As the national conversation about campus sexual assault continues, a Title IX expert visited Fresno State on Tuesday to discuss sexual legislation, consent and bystander intervention in university environments.
Janet Judge, a lawyer who specializes in Title IX and works nationwide training students on the legislation, spoke to an audience in the North Gym about educating students about their sexual rights.
While introducing Judge, Brittany Grice, Fresno State’s deputy Title IX coordinator and institutional compliance administrator, said that improved understanding about sexual violence can aid universities to “be empowered to change.”
“Education is so important in changing the conversation as to how we address incidents of sexual violence on our college campus,” Grice said.
The national conversation concerning campus sexual assault and violence has been largely instigated by the Obama administration, which has created recent public service announcement campaigns such as “1 is 2 many” and “It’s On Us.”
The White House has been citing statistics that 1 in 5 college women are sexually assaulted, as well as 6.1 percent of college men. With such rates, the focus to change the campus sexual assault climate was established, Judge said.
“With that rate of sexual assaults on college campuses, it was interesting to find many, many college campuses across the country have reported that they had never had a hearing in regards to sexual assault on their campus,” Judge said. “That was the framework for people starting to say, ‘We’ve got to figure out what’s going on.’”
Judge’s talk was largely focused on the role of Title IX offices on campuses and the procedures they follow when sexual assault is reported. Title IX is a federal law passed in 1972 that requires equity among genders and prohibits educational programs to discriminate based on sex.
However, Judge also touched on wider themes that coincide with the conservation about sexual assault and how they can act as solutions, such as the definition of consent and role of bystander intervention.
In light of California being the first state to pass ‘yes means yes’ consent legislation for college campuses, Judge said understanding the definition of consent is significant.
As defined by the likes of Title IX and the ‘yes means yes’ bill legislation, Judge said consent at Fresno State is detailed. Based on three key policies, she said consent must be voluntary through a verbal or nonverbal indication, it can be withdrawn at any time and it cannot be given by an incapacitated person.
“When we’re talking about consent, we’re talking about each individual sexual act,” she said. “Saying yes to one thing doesn’t mean you want to do another thing. Saying yes to one thing doesn’t mean you want to do it again.”
For student Krysten Cherkaski, president of Fresno State’s Women’s Alliance, Judge’s specific emphasis on consent was well received.
“I was just happy about how specific she was about what constitutes consent,” Cherkaski said. “Because I think a lot of the ignorance surrounding sexual assault is about people not knowing what constitutes consent.”
Kelly Caplan, who is with Fresno State’s Students for Quality Education, said as the dialogue about campus sexual assault is created further, work is needed in ensuring all students hear this message.
“It is unfortunate that this dialogue does not seem to reach all parts of campus,” Caplan said. “I think students definitely need to be involved, and we need to start coming up with ways of ensuring that they are, and that from the second they set foot on this campus as first-year freshmen, and transfers even, that they understand what their rights are.”
Judge also touched on the importance of bystander intervention and how it is a focus of the Obama administration’s campaigns.
One study the White House task force has used in its research is that 7 percent of college men have admitted to committing rape or attempted rape. Yet, as Judge pointed out, that leaves 93 percent of college men the Obama administration is calling on to intervene any sexual misconduct they may observe.
For those students and faculty who have not been personally affected by sexual assault, Cherkaski said they still have responsibility in intervening and creating a safe campus environment.
“I think having that responsibility put on bystanders is probably the strongest steps for students and faculty,” she said.