BUZZ
Will mostly use ‘impacted student’ now
Stanford University is moving away from the term “survivor” in reference to students who allege they were victims of sexual assault.
It will also drop “Sexual Harassment/Assault Response & Education” from its Title IX office and change the name to the “Title IX & Title VI Office,” according to the Stanford Daily.
“Survivor” is a favored term among advocates for alleged victims of sexual assault, though its use indicated a bias toward the accuser. The need to stay neutral prompted the change, officials told the student newspaper.
The student newspaper reported:
Patrick Dunkley, vice provost for Institutional Equity, Access and Community, wrote to The Daily that the term “survivor” will be used in “educational programming” but that investigations will use “neutral language like ‘impacted student’” to prevent biases from affecting cases. Additionally, he wrote that awareness programming will continue but that “decisions about where these programs will be housed long term will be made by the end of the academic year.”
The changes drew criticism from Pelagia Martin, who said she is a victim of sexual assault. Martin previously worked in the Title IX office.
Dunkley, the vice provost, also pushed back on criticism that the office is pulling out of “Take Back the Night” and other sexual assault programming.
“The Title IX & VI Office continues to refine its focus on supporting and educating our community on a range of harassment and discrimination experiences, and responding fairly and with care to reported violations,” he said.
An emerita law professor who has been critical of due process protections for accused students also criticized the changes.
Professor Michele Dauber said dropping the term “survivor” “has the effect of invalidating the reality that students and other members of the Stanford community have experienced. This is needlessly hurtful and serves no valid end.”
Dauber criticized Title IX changes under the Trump administration that pushed schools to use allow for cross-examination of accusers. She also led the successful recall effort of Judge Aaron Persky, who drew criticism for following the probation department’s recommendation in giving a six-month jail sentence, three-year probation, and lifetime sex offender designation to Brock Turner.
Turner, a Stanford student, was found guilty of sexually assaulting an unconscious female.
Following Persky’s recommendation, at least some judges in California responded to the backlash by imposing stricter sentences, which reportedly kept “racial disparities” intact.
