Brittany Kurtz Source 5

A. Is the university actually qualified to deal with sexual assault?
B. Silbaugh, Katherine. "Reactive to Proactive: Title IX's Unrealized Capacity to Prevent Sexual Assault." EBSCO. Boston University Law Review, 1 May 2015. Web.

   
        This was by far one of the best texts I've ever read concerning this topic. The author looks at Title IX and its origins/functions and explores how to properly prevent- as opposed to simply treat after the fact- sexual assault on campus. Silbaugh explains that there are two available approaches to dealing with sexual violence: law-enforcement and public health. Herein lies the innate problem with the setup for Title IX. Because of its foundation and ties with the Department of Education, Title IX is forced to take a law-enforcement approach. That is, instead of working to prevent sexual violence from ever occurring, it focuses heavily on addressing acts which have already been committed. Even more dire, many colleges are not properly equipped for the role they are called upon to complete:  often those making decisions on the matter, despite levels of training and education, are not lawyers and are unfamiliar with legalities that surround a crime such as sexual assault.

        It is interesting that Title IX doesn't take on a public-health approach, as suggested in the text. After all-- we are talking about public universities. This final article plays nicely with questions I've brought up previously. Now, instead of asking what external factors in population contribute to campus sexual assault rates, I'm asking: is the university actually properly prepared to deal with this issue? After all, multiple issues have been brought up along the way. Inability to educate, prepare, and protect students have all been discussed. Perhaps the root problem is not in the details of how the university deals with it, but instead the actual nature of it. The university can't actually stop sexual assault from happening until it begins working completely and fully preventing the crime to the best of its abilities. No, the likelihood of extinguishing rape from society and college campus is very slim. But the university can do its role of establishing a safe environment by focusing on preventing sexual violence before it happens, instead of after.



-- because (public) colleges are public institutions, they innately think better in 'public health' terms and must be allowed to address sexual assault in that way