DeVos: Too many college students have been treated unfairly under Obama-era sexual assault policy

[Eugene]

Last edited Sat Jul 22, 2017, 02:18 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: Washington Post

DeVos: Too many college students have been treated unfairly under Obama-era sexual assault policy

By Emma Brown July 13 at 6:07 PM

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said Thursday that too many students have been treated unfairly as colleges have sought to comply with Obama-era policy on handling sexual assault, but she declined to offer any specifics about how she intends to move forward on one of the more controversial and closely watched issues handled by her agency.

“No student should feel like there isn’t a way to seek justice, and no student should feel that the scales are tipped against him or her,” she told reporters Thursday afternoon, following what she called an “emotionally draining” series of meetings with college administrators, survivors of assault and students who said they were falsely accused and wrongly disciplined.

The day after her civil rights chief suggested that 90 percent of assault allegations are the result of drunken and regretted sex rather than rape, DeVos sought to show sensitivity to victims, saying that assault allegations should not be “swept under the rug” and women should not be “dismissed.”

But she also said she was deeply concerned about addressing the concerns of the accused. “Their stories are not often shared,” she said.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2017/07/13/advocates-press-devos-to-keep-protections-in-place-for-victims-of-sexual-assault/