Just in time for back to school, Title IX Coordinators have one more item to add to their “to-do” list: updating their Title IX policies to reflect required definitions of certain sex offenses. Luckily, this is a relatively quick fix that may even slightly simplify your Title IX policies.

The requirement to adjust definitions comes from Title IX regulations,[1] which state that sexual harassment – which institutional policies should expressly prohibit under Title IX - includes “sexual assault” as it is defined in the Clery Act. The Clery Act, in turn, defines “sexual assault” as “an offense classified as a forcible or nonforcible sex offense” under the uniform crime reporting system (UCR) of the FBI.[2]

When the Title IX regulations were enacted in 2020, the UCR defined sexual offenses as including “rape,” “sodomy,” “sexual assault with an object,” and “fondling.” This summer, however, the FBI updated its UCR definitions such that the definition of “rape” is now broadened to include what was previously “sexual assault with an object” and “sodomy.” The FBI also eliminated “fondling” from the UCR, and replace it with “criminal sexual contact,” which is more broadly defined than was fondling.

Because the UCR has been updated, colleges and universities, as well as K-12 public schools should update their policies’ definitions of “rape,” and should replace “fondling” with “criminal sexual contact” as defined by the UCR updates. 

Footnotes

[1] See 34 CFR 106.30

[2] See 20 U.S.C. § 1092(6)(A)(v)