New US school sexual assault rules enforce rights of accused

WASHINGTON: The US Department of Education published new rules Wednesday which strengthen the rights of the accused in cases of sexual harassment or assault in schools and universities.

Under the changes, which were immediately slammed by victims groups, an accused person must be notified of the charges against him or her, may have recourse to a lawyer and has the right to a hearing to defend him or herself. "Too many students have lost access to their education because their school inadequately responded when a student filed a complaint of sexual harassment or sexual assault," education secretary Betsy DeVos said in a statement.

"This new regulation requires schools to act in meaningful ways to support survivors of sexual misconduct, without sacrificing important safeguards to ensure a fair and transparent process."

In 2011 and in 2014, after a rash of sexual harassment scandals in universities, the Obama administration provided schools with a series of recommendations for investigating the accusations.

Hailed by victims´ advocacy groups, the rules were nevertheless criticized by some legal experts who pointed to a certain inequity between the accused and the accuser.

DeVos said the system had failed and dismantled it. In November 2018, she presented a new set of rules, the final edited version of which was published Wednesday. The new regulations also lay out a method for cross-examining the accuser. This approach had previously been deemed too traumatizing for presumed victims.