Title IXs and How We Treat Them
Title IXs are a crucial and integral part of any campus as we quickly learn what they are the moment we are handed a syllabus from any professor. How to file one, where to go to advocate for yourself, and how to stay safe from these instances in general. However, there are gaping holes in the way that Title IXs are often treated.
It’s an incredibly serious issue, yet something so common that it tends to not receive the attention it deserves. In respect to April being sexual assault awareness month, it’s crucial to be aware of the fallacies present in how sexual harassment is often treated by both the police and the community, specifically in filing Title IX complaints.
A Title IX complaint is a report of sexual harassment, discrimination, or inequality, specifically on educational grounds. Although online it states that only one complaint is needed on file to connect an individual to a Title IX complaint, this is rarely the case. From both personal experience and those of others I know, it takes much more than one instance to truly be taken seriously.
Numerous reports, documentation, evidence, and multiple traumatic instances are needed before something is truly done. I’ve heard countless stories of friends being harassed in some way by others, attempting to report it, and being told that there is “nothing they can do” without multiple situations against the same person taking place.
As a culture, we’re often told that a Title IX complaint or any sort of harassment charge on an individual will “ruin” their reputation, but we often see the opposite. Incredibly successful men such as Chris Brown, Kevin Spacey, and the current president of this country, have hundreds of allegations and, sometimes, direct charges against them but still carry a devoted fanbase and successful lives.
It begs one to ask the question: what does society take more seriously, being the victim of sexual assault or being accused of it?
A victim shouldn’t have to experience multiple instances of assault to be taken seriously. People wonder how these situations suddenly become extreme, and it’s often because action isn’t taken in earlier stages like it should be.
