Chrysanthi Leon
Associate Professor of Sociology And Criminal Justice, University of Delaware
Key Findings
- The goals of the parties involved in sexual assault reform (survivors, campus counselors, legislators) are not aligned.
- Legislators primarily focus on following protocol and having sexual assault incidents reported to Title IX officers, students are focused on justice, safety, and evidence, and counselors focused on resources for victims.
Description
In the article, “Law, Mansplainin’, and Myth Accommodation in Campus Sexual Assault Reform,” Leon examines the social movement for sexual assault reform and how it is impacted by campus protests, state policy, institutional policy, and implementation of local policy. Leon uses the University of Delaware (UD) campus movement requesting changes in sexual assault policy on campus as a case study as well as data from UD’s Title X office. Leon notes the goals of the parties involved (survivors, campus counselors, legislators) are not aligned. For legislators, the problem occurs when victims don’t follow protocol and report sexual assault to Title IX officers. This ideology victimizes survivors by shifting blame from the perpetrators of the assault to the victim. For students, justice, safety, and evidence are major hurdles. For counselors, resources and respect from the university and state legislators are major obstacles. Leon encourages empowering individuals in all roles to take justice into their own hands in order to address ineffective policies together.