I wrote a HerCampus article about a month and a half ago about what it was like to be in the middle of a Title IX case. Now, five and a half months after it began, I got the response back. The person in the case was found not responsible for sexually assaulting me. The first thing I would say about it is that Title IX tells you that the outcome determines whether or not sexual assault occurred. This is false. In fact, the outcome states whether three random college staff members think that it is more likely than not one way or the other.
Although people would like the Title IX board to focus on the event in it of itself, this is unrealistic. I felt that when I read the decision, the board put me into this tiny box that they felt would make the most sense. The idea that the person reporting it is a “slut who was asking for it” just comes as second nature to these sorts of cases.
That leads to my next point, which is that what the other person says is whatever they need to say to look not guilty. If you look like a person who wants to sleep around, then of course you wanted the experience to happen (even though every decent person knows that is not the case). The other person involved, if anything like my case, will tell the investigators that he found you unattractive; that he never wanted anything to do with you in the first place, but you forced him into doing whatever it is that happened. We know that is not true. Why would anybody go through a Title IX case if they did not feel they had to?
There needs to be a change in the system. It can cost the people involved six months of their eight months of the academic year. Then, if there is not enough supporting evidence, all protections for the reporting individual are dropped. Students should have a right to feel comfortable on their own campus. Even if three board members do not find enough evidence to find the responding student in violation, I do not believe all protections should be dropped. How can schools protect their students without it?