The University of Southern California has become the latest university to come under the scrutiny of the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR). A group of thirteen students filed an official complaint with the government, alleging that the university failed to respond adequately to incidents of sexual violence on campus.
USC operates its own campus police force, and students have accuse the campus police of ignoring or inadequately responding to sex crimes against women.
The Huffington Post interviewed the lead complaintant in the case:
Reed… said USC dismissed her claim that her ex-boyfriend had raped her, despite her providing audio recordings of him admitting to it. At one point, Reed said, a USC official told her the goal was to offer an “educative” process, not to “punish” the assailant…
One student involved in the USC complaint, who asked to remain anonymous, said a DPS detective told her the campus police determined that no rape occurred in her case because her alleged assailant did not orgasm, and that therefore they had decided not to refer the case to the Los Angeles Police Department.
“Because he stopped, it was not rape,” she was told, according to the complaint. “Even though his penis penetrated your vagina, because he stopped, it was not a crime…”
However, USC title IX coordinator Jody Shipper responded by saying that the university “remains vigilant in addressing any issues promptly and fully as they arise.”
USC is the latest of several universities that have recently come under investigation by the OCR, including UNC Chapel Hill, Yale, and Swarthmore, for alleged mishandling of rape and sexual assault or sexual harassment cases on campus.
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