DNC Women’s Media Director Elizabeth Renda released the following statement on the new campus sexual misconduct rules Education Secretary Betsy DeVos plans to propose, which “would bolster the rights of students accused of assault, harassment or rape” and “lessen liability for institutions of higher education”:
“The proposed campus sexual misconduct policies from Betsy DeVos and her Department of Education are just the latest example of the Trump administration turning its back on women and victims of sexual assault. These proposed rules are a blatant and disturbing attack on every student who has experienced or could experience sexual assault or misconduct on a college campus, and they exemplify the misplaced priorities of DeVos and the Trump administration. Our government should be fighting to protect victims of sexual assault and hold their attackers accountable. Instead, under DeVos’s leadership, this administration is actively fighting to weaken protections for victims of the sexual assault epidemic that plagues campuses across the country. Democrats will never stop fighting against the Trump administration’s shameful attacks on women, victims of sexual assault, and our country’s values.”