Women’s Media Center: The Fight to Refocus Title IX on Survivors

March 9. 2021

ERA Staff Attorney Maha Ibrahim is featured in a Women’s Media Center article about survivor advocates hopes for Title IX changes under the Biden Administration: The Fight to Refocus Title IX on Survivors

“Over the past four years, Title IX got turned on its head so that it actually discourages students from reporting sexual violence and protects assailants and harassers more than victims,” said Maha Ibrahim…

“Even before the Trump era, most Title IX guidance and regulation was really crafted with only the university setting in mind, and K-12 institutions were directed, almost as an afterthought, to adhere to the same guidance and regulations. This approach does not take into account the developmental levels of students, the campus realities of a K-12 setting as opposed to a university, or important robust approaches to prevention and resolution that could focus on student growth and development, healing and community repair, rather than merely adversarial processes and punitive outcomes.” Advocates are optimistic that effectively intervening on discrimination and violence in K-12 schools would also serve as a form of prevention at the university level. …

According to Ibrahim, “Survivors have been deliberately excluded from the conversation for four years. We’re hopeful the Biden administration will consistently invite survivors and their advocates back to the table.”