Discussion List for campus-based and allied personnel working to end gender-based violence on campus.

[Brett Sokolow <>]

I don’t want to draw more attention than this is worth, so just a quick comment on this recent article in which I was quoted:

http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/america-tonight/articles/2014/4/17/nonconsensual-sexwhenrapeisreworded.html

There is an error in the article that was entirely Al Jazeera’s.  I gave an interview about the term “sexual misconduct.”  I have no idea why the reporter used the term “nonconsensual sex,” but that is not a term we use or endorse.  I assume others interviewed used that term, but I did not.  My point in advancing the term sexual misconduct for campus policy is based on THE FACT that colleges have no authority to determine that a crime of rape or sexual assault occurred.  In fact, we police behaviors more widely on campuses than criminal laws would, which I think is a good thing.  So, rape really isn’t rape, the way we define it on our campuses.  That’s also a good thing, considering how narrowly criminal law defines rape.  I also think rape, sexual assault, sexual violence and other accurate terms should be used in all victim services and literature, so as not to minimize a victim’s experience, just not as the name of a policy, again because colleges lack legal authority to determine if a crime occurred.  I told the reporter that, but it was left out.  

Feel free to direct questions or comments personally if you prefer not to use the list.  

Regards,
Brett A. Sokolow
Brett A. Sokolow, Esq.
Attorney-at-Law

President & CEO, The NCHERM Group LLC

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Executive Director, The Association of Title IX Administrators 

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