Sexual Violence and Title IX: An Examination of the Nature and Outcomes of Title IX Sexual Violence Complainants

Sexual violence on college campus is a salient threat to the health and well-being of students in higher education. Title IX legislation was developed to address and help reduce sex-based discrimination, including incidences of sexual violence, on college campuses. However, existing data suggests that a relatively small number of campus survivors make a formal report and subsequently have an interaction with the Title IX Office (Cantor et al., 2015). Additionally, little is known about the implementation of Title IX processes, the nature of Title IX sexual violence reports, or the outcomes of survivors involved in Title IX reports. The current study adds to our understanding of these survivors’ experiences. Specifically, the study utilized archival Title IX report data obtained from one large public university during the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 academic years (n = 151) to explore the nature and scope of Title IX sexual violence reports and the academic health outcomes of survivors post-report. The study utilized data extracted from Title IX sexual violence reports to describe the characteristics of Complainants (i.e., survivors), Respondents (i.e., perpetrators), incident characteristics, reporting processes, and characteristics of cases involved in formal university hearings. The study also utilized aggregated data from the Title IX sexual violence reports in conjunction with data obtained from UNC Charlotte Maxient system, which contains student GPA and enrollment status, to examine the academic health of survivors over time. Complainants predominantly identified as Caucasian (65%) and female (93%). Respondents predominantly identified as Caucasian (42%) and male (99%). Complainants most often identified Respondents as friends (16%), ex romantic partners (16%), or acquaintances (14%). Only 11% of Respondents were identified as strangers. Complainants were most often referred to the Title IX Office by mandated reporters (87%). Over half of the Complainants (62%) engaged with Title IX staff following initial outreach. Many cases had incomplete academic data (no pre-report or post-report semester GPA). However, in the sample with three GPA time points (n = 57 survivors), academic outcomes over time were not significantly associated with Respondent’s affiliation to the university, source of referral to the Title IX Office, engagement in the reporting process, or involvement in a formal university hearing. Seventeen percent (n = 25) of Complaints dropped out of the university. However, Complainant engagement with the Title IX Office was not significantly associated with dropout. These findings increase our understanding of the Title IX process and the experiences of campus sexual assault survivors who are involved with the Title IX Office.