Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' plan to rewrite Title IX rules for colleges and universities has been in the works for a long time and we finally know what it's going to look like.
You don't have to dig very far into this to see how bad of an idea it is and I don't think you could describe this as anything other than pro-rape.
From the Associated Press:
Under the plan, schools would have to investigate complaints only if the alleged incidents occurred on campus or other areas overseen by the school, and only if they were reported to certain campus officials with the authority to take action. [...]
Her new proposal adds several provisions meant to protect accused students. They would be allowed to review and respond to all evidence collected by the school, for example, and have a presumption of innocence throughout the disciplinary process.
They could cross-examine their accusers, although it would be done indirectly through a representative to avoid personal confrontation.
You know, even law enforcement agencies do not allow rapists to cross-examine their victims during an investigation.
Moreover, if schools don't have to investigate a report that was shared with a teacher or an administration who has no real authority, that's a loophole big enough to drive a DeVos family super-yacht through it.
Among other changes, it narrows what constitutes sexual harassment. While the 2011 guidance defined it as “unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature,” the new proposal defines it as unwelcome sexual conduct that’s so severe “it effectively denies a person equal access to the school’s education program or activity.”
If you understand how these things go, you'll understand that this is a preposterously vague standard that places far more pressure on victims than predators.
An unacceptably low number of sexual crimes are prosecuted in this country and these new rules appear to be even more lax than the rules we use in criminal proceedings.