Understanding Title IX and Reporting Incidents at Douglas Education Center
Under Title IX of the Education Amendments schools are prohibited from gender discrimination in any federally funded education program or activity. Additionally, Title IX is also used to protect students from incidents of sexual abuse, assault and harassment while on campus.
At Douglas Education Center students should know that we have a trained staff and reporting policies in place to provide a safe and respectful environment for students to learn. Should an incident occur, DEC is prepared to provide support and resources when needed for the survivor and possible sanctions up to and including taking action against the perpetrator.
Sexual harassment and assault took center stage last year in the entertainment industry with multiple high-profile cases that encouraged the #MeToo Movement to expand from its initial actuality of an online campaign to support survivors of sexual abuse, assault and harassment to a social media storm.
The #MeToo Movement may have empowered survivors but the statistics remain a stark reminder of how much farther there is to go to erase sexual violence.
- 1 in 5 college women and 1 in 33 college men will face sexual assault. First-year women are the most vulnerable.
- 43% of college women and 28% of college men have reported violent and abusive behaviors from someone they were dating.
- 1 in 6 women and 1 in 19 men will experience stalking in their lifetime.
- Over 71% of rapes are committed by someone that the victim knows.
- Only about 20% of survivors actually report their assault.
Reporting an assault is seen as a difficult process for many reasons.
- Making the decision to report an incident can be a difficult decision. It isn’t easy to talk about and can retraumatize a person by forcing them to relive the events. This, among other reasons, is why such a low percentage of female and male sexual assault victims report to law enforcement.
- DEC encourages all victims of sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, stalking to report the incident when and if you are ready.
- Reporting is not always an easy decision, but it may have a positive impact on your recovery and positively impact the lives of others by preventing similar incidents from happening to them.
If a DEC student does decide to report their assault there are a few things they should know.
- DEC does not limit the time frame for filing a report.
- Your information will be kept confidential and will only include law enforcement at the survivor’s request.
- If you do want to report your assault to law enforcement it is important to preserve evidence if possible.
- Consider seeing a health professional that can complete a Forensic Rape Exam (can be collected anonymously) and check you for injuries. The exams are free of charge and will not appear on your personal health insurance.
- The closest medical facility that can perform a Forensic Rape Exam is Monongahela Valley Hospital.
Understand that DEC students should expect to be treated equally and respectfully by staff and officials regardless of whether they are the respondent or the complainant in the reporting process.
Incidents can be reported to our Title IX Coordinator:
Mike Crosby
Senior Financial Aid Coordinator
Room 203, 7th Street Administration Building
724-653-2196
