Title:
US Schools Under Pressure to Deal With Sexual
Violence
Description: This is
a VOA Special English Education Report.
See text below
Text:
Federal officials in the United States are telling
schools that they need to do a better job of
preventing sexual violence and helping victims.The
Obama administration has released the first guidance
on how schools should deal with the problem under a
nineteen seventy-two law. That law is known as Title
Nine. It bars discrimination on the basis of sex in
any education program or activity receiving federal
financial assistance. The Department of Education
says sexual violence is a form of sexual harassment
of students which violates Title Nine. In April,
Vice President Joe Biden joined Education Secretary
Arne Duncan at the University of New Hampshire to
announce the new efforts. Secretary Duncan said:
"Sexual violence is one of those issues we all wish
didn't exist. And too often our society has chosen
to ignore it, rather than confronting it openly and
honestly. And that denial must end. Every school
would like to believe it's immune from sexual
violence, but the facts suggest otherwise." A study
found that one in five women is sexually assaulted
while in college. About six percent of male college
students say they have also been victims. Mr. Duncan
said that by some estimates, more than one in ten
high school girls are physically forced to have sex
in or out of school. He said the numbers are
probably low because many sex crimes are never
reported.In one recent school year, public schools
reported eight hundred rapes or attempted rapes and
almost four thousand other cases of sexual violence.
The Education Department has written a nineteen-page
letter to all school systems, colleges and
universities that accept federal money. It explains
requirements for them under Title Nine in dealing
with sexual violence. These include making sure
victims know their rights and are kept informed
about the progress of the investigation. Schools
must also protect victims from suspects who may
still be in school with them. Secretary Duncan says
police and prosecutors have their job to do, but
schools also share responsibility under federal
civil rights laws. Investigations of sexual violence
often take too long, he says, and the victims are
not taken seriously. Victims are more likely to do
poorly in school, get depressed and abuse drugs and
alcohol. For VOA Special English, I'm Carolyn
Presutti. We'll have more on this subject next time.
You can find links to information about dealing with
sexual violence in schools at voaspecialenglish.com.
Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
To post a comment:
• Click "Comment using..." in
the window below
• Click your favorite service: Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail
• Login to the service
• Click "Add a comment..."
• Post your comment in the window
Students: Please post a
comment stating what you found interesting about this video. You are
welcome to include links to your English study blogs and any
other materials you think might be useful for learning
English.
Teachers: Please post your
thoughts about this video. You are welcome to include links to
your sites, blogs, and any other materials you think might
be useful for learning English.
Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
