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VICTIM-CENTERED, TRAUMA-INFORMED APPROACH DEFIES REQUIREMENTS FOR A FAIR AND IMPARTIAL TITLE IX PROCESSI am delighted to host an excellent article by Virginia-based attorney Margaret Valois on Title IX adjudications. Contact information is included with permission.
VICTIM-CENTERED, TRAUMA-INFORMED APPROACH DEFIES REQUIREMENTS FOR A FAIR AND IMPARTIAL TITLE IX PROCESS
By Margaret Valois, Esq.
During a Title IX investigation on college campuses, accused students must bear the lion’s share when dealing with ambiguous and contradictory policies and procedures. For example, the University of Virginia promises accused students a “thorough, fair, and impartial investigation.” The sexual misconduct policy goes on to explain that the investigation will be carried out by an investigator who also “protects the safety of Complainants and the University community while promoting accountability.”
In practice, the only party being held “accountable” under this policy is the accused student. Unfortunately, the average student is not sophisticated enough to decipher the contradictory promises being promulgated by their school.
Accused students may receive notice that they have been named in a complaint via an informal text message. Invited to come by the Title IX office and discuss the events of a certain evening, an unsuspecting student will likely go alone to discuss the allegations levied against him, trusting in a process promised to be fair and respectful for both accusers and the accused.
What colleges are not sharing with accused students is that the deck is stacked against them from the minute the complaint is filed. Many schools subscribe to an increasingly popular approach to sexual misconduct investigation and adjudication known as “victim-centered” or “trauma-informed.”
What is a “trauma-informed” investigation? A presentation titled “What It Means to Be “Trauma-Informed” instructs university investigators, counselors and hearing panel members to rationalize contradictory statements, memory gaps, and inconsistent behavior exhibited by complainants as symptomatic of life-threatening trauma. As a result, all scrutiny is applied to the accused student.
This approach was promoted by the Obama administration in its 2014 Questions and Answers on Title IX and Sexual Violence, and in 2015 the Office of Civil Rights reached a Resolution Agreement with the University of Virginia. This agreement delineated that institutions are required to provide trauma-informed training for all parties involved in investigating and adjudicating sexual misconduct complaints. Failure to do so could result in the loss of federal funding (i.e., student loan dollars).
Organizations such the Association of Title IX Administrators (ATIXA) provide training based on trauma-informed ideology. Its guide, The 7 Deadly Sins of Title IX Investigations, identifies a trauma-informed approach as the first rule of an effective Title IX investigation. The report identifies ways in which investigations should support complainants, going so far as to suggest stress-balls and stuffed animals as therapy for dealing with the stress of answering questions about the allegations made.
In its victim-centered rush to support complainants, the ATIXA report fails to explain the real purpose of an investigation: to discover, what, if anything, occurred that violates the school’s sexual misconduct policy. If an investigation is approached from the position that a traumatizing event has occurred and that the accusing student is the person who is traumatized, then the accused student is already presumed to have caused that trauma. This model flies in the face of Title IX , which requires “equitable resolution” of complaints of sexual misconduct.
Consistent with victim-centered ideology, Title IX investigators are known to include false or misleading information in their reports, in order to enhance the purported trauma suffered by the complainant, thereby making the accused student appear guilty. Here's an example that recently came to my attention:
“Victim-centered” and “trauma-informed” approaches foster a practically insurmountable presumption that the complaining student is a victim who must be treated deferentially so as not to inflict more trauma than what they have already endured. In contrast, Title IX requires “equitable resolution” of complaints of sexual misconduct. But as schools are increasingly employing trauma-informed techniques, that requirement is becoming unattainable. Only when there is a return to the presumption of innocence and investigations are carried out to discover the facts and not to protect purported victims can the Title IX requirement be met.
Margaret Valois is a Virginia-based attorney who has advised both accused students and complainants in Title IX adjudications.
Margaret C. Valois, Esq.
Title IX Advisor
James River Legal Associates
7601 Timberlake Road
Lynchburg, Virginia 24502
www.titleixdefender.com
margaret.valois©titleixdefender.com
VICTIM-CENTERED, TRAUMA-INFORMED APPROACH DEFIES REQUIREMENTS FOR A FAIR AND IMPARTIAL TITLE IX PROCESS
By Margaret Valois, Esq.
During a Title IX investigation on college campuses, accused students must bear the lion’s share when dealing with ambiguous and contradictory policies and procedures. For example, the University of Virginia promises accused students a “thorough, fair, and impartial investigation.” The sexual misconduct policy goes on to explain that the investigation will be carried out by an investigator who also “protects the safety of Complainants and the University community while promoting accountability.”
In practice, the only party being held “accountable” under this policy is the accused student. Unfortunately, the average student is not sophisticated enough to decipher the contradictory promises being promulgated by their school.
Accused students may receive notice that they have been named in a complaint via an informal text message. Invited to come by the Title IX office and discuss the events of a certain evening, an unsuspecting student will likely go alone to discuss the allegations levied against him, trusting in a process promised to be fair and respectful for both accusers and the accused.
What colleges are not sharing with accused students is that the deck is stacked against them from the minute the complaint is filed. Many schools subscribe to an increasingly popular approach to sexual misconduct investigation and adjudication known as “victim-centered” or “trauma-informed.”
What is a “trauma-informed” investigation? A presentation titled “What It Means to Be “Trauma-Informed” instructs university investigators, counselors and hearing panel members to rationalize contradictory statements, memory gaps, and inconsistent behavior exhibited by complainants as symptomatic of life-threatening trauma. As a result, all scrutiny is applied to the accused student.
This approach was promoted by the Obama administration in its 2014 Questions and Answers on Title IX and Sexual Violence, and in 2015 the Office of Civil Rights reached a Resolution Agreement with the University of Virginia. This agreement delineated that institutions are required to provide trauma-informed training for all parties involved in investigating and adjudicating sexual misconduct complaints. Failure to do so could result in the loss of federal funding (i.e., student loan dollars).
Organizations such the Association of Title IX Administrators (ATIXA) provide training based on trauma-informed ideology. Its guide, The 7 Deadly Sins of Title IX Investigations, identifies a trauma-informed approach as the first rule of an effective Title IX investigation. The report identifies ways in which investigations should support complainants, going so far as to suggest stress-balls and stuffed animals as therapy for dealing with the stress of answering questions about the allegations made.
In its victim-centered rush to support complainants, the ATIXA report fails to explain the real purpose of an investigation: to discover, what, if anything, occurred that violates the school’s sexual misconduct policy. If an investigation is approached from the position that a traumatizing event has occurred and that the accusing student is the person who is traumatized, then the accused student is already presumed to have caused that trauma. This model flies in the face of Title IX , which requires “equitable resolution” of complaints of sexual misconduct.
Consistent with victim-centered ideology, Title IX investigators are known to include false or misleading information in their reports, in order to enhance the purported trauma suffered by the complainant, thereby making the accused student appear guilty. Here's an example that recently came to my attention:
During an investigation at a large university in the in the Southeast, the Title IX investigator included fourteen times in her report that the Respondent admitted to pinching the Complainant’s nipple. Upon review of the entire audio recording of the initial interview, it was revealed that the Respondent never once said the word, “nipple.” The investigator was forced to correct her report. The investigator also omitted that the Complainant had kneed the Respondent in the crotch, inflicting serious pain and humiliation.
“Victim-centered” and “trauma-informed” approaches foster a practically insurmountable presumption that the complaining student is a victim who must be treated deferentially so as not to inflict more trauma than what they have already endured. In contrast, Title IX requires “equitable resolution” of complaints of sexual misconduct. But as schools are increasingly employing trauma-informed techniques, that requirement is becoming unattainable. Only when there is a return to the presumption of innocence and investigations are carried out to discover the facts and not to protect purported victims can the Title IX requirement be met.
Margaret Valois is a Virginia-based attorney who has advised both accused students and complainants in Title IX adjudications.
Margaret C. Valois, Esq.
Title IX Advisor
James River Legal Associates
7601 Timberlake Road
Lynchburg, Virginia 24502
www.titleixdefender.com
margaret.valois©titleixdefender.com
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