He said it was consensual. She said she blacked out. U-Va. had to decide: Was it assault?
When Haley Lind was found alone in a stranger’s bathroom, she was naked and in a drunken stupor, barely able to stand or speak, a raucous party raging around her. She awoke in her bed hours later, her head pounding, leaves in her hair, soaked in her own urine.
“I think I got assaulted last night,” she texted a friend the morning after the annual welcome-back-to-school Block Party at the University of Virginia. “Something just feels very wrong.”
The Washington Post reconstructed the events of the night Lind says she was sexually assaulted at U-Va. — and the turmoil that followed — through a review of internal school records, witness statements and legal documents, as well as in numerous interviews, including with Lind, the freshman athlete she accused and their attorneys.
Victory! Court Rules The Campus SAvE Act Has No Effect On Title IX
Earlier today, in two long-awaited companion court rulings, a federal judge in the District of Columbia ruled that Title IX’s civil rights standards for addressing sexual assault on campus were not weakened by the 2013 Campus SaVE Act.
With this decision, colleges and universities—many of which are already under investigation by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights—cannot rely on Congress’ language in the Campus SaVE Act to deviate from Title IX’s longstanding requirement that schools apply “prompt and equitable” policies and procedures to ensure the effective redress of violence against women. “Equitable” means that gender–based violence must be treated exactly the same as violence based on any other protected category such as race and national origin.
With this decision, colleges and universities—many of which are already under investigation by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights—cannot rely on Congress’ language in the Campus SaVE Act to deviate from Title IX’s longstanding requirement that schools apply “prompt and equitable” policies and procedures to ensure the effective redress of violence against women. “Equitable” means that gender–based violence must be treated exactly the same as violence based on any other protected category such as race and national origin.
- Campus Sexual Assault
- Crime Victims
- Sex Abuse of Students
- Sex Offenders
- Title IX
- University of Virginia UVA
Rape On Campus: University Of Virginia Rape And Its Aftermath
The Marsh Law Firm represents Stacy who is profiled in this article in Rolling Stone. Our case was one of only fourteen in UVA history where the perpetrator was found guilty. Stacy's perpetrator was suspended. It's unlikely that many of the other thirteen guilty perpetrators were even suspended. None of the fourteen guilty perpetrators were expelled. The assistance and advice of an attorney is essential for victims to ensure the integrity and fairness of the system, the thoroughness and appropriateness of the questions asked, and the pros and cons of the myriad of choices for achieving some measure of justice. Please contact us if you were raped or sexually assaulted on campus. Our lawyers are experienced with the civil, criminal, and disciplinary options facing victims and survivors.
It’s Not Just Colleges – Elementary And Secondary Schools Under Investigation For Title IX Violations
Here is a chart of 24 elementary and secondary schools that have pending Title IX sexual violence investigations as of November 12, 2014, including the dates the specific investigations were initiated.
What To Do If You Are Sexually Assaulted Or Raped
Know the facts: you are at greater risk of sexual assault and rape at college than anywhere else including the military. One in four to one in five women are victimized by rape or attempted rape during college. That's over 300,000 women in the class of 2018. These women will be your roommates, friends, sorority sisters, and classmates. Look around and consider that one of the five girls in your suite, at your dining hall table, or in your study group has or will be a victim of rape and sexual assault, most likely during the first semester of your freshmen year.
Federal Agencies Can Better Support State Efforts To Prevent And Respond To Sexual Abuse By School Personnel
To help prevent the sexual abuse of students in public K-12 schools, 46 of the 50 states and the District of Columbia surveyed by the General Accounting Office (GAO) required background checks of applicants–such as teachers or bus drivers–seeking public school employment; however, the methods and sources varied widely. Forty-two states established professional standards or codes of conduct for school personnel, and 22 of those included information on appropriate boundaries between personnel and students.
- Campus Sexual Assault
- Crime Victims
- SaVE Act
- Sex Offenders
- Student Rights
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- University of Virginia UVA
Campus Report: Anatomy of a Rape Case at the University of Virginia
“This was a very difficult case. Ms. X provides a very compelling and believable account of the events and has clearly been affected by this incident. Mr. Y, your behavior was crass and disrespectful but this panel could not come to a unanimous conclusion that the policy had been violated in this instance. That said, this panel urges you, Mr. Y, to evaluate your actions and your treatment of women in the future. We would strongly suggest that you consider counseling around the issue of consent and respecting the wishes of your sexual partners. The panel wishes Ms. X well as she continues to work through the trauma that this incident has clearly caused.”
These are the words that Dean E. read out loud at the conclusion of a grueling ten-hour hearing in which I had to single-handedly defend my case against the person who had drugged and raped me last December.
These are the words that Dean E. read out loud at the conclusion of a grueling ten-hour hearing in which I had to single-handedly defend my case against the person who had drugged and raped me last December.
Office For Civil Rights Releases New Guidance: Questions And Answers On Title IX And Sexual Violence
On April 28, 2014, the United States Department of Education Office for Civil Rights released a new guidance entitled Questions and Answers on Title IX and Sexual Violence.Here is their summary of the Guidance.
Not Alone – The First Report of the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault
Late yesterday the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault released its first report entitled Not Alone. Here is the report's executive summary and a link to the report.
Nonconsensual Sex: How Colleges Rebranded Rape
Nonconsensual sex is sexual assault. Several schools make that clear. In Princeton University’s policy, for example, next to the category “non-consensual sexual penetration,” it states in parentheses that the act is “commonly referred to as rape.” And next to “non-consensual sexual contact,” the act is “commonly referred to as sexual assault.” But the reason that hearing boards winced at the word “rape” is the exact reason activists think the term is important: It’s violent and powerful, and does justice to the violation that victims experience. Anti-rape campaigners have pressed their communities to understand what rape is, and how much it happens. Many see “nonconsensual sex” as a harmful euphemism.
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