More than a year after the rise of the #MeToo Movement, which uncovered the pervasiveness of sexual misconduct in American culture, University of Toledo officials held a public discussion to provide legal clarity to students and help them understand how the movement impacts students.
UT’s Catharine S. Eberly Center for Women on Tuesday hosted a talk titled “Law and the #MeToo Movement.” UT law professor Nicole Porter led the discussion.
During her 50-minute presentation, Ms. Porter emphasized the legal distinction between sexual harassment and sexual assault.
“The #MeToo Movement has been public and a lot of the media was talking about sexual harassment and sexual assault without understanding the legal definitions of those terms,” Ms. Porter said.
Sexual harassment is only actionable if it takes place in an employment or university setting, Ms. Porter said, adding that sexual harassment can be physical or verbal while sexual assault must be physical.
She also discussed upcoming changes to Title IX regulations.
In November, U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos officially unveiled her proposed Title IX regulations giving schools new instruction on how to address sexual misconduct.
The proposed regulations will supplant the now-rescinded Title IX guidance instituted by the Obama administration. The long-awaited regulations would strengthen the rights of accused assailants, allow complainants to be cross-examined, and make schools responsible for investigating incidents that occur on campus or during school-sponsored activities.
"It is our goal with this proposed rule to ensure that Title IX grievance proceedings become more transparent, consistent, and reliable in their processes and outcomes," Ms. DeVos said in a statement after her proposed regulations were released in November. "Far too many students have been forced to go to court to ensure their rights are protected because the Department has not set out legally binding rules that hold schools accountable for responding to allegations of sexual harassment in a supportive, fair manner.”
UT’s Interim Title IX Director Katrina Nottke said the university would enforce its current sexual misconduct policy while waiting for Ms. DeVos’ proposed regulations to be finalized.
“The guidance for students right now would be that we are using our current sexual misconduct policy and we’ll update our policy accordingly once the final regulations are released,” Ms. Nottke said.
First Published February 5, 2019, 11:33 p.m.
