To the Editor:

Re “A Liberal Case for DeVos’s Reforms,” by Lara Bazelon (Op-Ed, Dec. 5):

The story Ms. Bazelon relates about a rape accusation was never hers to tell. It’s mine.

I am the sexual assault survivor she refers to . She omitted key facts and weaponized my story — a white survivor who brought a complaint about a black student who was later suspended from college — such that it could be used against my fellow survivors , especially survivors of color, who would be the most harmed by Betsy DeVos’s proposed reforms. Women of color experience sexual violence at disproportionate rates and have more barriers to reporting and face disbelief.

If Ms. Bazelon truly cared about racial justice in the Title IX process, she would center on survivors of color and not reduce them to a parenthetical. The second accuser of my assailant to whom she refers is my friend, a woman of color; in her case, she wasn’t believed.

The trauma of sexual assault continues into the investigative process, which will worsen with the proposed regulations that Ms. Bazelon praises as a “step forward.” Ms. Bazelon knows firsthand how cross-examination harms survivors, because she cross-examined me. She saw me break down after she asked questions implying that I should have fought back harder.

I agree that the system is broken. But it’s broken because it was built on the premise that survivors lie. Ms. Bazelon’s rhetoric about due process only serves to worsen the problem.