Samantha Harris is the director of policy research at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.

Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination at universities receiving federal funds, requires universities to treat sexual assault as a form of sex discrimination. But sexual assault is much more than sex discrimination: it is a heinous crime. The problem of sexual assault on campus is finally getting much-needed attention, but too many of the current recommendations rely on universities’ internal disciplinary systems.

Only our criminal justice system can properly protect the accuser and the accused — and punish those found guilty accordingly.

This is the wrong approach. To ensure that sexual assault is treated like the crime it is, law enforcement must take the lead. Only our criminal justice system can properly protect the accuser and the accused — and punish those found guilty accordingly.

Currently, internal university proceedings are used both to provide Title IX remedies to the alleged victim (such as changes in dorm assignments and class schedules, no-contact orders and so forth) and to adjudicate an accused student’s guilt or innocence.

In these proceedings, accused students are routinely denied the most basic elements of due process, such as the right to see the evidence against them and the right to confront, even indirectly, the accuser. Not only is this terribly unfair to students accused of serious wrongdoing, but it undermines the integrity of the process in a way that harms everyone involved.

Moreover, since all a university can do is expel a student it finds responsible for sexual assault, relying on university disciplinary systems to adjudicate such claims means that universities are simply releasing people they deem dangerous back into the larger society, where they are free to continue their behavior.

For the sake of everyone involved, universities should focus on providing support — including Title IX remedies — to the alleged victims of sexual assault, and should coordinate with law enforcement to maximize the chances that rapists will end up in jail, where they belong.



Join Opinion on Facebook and follow updates on twitter.com/roomfordebate.

