Recently, 112 survivor advocacy groups sent a joint letter to Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly M. Richey condemning the department’s stance on transgender student rights and failure to properly address students’ sexual violence complaints under Title IX.
According to the letter, the DOE’s Office of Civil Rights resolved zero complaints of sexual harassment or violence in 2025 and has opened fewer than 10 sexual violence investigations since March 2025. From March to September 2025, 90 percent of OCR investigations resulted in dismissal.
“Instead of addressing actual discrimination, OCR has been preoccupied with using its limited resources to investigate over 50 schools for implementing trans-inclusive policies,” the authors wrote. “These are not competing obligations; these are choices.”
They continue, “We urge the Department of Education to immediately reverse course: (1) devote the necessary funding and staffing capacity for timely resolution of survivor complaints and other discrimination complaints; (2) end politicized investigations targeting inclusion and safety of transgender students; and (3) recommit to Title IX’s core promise of equal access to education for all students. Anything less represents a profound failure of public service leadership, and a monumental failure to protect women and girls.”
The letter was signed by the National Women’s Law Center, the American Association of University Women, End Rape on Campus, Equal Rights Advocates, It’s On Us, Know Your IX, the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, Stop Sexual Assault in Schools, Victim Rights Law Center, and Women’s Law Project, with endorsements from 102 other groups.