Requests to Effectively Address Sexual Harassment in Schools

As civil rights advocates and advocates for student survivors of sexual assault and other forms of sexual harassment, we are grateful for President-Elect Biden’s long track record of and continued commitment to supporting student survivors and for Vice President-Elect Harris’s work to end sexual harassment and advance gender equity. Over the past four years, the Department of Education (“the Department”) has taken many steps under the Trump administration to weaken civil rights protections for student survivors, including by promulgating and implementing a new harmful Title IX rule that forces schools to ignore sexual harassment and adopt uniquely unfair procedures to address it. Under the Biden-Harris administration, we look forward to the Department returning to its role of protecting rather than eroding students’ civil rights. Below are our recommendations to the Biden-Harris administration to address sexual harassment in schools, including strengthening Title IX enforcement, increasing support and resources for key initiatives, supporting federal legislation, improving data collection, appointing personnel, and listening directly to student survivors.