The National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), with nine survivor advocacy organizations, sent a letter to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kim Richey, demanding that the Department of Education fulfill its duties under Title IX by investigating and equitably resolving all sexual violence complaints pending at the Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR). The letter was joined by over 100 groups that advocate for survivors of sexual violence.
“As advocates working to end sexual violence, including in K-12 schools and institutions of higher education, we are deeply concerned by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) neglecting to protect students from actual sexual violence while pursuing an ongoing dangerous and unlawful campaign of discriminating against transgender students under the guise of preventing sexual violence,” the organizations wrote in their letter. “It obscures the ongoing real crisis of sexual violence in schools and brings student survivors who have been waiting years for resolution of their complaints no closer to justice—despite this administration positioning itself as being a true advocate for women and girls’ safety.”
Read the letter here.