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Thread: White House to Promote Campus Rape Culture

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    IMPress Polly's Avatar Senior Member
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    White House to Promote Campus Rape Culture

    No, I will not retract that title because it is the objective truth of the matter.

    As you may be aware, back in 2011, the Obama Administration set out new guidelines for how schools that receive federal funding are to address allegations of sexual harassment and assault. The Trump Administration's Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos (who, to date, has spent only a matter of hours in the public school system lifetime total, none of which has been dedicated to conversing with students) has recently rescinded these Obama-era guidelines and set out new ones in their place, which can go into effect without Congressional approval. Here are a few of the interesting highlights:

    -No actions alleged to have taken place off-campus (such as at a fraternity house or off-campus bar or off-campus housing, for example) will require redress by the school anymore.

    -Schools will now be allowed to replace the existing evidentiary standard of "preponderance of evidence" where the proof offered shows it was more likely than not the correct version of events with a new, much higher standard of "clear and convincing evidence". Where the former standard places the accused and the alleged victim on equal footing, this new optional standard skews the evidentiary burden strongly in favor of the accused, as things like sexual harassment and assault can be almost impossible to absolutely prove beyond any doubt at all.

    -Alleged perpetrators will now be allowed to cross-examine their accuser(s). This is particularly offensive to me in that the whole point of such proceedings, from the perspective of the survivor, is to try and ensure that future contact with their abuser(s) will not occur, so that they can feel safe again on campus rather than be potentially retraumatized by encountering their abuser again and again.

    -The use of mediation to reach informal resolution between the parties, which protects institutions by only holding them accountable for "formal complaints".

    -The definition of sexual harassment will be severely narrowed from "unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature" to "unwelcome conduct on the basis of sex that is so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it denies a person access to the school's education program or activity".

    -The new guidelines also, in an unprecedented move, explicitly say that an institution's treatment of an alleged assailant could also constitute sex discrimination.

    As we can see, there is a rather one-sided nature to these changes in guidelines for how schools that receive federal funds are to treat allegations of sexual harassment and sexual violence: all of the changes favor the accused and institutions. It's hard to say that that isn't tantamount to sweeping these issues under the rug and intentionally discouraging survivors from reporting. In a context wherein, among other things, 1 in 5 female college students and 1 in 16 male college students reports experiencing sexual assault while in college, one would think that the Secretary of Education might have different priorities.
    Last edited by IMPress Polly; 08-31-2018 at 02:52 PM.

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    jimmyz's Avatar Senior Member
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    Great! Now the falsely accused will have a better chance of clearing their name.
    " I'm old-fashioned. I like two sexes! And another thing, all of a sudden I don't like being married to what is known as a 'new woman'. I want a wife, not a competitor. Competitor! Competitor!" - Spencer Tracy in 'Adam's Rib' (1949)

    Art thou every retard among us related to thine uncle or mistress by way of moral or illegitimate rendezvous? Thus, we are one side of the other's coin by luck or pluck. - Jimmyz

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    IMPress Polly's Avatar Senior Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by jimmyz View Post
    Great! Now the falsely accused will have a better chance of clearing their name.
    And also the accurately accused! BONUS!
    Last edited by IMPress Polly; 08-31-2018 at 04:18 PM.

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    Standing Wolf's Avatar Senior Member
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    I'm not sure but that these new rules might be a case of the pendulum swinging too far in the direction opposite from the way such rules and procedures had been going, but quite frankly something like this was bound to happen eventually. You can't have a system wherein, as some school administrations currently practice it, the accused is automatically assumed to be guilty and his hands are tied with regard to offering proof of his innocence, and call that justice.

    Generally speaking, I distrust most efforts by a school to "police itself" or to "handle things on campus". Any act of a criminal nature that occurs or is alleged to have occurred on school grounds should always be referred to the civilian police. The school is not another realm or jurisdiction wherein either the accuser or the accused should have all the rights or no rights at all.
    Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.” - Robert E. Howard

    "Only a rank degenerate would drive 1,500 miles across Texas and not eat a chicken fried steak." - Larry McMurtry

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