Trauma Violence Abuse-2014-Koss-242-57
Miranda Guardiola
This article covers various important topics. First, it defines what sexual violence and sexual harassment are as it relates to the Dear Colleague Letter. Second, it discusses what the Dear Colleague Letter says about alternative resolutions, differentiating mediation from restorative justice. Third, it describes different pathways, including not only restorative, but also traditional justice pathways. Finally, this article talks about support for change, beginning with campus response.
This study found that the Dear Colleague Letter lays out many procedures regarding how to resolve sexual assault cases. Under the DCL, higher education institutions are required to address at least forty-two types of sexual behavior with efforts to eliminate sexual misconduct, prevent future occurrences, and resolving the effects of sexual misconduct. The DCL requires an investigative and judicial response (quasi-criminal) to all sexual misconduct, but the authors argue that this approach is too narrow to desired outcomes. they also find that the DCL allows the use of restorative justice to address sexual misconduct cases in various ways. It can be used as “a resolution process, as a victim impact process, sanctioning process, and as a reintegration process.”
Lastly, this article argues that when restorative justice procedures are utilized properly, everyone benefits, including the “victim survivors, institutions, the Office for Civil Rights, and student conduct professionals.”