Title IX

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities that receive Federal financial assistance.

Title IX applies, with a few specific exceptions, to all aspects of federally funded education programs or activities, including all of the operations of educational institutions that receive Federal financial assistance, as well as any education or training programs operated by any other recipient of Federal financial assistance.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Sex Discrimination: Overview of the Law

Sex-based harassment can take multiple forms. Harassers can be students, college staff, or even someone visiting the college or district, such as a student or employee from another college or district. Sexual harassment (including sexual violence) is a form of sex-based harassment.

Sexual harassment means conduct on the basis of sex that satisfies one or more of the following:

• Quid pro quo harassment – “this for that” sexual harassment:
  • A school employee conditioning the provision of a school-related aid, benefit, or service on an individual’s participation in unwelcome sexual conduct
• Hostile environment harassment:
  • Unwelcome conduct on the basis of sex that is so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person equal access to the school’s education program or activity. Such conduct can be carried out by school staff, a student, or another person
• Specific offenses:
  • Sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, or stalking as defined in the Violence Against Women Act

Harassment can be carried out by school staff, a student, or another person. It can occur in-person or online, including through email, texts or messages, apps, or other technologies. Depending upon facts and circumstances, some examples may include, but are not limited to:

• Unwelcome conduct on social media platforms, such as sexually demeaning or discriminatory slurs or threats of sexual violence
• Nonconsensual texting, posting, or otherwise sharing naked or intimate images of a person— whether real, altered, or created through artificial intelligence (AI) technologies
• Stalking using technology, including sending multiple unwanted text messages, creating fake social media accounts, or using apps to work around a blocked number

Title IX requires a school to address sexual harassment that occurs in its education program or activity in the United States. This includes, but is not limited to, conduct that:

• Occurs in locations, at events, or under circumstances in which the school exercised substantial control over both the alleged harasser and the context in which the sexual harassment occurs—including conduct that occurs off-campus under certain circumstances
• Occurs in a building owned or controlled by a student organization that is officially recognized by a college
• Occurs in school-related, off-campus settings such as field trips, online classes, and athletic programs
• Takes place via school-sponsored electronic devices, computers, and internet networks
• Takes place on digital platforms operated by, or used in the operations of, the school, including AI technologies

Source: U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, Online or Digital Sexual Harassment under the 2020 Title IX Regulations: A Resource for Students, Families, and Educators