[ti:Dealing With Sexual Violence on Campus] [ar: Christopher Cruise] [al:Education Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English [00:02.74]Education Report. [00:04.45]Last week, we told you [00:06.89]about a call for American educators [00:09.53]to do more to protect students [00:12.47]from sexual violence on campus. [00:15.30]The government recently [00:17.20]sent a letter telling schools, [00:19.63]colleges and universities [00:21.93]that such violence is a form [00:24.89]of sex discrimination. [00:27.18]That means it violates [00:29.63]a nineteen seventy-two law [00:32.22]against discrimination [00:34.40]on the basis of sex [00:36.01]in education programs and activities. [00:39.69]The letter says schools [00:42.46]must take steps like making sure [00:45.84]victims know their rights [00:47.34]and are kept informed [00:49.48]about investigations. [00:51.13]Victims must also be protected [00:54.71]if the accused attacker [00:57.00]is still in school with them. [00:59.30]Russlyn Ali is the assistant [01:03.08]secretary for civil rights [01:05.12]at the Department of Education. [01:07.57]She and her staff wrote that letter. [01:10.80]RUSSLYN ALI: "Our sense of urgency [01:11.70]could not be greater, [01:13.20]and as I'm sure any parent [01:15.69]in America would say, [01:19.03]they don't want their child [01:20.58]to go to college [01:21.47]or school and have to [01:22.97]be worried about being raped. [01:24.21]And we are going to work [01:26.30]with officials to make sure [01:27.30]that doesn't happen." [01:28.39]One of those officials [01:30.23]is Mary Mayhew. [01:32.07]She leads efforts to prevent [01:34.08]sexual harassment and rape [01:36.33]at the University of New Hampshire. [01:39.22]That was where Vice President [01:41.66]Joe Biden and Education Secretary [01:44.20]Arne Duncan released [01:46.45]the guidance letter in April. [01:48.85]Ms. Mayhew says she believes [01:51.54]sexual violence on campuses [01:53.84]has actually decreased [01:56.03]over the past twenty years. [01:58.57]She says schools are getting better [02:00.94]at educating students [02:02.84]to understand the idea of consent [02:06.12]-- or, put more simply, [02:07.77]that no means no. [02:10.65]MARY MAYHEW: "Between nineteen [02:12.52]eighty-eight and two thousand [02:13.57]was when we really started [02:14.77]implementing education campaigns [02:16.57]about what consent is. [02:17.62]So we educated, you know, [02:19.96]the population and that did amount [02:23.29]to some degree of prevention." [02:24.98]Ms. Mayhew says the warning [02:27.32]from the government to pay [02:29.41]more attention to the problem [02:31.10]might lead more schools [02:33.29]to start or expand their programs. [02:36.58]At the same time, however, [02:39.27]it might also lead to an increase [02:42.30]in reports of sexual assaults. [02:44.60]Not necessarily because the problem [02:47.40]has gotten worse, she says, [02:49.59]but because more students [02:51.68]will know their rights [02:53.07]and be willing to report [02:55.83]attacks on campus. [02:58.07]Russlyn Ali [02:59.76]at the Education Department says [03:02.99]the government is ready [03:04.54]to take action against schools [03:06.19]that fail to protect their students. [03:09.37]RUSSLYN ALI: "Where there are violations, [03:11.92]and in the case where officials [03:14.41]are not willing to comply [03:16.97]with the nation's civil rights laws, [03:19.01]we will enforce the laws vigorously." [03:22.29]And that's the VOA Special English [03:26.64]Education Report. [03:28.39]If you missed last week's report, [03:31.09]or if you want to read [03:34.03]that nineteen-page letter, [03:35.67]go to 51voa.com. [03:40.32]And, while you're there, tell us [03:43.22]how schools and government officials [03:45.55]in your country deal with this issue. [03:47.70]You can also find us on Facebook [03:50.30]and Twitter at VOA Learning English. [03:54.28]I'm Christopher Cruise.