Sexual Assault Accusers Can Be Sued for Defamation. This Will Discourage Survivors from Coming Forward.
(and the FUCKING PATRIARCHAL WAR ON WOMEN continues apace)
(lengthy, disheartening read)
Sexual Assault Accusers Can Be Sued for Defamation. This Will Discourage Survivors from Coming Forward.
11/29/2023 by Michelle Onello
A ruling allowing a student accused of sexual assault to sue his accuser could impact how schools conduct future Title IX proceedings.
A group of Pace University students hold a rally against sexual violence after walking out of their classes on April 19, 2018, in New York City. The action was organized by the student group ‘PaceUEndRape,’ which aims to promote a safe campus environment for all students. (Drew Angerer / Getty Images)
The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has allowed Saifullah Kahn, a student accused of sexual assault, to sue his accuser for defamation, relying on a Connecticut Supreme Court opinion finding that the accuser was not entitled to absolute immunity for statements she made during a Title IX proceeding. This decision will have a chilling effect on sexual assault survivors’ willingness to come forward, as they are now vulnerable to defamation and other civil suits, which are increasingly used to silence and intimidate victims. But the ruling also could impact how schools conduct future Title IX proceedings, and influence proposed new Title IX regulations, which the Biden administration has been working on since 2020.
The Khan Case
Whether the defamation case in Saifullah Khan v. Yale et al. could move forward turned on whether the proceedings conducted at Yale University were in accordance with Title IX—a federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in education programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance, qualified as “quasi-judicial.” The case stemmed from a 2015 sexual assault complaint against Khan. Khan was found not guilty in a criminal trial, during which his lawyer cross-examined the accuser, identified by law only as Jane Doe, ******challenging her about her skimpy dress and excessive alcohol consumption******.
Yale’s University-Wide Committee on Sexual Misconduct undertook a Title IX review of the incident in 2018 after other allegations emerged against Khan and before the Trump administration issued the current federal Title IX regulations. The Yale Committee’s investigation followed Obama-era guidance, allowing the accuser to give a statement via teleconference and not subjecting her to cross-examination. Khan was expelled in January 2019 after the panel found that a preponderance of the evidence supported the accuser’s claim, a lesser standard than the criminal “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard of guilt.
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Attorney Wendy Murphy, center, and a group of other women protest the Trump administration’s rollback of sexual assault rules in Title IX outside of Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston on Oct. 19, 2017. Earlier that day, activists had filed the nation’s first lawsuit against Betsy DeVos and the Department of Education for the change. (Jessica Rinaldi / The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
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Biden Administration’s New Title IX Rules
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New rules will not help Jane Doe, who now must spend the time, capital and mental energy to defend herself in court. She will also lose her anonymity, as Khan has pledged to continue with the case and expose her identity. Sexual assault survivors, who already experience educational disruptions and financial impacts from speaking out, will now have to calculate whether telling their stories is worth being exposed to these harms, public censure and possible lawsuits. Educational institutions and the Biden administration must also consider the Khan ruling to determine what Title IX rules should apply moving forward.
https://msmagazine.com/2023/11/29/sexual-assault-sue-defamation-college-title-ix/