DES PLAINES, Ill. – State Rep. Marty Moylan, D-Des Plaines, is standing against changes to Title IX proposed by the U.S. Department of Education that would make it harder for survivors of sexual violence to report the crime to authorities.
“This action by the U.S. Department of Education to cut back on protections for survivors is wrong,” Moylan said. “With the prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses, we should be encouraging survivors to come forward with their stories, not discouraging them.”
Moylan is standing with survivor advocates who believe the proposed changes to Title IX would prevent survivors from being able to speak out, let alone receive justice. One of the proposed changes would require the survivor to be cross-examined by the accused, exposing the survivor to intimidation and emotional trauma. Another proposed change would raise the threshold for the burden of proof to show a violation of student conduct code occurred.
“Survivors need to be able to speak out about the violence they experienced,” Moylan said. “If these changes move forward, we need to work on the state level to ensure survivors are protected from further trauma. No one who experiences a violent crime should be afraid to speak out.”
