Momentum, The Women’s Legal Defense and Education Fund

National Education Association

National Organization for Women

National Women’s Political Caucus

PFLAG National

Planned Parenthood Action Fund

Public Justice

School Staff Against Sexual Violence

Sexual Violence Prevention Association (SVPA)

Stand With Survivors

Stop Sexual Assault in Schools

Students Engaged in Advancing Texas

The Every Voice Coalition

UltraViolet Action

Victim Rights Law Center

WLE

Women’s Law Project

Women’s March

United Auto Workers (UAW)