With enforcement weakening, students facing sexual violence are left to navigate a fragmented system. In the absence of strong federal protections like Title IX, advocates are stepping in to build new paths to accountability and support.
In a powerful rebuke, 112 gender equity and survivor advocacy organizations sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly M. Richey on Feb. 23 condemning the Department of Education for “neglecting to protect students from actual sexual violence while pursuing an ongoing dangerous and unlawful campaign of discriminating against transgender students under the guise of preventing sexual violence.”
They argue that the department “obscures the ongoing real crisis of sexual violence in schools and brings student survivors who have been waiting years for resolution of their complaints no closer to justice—despite this administration positioning itself as being a true advocate for women and girls’ safety.”
Earlier in February, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) terminated a 2015 resolution agreement protecting transgender students in a Pennsylvania school district and demanded the district reverse its revised Title IX policies to align with the current administration’s interpretation of the Title IX rule. This move signals that OCR could now terminate any previously negotiated civil rights protections, with immediate and devastating consequences.
The Collapse of Federal Enforcement
The heart of this crisis is the weakening of Title IX enforcement by the Department’s Office for Civil Rights. OCR oversight has been essential in compelling schools to respond appropriately to sexual harassment and assault. Federal enforcement elevates school districts’ Title IX awareness and compliance, reducing barriers to reporting, and motivating schools to adopt preventive action. For the vast majority of students, the federal complaint process has been the only mechanism to seek redress beyond local decision-makers.
“We finally had hope,” said Elizabeth Stewart-Williams, who filed an OCR complaint claiming sex and race discrimination under Title IX and Title VI at her daughter’s Texas high school. “But it wasn’t very long before we learned that the OCR office was closed. It is crushing. It is cruel. The OCR complaint process was our only pathway for help. If the department and its investigative and protective roles are diminished, what remedies do our children truly possess?”
Stewart-Williams has since joined the multi-plaintiff lawsuit led by the National Center for Youth Law (NCYL) challenging the Department of Education’s abandonment of investigations. But lawsuits move slowly and cannot provide timely relief to students in crisis. However, OCR investigations, when functioning properly, can compel schools to take immediate corrective action, restoring students’ access to education.
Why Federal Enforcement Matters
Without OCR enforcement, schools have little motivation to adequately address reports of sexual harassment and assault. Students who face hostile environments may disengage academically, transfer schools or drop out entirely—outcomes that carry long-term educational, economic and psychological costs.
The absence of OCR enforcement signals to school communities that sexual harm will not be treated as a civil rights violation, normalizing harmful behavior. The long-term consequences are profound, both for individuals and society. Each student who fails to graduate caries an estimated lifetime economic cost to society of roughly $300,000. The human cost is inestimable.
“Our 9-year-old daughter began fourth grade and experienced repeated gender-based harassment. In a four-week period, she was targeted seven separate times by 11 different boys at school,” says parent-advocate Danica Kilander. “These incidents included boys calling her a ‘bitch,’ shouting ‘f–k you’ directly at her, making statements such as ‘I’ll touch you later,’ hitting her and using gender-based slurs and exclusion toward her and other girls in the class. Last month, in library, a boy stated: ‘You can’t hit a girl, but you can shoot one with a gun.’”
Kilander notes that “incidents often escalate from verbal harassment to sexual harassment, assault, racialized threats and other forms of targeted harm. What starts as verbal harassment becomes sexual harassment, then assault, then threats.”
She adds, “The escalation is predictable, a sustained pattern over time. The school district’s response is predictable too: diminish, dismiss, avoid.”
OCR’s failure to investigate complaints enables a new generation of perpetrators. Researchers have documented a continuum of harm beginning in elementary school with gender-based harassment developing into more severe behaviors including misogyny, dating and domestic violence, stalking, male supremacy and radical extremism.
“Not Just a Joke: Preventing Gender- and Sexuality-Based Bigotry,” developed by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL), traces this progression and offers schools and caregivers tools for early intervention.
What Protections Still Exist at the State Level
In the absence of federal enforcement, families and advocates are left to navigate local and state protections, “which frequently provide more extensive protections and remedies than Title IX,” writes victim advocate Susan Moen in “Protecting Students When Federal Protections Fall Short.” “Every state has legislation governing how schools must respond to discrimination and harassment, often with separate statutes for K-12 and higher education.”
To navigate this gap, the National Center for Youth Law (NCYL) has launched a groundbreaking, comprehensive resource, “The State of Civil Rights for Students and Schools.” This interactive user-friendly resource maps legal protections, enforcement agencies and complaint pathways across all 50 states. It allows stakeholders to quickly identify key education civil rights laws nationwide and state and local resources available to support students and parents confronting discrimination in schools. It also provides practical workarounds—such as applying anti-bullying laws in states lacking protections for gender-based harassment—and is continuously updated.
What Students and Families Can Do Right Now
Lacking robust Title IX enforcement, students and caregivers need strategies to guide their immediate response when schools inadequately address sexual harassment complaints.
The Stop Sexual Assault in Schools toolkit 10 Things You Can Do When a Title IX Complaint Fails offers guidance on researching school district policies, the complaint process, accessing advocates, state civil rights agencies and departments of education, pursuing legal remedies, and creating local change.
Students experiencing sexual harassment and violence can learn about crucial supportive measures in How Schools Can Take Steps to Effectively Address Sexual Harassment While Complying with the Trump Title IX Rule from the National Women’s Law Center, or the SSAIS guide, Supportive Measures for Students Experiencing Sexual Harassment and Harm.
These resources are essential—but they cannot substitute for systemic enforcement or proactive prevention. Nor can they replace a needed cultural shift within schools where an estimated 17 percent of students also experience school employee sexual misconduct before graduating high school.
Advocates are calling for a nationwide grassroots education effort supported by organizations and influencers that equips communities with the tools to demand safe and equitable schools. That includes amplifying youth voices—through zines, student journalism, and peer education—to educate students about their rights.
The new SSAIS Youth Safety and Equity Info-Zines #YouthInfoZines project invites students, advocates, organizations and communities to create and distribute accessible information based on specified nationally-vetted toolkits and factsheets.
Zines may be shared to the Youth Safety and Equity Info-Zines webpage for download and additional distribution. This ongoing open-call project motivates participants with recognition and prizes to support their advocacy. Organizations can join the Feminist Majority Foundation’s Girls Learn International, a project partner, to bring accessible information directly to students and allies.
