CAMBRIDGE, Mass. —The Department of Education’s civil rights division has launched an investigation of Harvard Law School after a lawyer filed a complaint stating that the college’s policies on sexual assault do not meet the requirements of Title IX.
Wendy J. Murphy, a faculty member at the New England School of Law, said that she was hired by Harvard Law to work on a Title IX issue, the Boston Globe reports. She found that three of the school’s policies did not meet federal guidelines.
Related Article: How to Comply With the Dept. of Ed’s Title IX Sexual Violence Guidance
Murphy alleges that Harvard Law officials wait to investigate sexual assault claims until after police and prosecutors have finished investigating. This, she said, leaves students vulnerable to retaliation from their attackers – sometimes for the entire length of their time at the school.
An official from Harvard Law said the law school pays for an attorney chosen by each alleged victim to represent him or her during the disciplinary process. The school defended its handling of complaints in a statement issued April 24.
The civil rights division could issue its findings by June, according to Murphy.
Related Articles:
- How to Comply With the Dept. of Ed’s Title IX Sexual Violence Guidance
- Campus Sexual Assaults: How Community Policing Can Make a Difference
- Justice Department: Title IX Applies to Gender Expression
- Obama Administration Warns Schools to Follow Sex Crime Protocol
- Students Allege Yale Univ. Failed to Investigate Sex Crimes
- Notre Dame Under Fire For Delayed Sexual Assault Investigations
