GET HELP: Title IX Reporting and Interpersonal Misconduct Policy

• Sexual assault is any conduct that would constitute a forcible or non-forcible sex offense under the uniform crime reporting system of the FBI (includes rape, sodomy, fondling, groping, forced kissing, or touching).
• Sexual violence is any sexual act committed against someone without that person’s freely given consent.
• Domestic violence includes acts of physical and/or psychological violence committed by one partner against another that takes place in any relationship. Examples of domestic violence relationships include husband/wife, brother/sister, nephew/aunt, boyfriend/girlfriend, longtime partners.
• Dating violence is a pattern of coercive and abusive tactics employed by one person to gain power and control over another person in an intimate or romantic relationship. It can take many forms, including physical violence, coercion, threats, intimidation, isolation, and emotional, sexual, or economic abuse.
• Stalking is a pattern of unwanted behavior, directed at a specific person, which causes that person to change their routine or feel afraid, nervous, or in danger. An ongoing act of violence includes unwanted contact through unwanted phone calls, texts, and online harassment that may or may not be threatening.
• Consent is a knowing, voluntary, and mutual decision among all participants to engage in sexual activity. Silence or lack of resistance, in and of itself, does not demonstrate consent. Consent does not vary based on a participant’s sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.
• Complicity is any act with the purpose of facilitating, encouraging, or promoting the commission of prohibited conduct by another person.
• Retaliation is intimidation, threats, coercion, or discrimination against an individual for making a good faith report of prohibited conduct or for assisting, as a witness or otherwise, with an investigation.
• Gender-based violence is directed against a person because of their gender. Both women and men experience gender-based violence, but the majority of victims are women and girls.

See the full Interpersonal Misconduct Policy.

Domestic Violence

• Intimate partner violence accounts for 15% of all violent crimes annually in the United States.
• More than one in three women and one in four men have experienced either physical violence, rape, or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime.
• Victims are commonly abused by those who are closest to them.
• Each day in the United States, over 20,000 calls are placed to domestic violence hotlines by individuals reporting incidents.
• Women who are victims of intimate partner violence are most likely to be between the ages of 18 to 24.

Source: Quick Facts about Domestic Violence in the United States, PlanStreet.

Dating Violence

• Over 71% of women and over 55% of men first experienced intimate partner violence (sexual or physical violence, and/or stalking) under the age of 25.
• One in four women first experienced intimate partner violence prior to the age of 18.
• Over 80% of women and over 70% of male rape victims experienced their first completed or attempted rape under the age of 25.

Source: Teen Dating Violence Prevention Resources for 2022, National Sexual Violence Resource Center.

Sexual Assault

• More than 50% of sexual assaults, including rape, are committed by a woman’s romantic partner.
• More than 40% of sexual assaults against women are committed by an acquaintance.
• Approximately 13% of rapes are committed by stranger to the victim.
• One in four gay men and one in three bisexual men will be the victim of rape or physical abuse by an intimate partner in their lifetime. Three in 10 men will experience this in their lifetime.
• One out of every six American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime (14.8% completed, 2.8% attempted).

Sources: Scope of the Problem: Statistics, RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network); Quick Facts about Domestic Violence in the United States, PlanStreet.

Stalking

• An estimated 13.5 million people are stalked in a one-year period in the United States.
• Nearly one in three women and one in six men have experienced stalking victimization at some point in their lifetime.
• More than half of all victims of stalking indicated that they were stalked before the age of 25, and nearly one in four were stalked before the age of 18.
• The vast majority of stalking victims are stalked by someone they know, including 40% by a current/former intimate partner, and 42% by an acquaintance.
• 69% of female and 80% of male stalking victims were threatened with physical harm.
• People aged 18-24 experience the highest rate of stalking victimization (among adults).

Source: Stalking Fact Sheet (PDF), SPARC (Stalking Prevention, Awareness, and Resource Center).

• Seek medical attention within 48 hours of the incident, whether or not the victim chooses to report the incident or press charges.
• Undergo an examination for DNA evidence. Do not change clothes or shower before the examination.
• Medical facilities have an obligation to inform law enforcement of any reports of rape or sexual assault, but it is the right of the victim whether or not to participate.

There are multiple ways to report incidents of interpersonal misconduct. The University of Lynchburg encourages all individuals to report interpersonal misconduct to the Title IX coordinator and, when such conduct might constitute a crime, to report such conduct to:

• Campus Safety and Security: 434.544.8100 (non-emergency)
• Emergencies should be reported immediately to Campus Safety and Security: 434.544.5555 or 911
• Lynchburg Police Department: 434.455.6050
• Responsible employees are required to report interpersonal misconduct to the Title IX coordinator.

Responsible employees are campus security authorities who are responsible for campus safety. These persons have authority to receive crime information. Included are such positions as community advisors, coaches, athletic directors, student housing, faculty and staff advisors to student groups, and campus police and security. The duty of the campus security authority is to listen when approached with crime information and to document and report it to the Title IX coordinator.

Although Spiritual Life Center counselors and professional counselors have significant responsibilities, they are not campus security authorities. Both provide confidential services and are exempted from the campus security authority role. However, if functioning in a role other than counselor, these responsible employees are obliged to report a crime under certain situations.

Non-emergency incidents may be reported to the Title IX coordinator by completing the form available here or by contacting the Title IX coordinator directly. Emergency incidents may include: medical emergencies, crimes committed by a victim/client (or the victim’s child), and situations where a victim brings civil or criminal claims against another client or the agency.

Inquiries or complaints involving potential Title IX policies or violations also may be directed to the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights: ocr@ed.gov, 800.421.3481.

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