VOA慢速英语--美国教育部长推新规防止性侵犯

US Education Secretary Proposes New Rules on Sexual Misconduct

U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has proposed new guidelines on a law that protects against sexual violence in schools.

The plan, announced last week, would change earlier guidelines created during the administration of Barack Obama. The rules are meant to guide schools in carrying out a 1972 federal law called Title IX. Title IX bars discrimination based on sex at American colleges and universities, as well as at elementary and secondary schools.

Schools that receive federal money are required to offer a clear way for students and employees to report sexual assault. Title IX rules require that schools hold fair, open investigations². In addition, they must provide special medical services for victims.

Under the new rules, colleges would only be required to investigate accusations³ if reported incidents happened on school grounds or in other areas overseen⁴ by the school. Current rules require colleges to investigate all student complaints, no matter where they happened or how they were reported.

The new guidelines also include several changes sought by groups that support students accused of sexual wrongdoing. For example, one of the new guidelines would give accused students the chance to cross-examine their accusers.

The new rules also give both accusers and those accused equal rights to see evidence and launch appeals.

The Department of Education says the proposed changes are aimed at providing a fair process to both the accuser and the accused.

In a statement, Secretary DeVos said, “We can, and must, condemn⁵ sexual violence and punish those who perpetrate it, while ensuring a fair grievance⁶ process.”

Since 2011, schools have used a series of letters issued by the Obama administration as guidance for how to deal with sexual violence complaints. Schools that did not follow the guidelines could be subject to federal investigations and risk losing federal funding.

Victims’ rights groups had praised the Obama guidelines for helping⁷ to prevent schools from not taking sexual violence accusations and investigations seriously. Other groups argued the rules favored accusers too much. Some colleges criticized the guidelines for being complex and taking too long to carry out.

DeVos withdrew the 2011 Obama guidelines in September 2017. The newly released 150-page proposal aims to replace them. The new plan must go through a 60-day public comment process before it can be finalized⁸.

Legal experts say the new rules could greatly reduce the number of complaints that schools investigate. Saunie Schuster is a lawyer who has advised several colleges on sexual misconduct cases. She told the Associated Press the majority of incidents of sexual violence happen off school grounds. In such cases, schools would no longer be required to launch an investigation¹. However, schools could still decide to do so.

Other experts say the new plan is likely to reduce the level of Education Department actions against schools found to be violating Title IX. That is because the new guidelines include a stronger definition for sexual harassment⁹ that could make it more difficult to hold schools legally responsible for violations¹⁰.

Several groups and lawmakers have criticized the proposed new guidelines.

The American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU said it “strongly opposes” the proposed guidelines. In a tweet, the group said the rules would lead to an unfair process “favoring the accused.” It added that the guidelines would permit schools to “ignore their responsibility” under Title IX and “make schools less safe for survivors¹¹” of sexual abuse.

The head of the National Education Association, Lily Eskelsen García, wrote in statement that by approving the plan, DeVos had failed to carry out “the duty to protect all students.” García added that the proposed rule changes “would encourage schools to ignore students who ask for help.”

Virginia Representative Bobby Scott, the top Democrat¹² on the U.S. House Education and the Workforce¹³ Committee, urged DeVos to withdraw the proposal. He called the guidelines “a damaging setback” in efforts to fight sexual violence.

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, a Democrat from Connecticut, is expected to become the next chairwoman of the committee that proposes the budget for the Department of Education. She said in a statement that DeVos’ proposal fails to support survivors of sexual violence. “If she does not get this right in the final rule, Congress needs to step up to return the proper balance,” DeLauro said.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

And I'm Alice Bryant.

Words in This Story

misconduct – n. behavior or activity that is illegal or morally wrong?

complaint – n. statement that you are unhappy or not satisfied with something?

perpetrate – v. to carry out or commit

grievance – n. a complaint, often about unfair behavior

harassment – n. repeated attacks made against someone

encourage – v. tell or advise to do something

proper – adj. correct or suitable

1 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

2 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

3 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

4 overseen   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was overseen stealing the letters. 他被人撞见在偷信件。 来自辞典例句
• It will be overseen by ThomasLi, director of IBM China Research Laboratory. 该实验室由IBM中国研究院院长李实恭(ThomasLi)引导。 来自互联网

5 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

6 grievance   

n.怨愤，气恼，委屈

参考例句：

• He will not easily forget his grievance.他不会轻易忘掉他的委屈。
• He had been nursing a grievance against his boss for months.几个月来他对老板一直心怀不满。

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 finalized   

vt.完成（finalize的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The draft of this article has been finalized [done]. 这篇文章已经定稿。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The draft was revised several times before it was finalized. 稿子几经删改才定下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

10 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

11 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

12 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

13 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。