US Schools Under Pressure to Deal With Sexual Violence
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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
Federal [A]officials[/A] in the United States are telling schools that they need to do a better job of [A]preventing[/A] sexual violence and helping[A] victims[/A] .
The Obama administration has released the first [A]guidance[/A] on how schools should deal with the problem under a nineteen seventy-two law. That law is known as Title Nine. It bars [A]discrimination[/A] on the basis of sex in any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.
The Department of Education says sexual [A]violence[/A] is a form of sexual harassment of students which violates Title Nine.
Last month, Vice President Joe Biden joined Education Secretary Arne Duncan at the University of New Hampshire to announce the new [A]efforts[/A]. Secretary Duncan says the problem has not received enough [A]attention[/A].
ARNE DUNCAN: "Sexual violence is one of those [A]issues[/A] we all wish didn't exist. And too often, our society has chosen to [A]ignore[/A] it, rather than [A]confronting[/A] it openly and honestly. And that denial must end. Every school would like to believe it's immune from sexual violence, but the facts suggest [A]otherwise[/A]."
A study found that one in five women is sexually assaulted while in college. About six percent of male college students say they have also been [A]victims[/A].
Mr. Duncan said that by some estimates, more than one in ten high school girls are physically forced to have sex in or out of school. He said the numbers are probably low because many [A]sex crimes[/A] are never reported.
In one recent school year, public schools reported eight hundred rapes or attempted [A]rapes[/A] and almost four thousand other cases of sexual violence.
The Education Department has written a nineteen-page letter to all school systems, colleges and universities that accept federal money. It explains [A]requirements[/A] for them under Title Nine in dealing with sexual violence. These include making sure victims know their rights and are kept [A]informed[/A][A]investigation[/A]. Schools must also protect victims from [A]suspects[/A] about the progress of the who may still be in school with them.
Secretary Duncan says police and prosecutors have their job to do, but schools also share [A]responsibility[/A] under federal civil rights laws. Investigations of sexual violence often take too long, he says, and the victims are not taken [A]seriously[/A]. Victims are more likely to do poorly in school, get [A]depressed[/A] and abuse drugs and alcohol.
