Walking the Tightrope: Navigating Faculty Status as a Mandatory Reporter in the #MeToo Era

Abstract

One of the goals of the #MeToo movement is to elevate the voices of survivors. Course content related to sexual victimization often stresses the importance of understanding the experiences of victims of crime, and it is likely that such discussions result in student disclosures of sexual victimization to faculty. At the same time, institutions of higher education have created policies, such as making professors “mandatory reporters,” which require them to report disclosures to Title IX coordinators irrespective of a student’s desire to report. This essay will unpack the complicated nature of supporting survivors on campus in the #MeToo era: Where on the one hand, victims are encouraged to tell their story, but on the other hand, institutional policies may remove their agency if they do. As #MeToo has advanced our understanding of sexual victimization experiences, it should also help improve our policies responding to those empowered by the movement.

Keywords:

• Title IX
• sexual misconduct
• compelled disclosure
• supportive reporting

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 In some states, mandatory reporters may be criminally penalized if it is determined that they fail to make a report or make a false report (e.g., SB 212; Texas).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tara N. Richards

Dr. Tara N. Richards, is an Associate Professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) and a Faculty Affiliate of UNO’s Victimology and Victim Studies Research Lab (VVSRL). Her research focuses primarily on prevention, intervention, and system responses to sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and child abuse and neglect. Her recent work is featured in Journal of School Violence, Child Abuse & Neglect, and Justice Quarterly, and she is the co-editor of the book “Sexual victimization: Then and now.”

Kathryn A. Branch

Dr. Kathryn A. Branch is Assistant Dean of the College of Social Sciences, Mathematics, and Education and a Professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Tampa. Her research examines ways in which dating violence and sexual violence affects college populations and campus communities. Her research is featured in Feminist Criminology, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Violence & Victims, and Violence Against Women. She is especially interested in alternative methods for coping with trauma post crime victimization and is a 200hr Yoga Alliance certified yoga teacher and specializes in yoga nidra and trauma-informed yoga.

Gillian M. Pinchevsky

Gillian M. Pinchevsky is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 2013. Her research interests focus on criminal justice system, college, and community responses to domestic and sexual violence. Her research has been published in a number of refereed journals, including Crime and Delinquency, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Violence Against Women, and Trauma, Violence, & Abuse.

Brittany E. Hayes

Dr. Brittany E. Hayes (Ph.D., John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York) is an Assistant Professor in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati. Her research centers on victimization as well as how the broader social context influences individuals’ perceptions and behaviors. Her work has been published in American Sociological Review, Crime & Delinquency, and Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency.