Enough “Awareness” about Sexual Assault. Survivors Need Real Justice.

Content warning: sexual violence 

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and, as a civil rights attorney for survivors, I’m angry and tired.  

This month, I’m waiting on two federal judges in Kentucky and Texas to decide whether my clients Jane Doe (an anonymous plaintiff) and the Victim Rights Law Center (VRLC) can join two lawsuits to restore critical protections nationwide for student survivors of sex-based harassment. 

Who are Jane Doe and VRLC? Jane is a former university student who was raped and strangled by her classmate in on-campus housing in October 2024. And VRLC is an advocacy organization that represents student survivors, including Jane, in their schools’ Title IX investigations. 

The thing is, Jane did everything she was “supposed” to do. Within a few days, she reported the assault to her university’s Title IX office. At first, the school investigated her complaint under the 2024 Biden Title IX rule, which did not require cross-examination for complaints of sexual harassment, including sexual assault. But in January and February 2025, the two judges in Kentucky and Texas each struck down the 2024 Biden rule nationwide. As a result, Jane’s school told her that she would now have to submit to cross-examination by her rapist’s advisor, as required by the reinstated 2020 Trump Title IX rule for sexual harassment complaints. 

Cross-examination can be a profoundly hostile and retraumatizing process, as hundreds of mental health experts have recognized. It can force survivors to relive some of their worst experiences in excruciating detail and aggravate their post-traumatic stress. To make matters even worse, the Trump rule absurdly prohibits schools from excluding cross-examination questions that are misleading, overly biased, or assume facts not in evidence. It is no wonder that Jane herself said:  

“If I had known that I would have to be cross-examined, I never would have reported to the University’s Title IX office in the first place.” 

So, Jane and VRLC decided to fight back. In February and March 2025, they asked to join the Kentucky and Texas cases so they can appeal the decisions striking down the Biden rule’s protections for student survivors. Jane intends to revive the Biden rule’s provisions that do not force survivors into cross-examination by their rapist’s or abuser’s advisor. VRLC also intends to revive dozens of other crucial Title IX protections so that schools can no longer dismiss complaints that don’t meet an unforgivingly narrow definition of “sexual harassment” or otherwise egregiously mistreat student survivors, as the Trump rule currently allows and—in many cases—requires.  

And now it’s April, which, as you know, is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. 

But candidly, I am unspeakably tired of “awareness.” What an abysmally low bar. Haven’t we had enough “awareness”? And in any case, for anyone who somehow still needed awareness about gender-based violence while being alive in the 21st century, the viral #MeToo hashtag encircled the entire planet eight years ago. 

What we need is true justice for survivors: proactive prevention, victim-centered supports, healing for survivors, and accountability for sexual harmers. Not bullsh-t, fascist proclamations about “awareness” from a credibly accused serial sexual predator. Not sadistically harsh procedures like the 2020 Trump Title IX rule that seek to silence, punish, and inflict further trauma on survivors when they dare to seek help. And not extremist right-wing states, organizations, and individuals who seek to rob not only student survivors but also transgender and pregnant students of their basic civil rights. 

This April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and I’m really angry and really tired. But I’m also deeply honored to represent Jane and VRLC in their courageous fight for student survivors everywhere. 

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