cw: mentions of sa, perpetrator name

In a Monday virtual roundtable, survivor advocates told Rep. Elissa Slotkin (MI-08) and her colleagues in Congress that a new Title IX rule handed down by the Education Dept. discourages survivors and students from reporting sexual abuse. https://twitter.com/MichiganAdvance/status/1275501620051218433

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and the ED finalized the new rule in May. It goes into effect Aug. 14.

Aspects of it — like how it allows narrowing the definition of sexual harassment and for reps of students to conduct cross-examinations — have been met with criticism.

“[MSU] launched an investigation into Larry Nassar because of my report in 2014,” said Amanda Thomashow, Survivor Strong's executive director. "That same complaint would serve as a catalyst for change years later, but under this new rule, that catalyst would have never existed.”

Tashmica Torok, founder and executive director of the Michigan Firecracker Foundation, said the new rule also extends beyond college campuses and could adversely impact children, especially those who are from marginalized communities.

“I have to also lift up that Black girls will feel the impact of this far greater than their counterparts,” Torok said. “LGBTQ youth will feel it far greater than any of their counterparts ..."

"... We know that Indigenous girls, we know that pregnant and parenting teens, we know that teens with disabilities are going to be further marginalized by these rules," Torok continued.

@HouseDemWomen hosted the roundtable.

Rep. Slotkin, a member of that caucus, said that after what happened within the MSU community, she couldn't understand why DeVos — a native Michigander — continued to move forward with such changes to Title IX.

“This one really got me, because Betsy DeVos made these rules and these new rules would have made it impossible for MSU to be accountable for Amanda’s case,” Slotkin said. “It’s a very important part of the changes and makes them devastating, as far as I’m concerned.”

I deleted a tweet in this thread because I wrote the rule will be adopted next month. It won't, it's supposed to be adopted in August.

Educational institutions are expected to comply with the rule or face denial of federal funding. Read it in full here:
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/05/19/2020-10512/nondiscrimination-on-the-basis-of-sex-in-education-programs-or-activities-receiving-federal