MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – Proposed changes to Title IX, the laws created to stop gender-based discrimination on college campuses, could impact how sexual assault cases are handled.
Nicole Service, the volunteer coordinator for the Rape Crisis Center in Myrtle Beach sees firsthand how some sexual assault attackers go unpunished, and she says with the proposed changes to Title IX, the problem could get worse.
“Its definition is to stop sex based discrimination on campus, and so sexual assault falls under that, and one of the things it does is limits the scope of what a school can investigate,” Service said.
Right now, Title IX lets universities discipline students who commit sexual assaults, regardless of whether the incident took place on or off campus.
Under the new, proposed changes, if an assault occurs off campus, it could make it problematic for a school to take action against the alledged attacker.
Service says this could mean more perpatrators walk free on college campuses.
“Just because something happens off campus doesn’t mean a person shouldn’t face disciplinary action for what they do as a student at the school. They’re still a student, they’re still representing and they’re still required on and off campus to abide by the student conduct, which as I understand it means you’re not allowed to rape people and still go to that school,” Service said.
According to Service, the proposed changes to Title IX could mean one more obstacle for assault victims.
“If we’re actively putting policies in place that make it more difficult on college campuses to be safe from your rapist, I would think that it would make it less likely that you would deal with it at all,” Service said.
To read about the other proposed changes to Title IX, click here.
