Title IX and Yellow Zone Behavior: An Introduction to the Special Issue

Abstract

Robust research focuses on the prevalence and consequences of gender-based violence (i.e., sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020) at institutions of higher education (IHEs) or sexual misconduct in university speak. More recently, scholars have turned their attention to examining the role of Title IX in addressing sexual misconduct and how IHEs’ policies and practices under Title IX do or do not serve complainants (i.e., alleged victims), respondents (i.e., alleged perpetrators), and the overall campus community. At IHEs, when an alleged incident of sexual misconduct is reported to a Title IX coordinator a common expectation is that (1) the report will result in a formal complaint of a policy violation and (2) be investigated by the Title IX coordinator; (3) that a hearing panel will then determine whether the respondent or respondents violated the IHE’s policy as outlined in the formal complaint, and (4) if a policy violation is found, sanctions will be levied against the responsible party or parties. In practice, however, most reported incidents of sexual misconduct do not result in a formal Title IX complaint and investigation, and many investigated incidents do not result in a finding of a policy violation or sanction (Rennison, 2018; Richards, 2019; Richards et al., 2021). For example, in 2018–2019, across 209 institutions of higher education in New York, only 769 (20%) of the 3829 incidents reported to a Title IX coordinator resulted in a formal complaint and investigation and 412 investigated cases resulted in a policy violation and sanction (Richards et al., 2021). This significant attrition of reported