More Than 120 Sexual Assault Survivor Advocacy Organizations Call on Biden Administration to Finalize Title IX Rules by May

As Sexual Assault Awareness Month begins, gender equity and survivor advocacy organizations urge the Department Of Education to keep its promise to finalize Title IX regulations 

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, a collective of 124 organizations focused on gender justice and survivor advocacy released a letter addressed to President Biden calling on the administration to fulfill its promise to finalize their 2022 proposed Title IX regulations by May. Organizations joining the #EDActNow campaign include Advocates for Youth, End Rape On Campus, Equal Rights Advocates, Girls Inc , It’s On Us, Know Your IX , National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, National Women’s Law Center and The Every Voice Coalition.

All students deserve an education free from gender-based violence and discrimination. In 2021, the #EDActNow campaign first launched to demand action on Title IX, delivering a petition with 50,000 signatures calling for increased campus safety and student survivors’ rights. For the 50th anniversary of Title IX in 2022, the #EDActNow campaign pushed for the Biden administration’s updated proposed Title IX rule. The proposed regulations released last year were an important step toward realizing Title IX’s full potential, but the Department of Education must take action to finalize these regulations to enact meaningful change across campuses. 

Currently, nearly 40% of survivors who report violence or harassment to their schools are pushed out of education and the Department must act now to undo the Trump administration’s 2020 regulations, which continue to have devastating impacts on student survivors seeking support and resources after facing discrimination and violence. 

“We as advocates are continuing to see student survivors experience punishment, retaliation, and forced leaves of absence, transfer schools or drop out entirely due to the 2020 Title IX regulations, which give schools permission to shirk their responsibility to protect students,” the letter states. “Students will continue to suffer under the harms of the Trump administration’s Title IX rules until the Biden administration intervenes.” 

As scheduled in the Fall 2022 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, the Department of Education promised it would finalize the updated rules implementing Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 by May 2023. If the administration does not act now to keep its promise and finalize these guidelines on time, institutions will not have enough time to implement the changes in the upcoming 2023-2024 school year.  

The full letter can be found HERE. Click here to view quotes from some of the organizations’ leaders. The list of signatories is below:

• Advocates for Youth
• End Rape On Campus
• Equal Rights Advocates
• Girls Inc.
• It’s On Us
• Know Your IX
• National Alliance to End Sexual Violence
• National Women’s Law Center
• The Every Voice Coalition

joined by:

• American Association of University Women
• American Indians Against Abuse Tribal DV/SA Coalition
• Ar. Coalition Against Sexual Assault
• Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence
• Atlanta Women for Equality
• BeLEAF Survivors
• Campus Pride
• CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers
• Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation
• CHS
• Clearinghouse on Women’s Issues
• Cleveland Rape Crisis Center
• Coalition for Equal Access for Girls
• Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault
• Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, U.S. Provinces
• Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence
• Crime Victim Services
• DC Rape Crisis Center
• Deaf Unity
• Deaf World Against Violence Everywhere DWAVE
• Devine Women Foundation Inc 
• Embrace Services, Inc.
• Equality California
• Equality Labs
• Esperanza United (formerly Casa de Esperanza: National Latin@ Network)
• FaithTrust Institute
• Family Crisis Council of Rowan, Inc. 
• Family Service of the Piedmont
• Fayetteville Police Accountability Community Taskforce 
• FCIC
• Feminist Majority Foundation
• FORGE, Inc.
• Futures Without Violence 
• Gang Free Inc Nonprofit
• Girls for Gender Equity
• GLSEN
• Human Rights Campaign
• IAmProSe
• Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault
• International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW)
• Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault
• Jane Doe Inc.
• Jewish Family Services
• Just Solutions
• KARE
• Kentucky Association of Sexual Assault Programs, Inc.
• Legacy of Hope International, Inc.
• Legal Momentum, the Women’s Legal Defense and Education Fund 
• love is respect, a project of the National Domestic Violence Hotline
• Love Mercy Do Justice, The Covenant Church
• Mahogany CARES Foundation Inc 
• Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault
• Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault 
• Men Stopping Violence, Inc.
• Menominee County Human Services
• Michigan Organization on Adolescent Sexual Health (MOASH)
• Missouri Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence
• Mitchell County SafePlace
• My Life My Choice 
• National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
• National Black Justice Coalition
• National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
• National Council of Jewish Women
• National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center
• National LGBTQ Institute on Intimate Partner Violence
• National Organization for Women
• National Organization of API Ending Sexual Violence
• NC Coalition Against Sexual Assault 
• NC Stop Human Trafficking
• Nebraska Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence
• Nevada Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence 
• New Beginnings
• New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence
• New Horizons Shelter and Outreach Centers
• New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault (NYSCASA)
• North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence
• Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence
• Orange County Rape Crisis Center
• Our VOICE
• Partnership of Ashe
• People Outcomes LLC
• Pisgah Legal Services
• Planned Parenthood Generation Action
• Project Safeguard
• Public Justice
• Pueblo Rape Crisis Services
• Rocky Mountain Victim Law Center
• Safe Office, Wake Forest University
• Safe Space, Inc.
• SafeBAE
• Sanctuary for Families
• SARNCO
• Second Bloom of Chatham
• Sexual Assault Resource Network of Central Ohio
• Stop Sexual Assault in Schools
• Tahirih Justice Center
• TeamTeal365 Inc 
• Texas Association Against Sexual Assault 
• The Army of Survivors
• The Bridge to Hope
• The Cocoon
• The Women’s Center 
• The Women’s Community, Inc.
• Townhall II
• Tri-County Help Center, Inc.
• True Ridge
• UltraViolet
• Union for Reform Judaism
• ValorUS®
• Victim Rights Law Center
• Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault
• Wise Women Gathering Place, Inc.
• Women’s Law Project
• Wyoming Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault
• YWCA USA