Olivia Troye - From Epstein to America's Campuses: Power Protects Power

Earlier this week, I chatted with former sex crimes prosecutor Dan Schorr to talk about Open Bar, his new novel based on real-world cases of abuse and cover-ups. We pulled back the curtain on how powerful institutions silence victims to protect themselves, and the people in power who make sure it stays that way.

Today, I want to take that conversation further. This isn’t fiction. It’s happening right now inside our federal government. Title IX enforcement, the system students turn to when their schools fail them, is being dismantled alongside other civil rights watchdogs. And the same kinds of networks that shielded Jeffrey Epstein are back in positions of power.

When the Watchdogs Disappear

In recent months, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has been gutted. Career investigators, the individuals responsible for enforcing Title IX in our schools, have been shown the door. The agency has lost roughly half its staff, and seven of its twelve regional civil rights enforcement offices in New York, Chicago, Boston, Dallas, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Cleveland have been shuttered. Thousands of discrimination cases are now in limbo, including those filed by sexual assault survivors, LGBTQ students, and students with disabilities. These weren’t political appointees. They were career civil servants, the watchdogs students relied on when their schools failed them to address sexual assault, harassment, retaliation, and other forms of discrimination.

When the University Investigates Itself

Title IX is a federal civil rights law that bars sex-based discrimination in schools, colleges, and other education programs that receive federal funding. That includes cases of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and, depending on the administration, protections for LGBTQ students.

https://www.livingitwitholiviatroye.com/p/from-epstein-to-americas-campuses