Title: Protecting College Athletes from Sexual Harassment and Violence

Description: Several high-profile cases at multiple colleges have raised
concerns about how schools are protecting student athletes from sexual
harassment and violence. In a new report, we looked at some of the
barriers athletes faced when reporting sexual harassment and violence;
and how colleges, athletic programs, and the Department of Education
responds to these incidents. GAO's Kathy Larin tells us more.

Related work: GAO-24-106641, Sexual Harassment and Violence: Efforts to
Help College Athletes 

Released: June 2024

{Music:}

[Kathy Larin:] Sexual harassment and violence can ruin athletic careers
and it can adversely affect the educational outcomes of student
athletes.

[Holly Hobbs:] Hi and welcome to GAO's Watchdog Report. Your source for
fact-based, nonpartisan news and information from the U.S. Government
Accountability Office. I'm your host, Holly Hobbs. 

Several high-profile cases at multiple colleges have raised concerns
about how schools are protecting student athletes from sexual harassment
and violence. Some of these cases involve hundreds of student
athletes--women and men across sports, such as football, gymnastics, and
wrestling. And their assailants were often people they normally would
trust, coaches, team doctors or their fellow athletes. In a new report,
we looked at some of the barriers athletes faced when reporting sexual
harassment and violence and how colleges, athletic programs, and the
Department of Education responds to these incidents. Here to tell us
more is GAO's Kathy Larin, who led work for our new report, a Q&A.
Thanks for joining us.

[Kathy Larin:] Thanks for having me, Holly.

[Holly Hobbs:] Kathy, it seems like we're hearing a lot more about
incidents of sexual harassment or violence at colleges. Is there
something about sports or about that setting that may make students
particularly vulnerable?

[Kathy Larin:] You know, we don't actually know whether athletes at
colleges are more likely to be victims of sexual harassment or violence
than other students. The research is really mixed, but we had the
opportunity in this study to go to ten different colleges in four
different states. And what we heard when we talked to administrators and
students is that there is something about sports culture that could make
athletes more vulnerable. What we heard is that athletes often, they
live together, they study together, they play together, they socialize
together. It's a tight knit community. And that can provide protection,
but it can also make athletes reluctant to report incidents of sexual
harassment and violence if they experience it. So, in answer to your
question, there are a lot of reasons why athletes might be more
susceptible to sexual violence and harassment.

[Holly Hobbs:] So what can a student athlete do if something happens to
them or if they see something happen?

[Kathy Larin:] So every college that receives federal funds is required
to have a coordinator--often called the Title IX (9) coordinator--who
takes reports of sexual harassment and violence. Colleges we talked to
said they had multiple ways for students to report. Some of those are
anonymous via hotline or email. But athletes may not always feel like
they can come forward. We identified three different types of barriers.
First is fears of social repercussions. Being ostracized by their team.
Fear of athletic impacts is another big barrier. Athletes are afraid
that they'll get less playing time or that their scholarships might be
jeopardized. And then finally, there's a lot of mistrust of the
reporting system itself. For example, if you're an LGBTQ+ athlete, you
might fear being outed against your will as part of the process. 
Athletes we spoke to talked about not wanting to be seen as a snitch,
not wanting to be as the person this happened to, and they felt they
might be left out of leadership opportunities. They also talked about
the perpetrator being on their team or a friend. They worried about a
lot of different things that could impact their ability to report.

[Holly Hobbs:] What are the colleges doing about this? How are they
helping student athletes?

[Kathy Larin:] Colleges talk to us about a number of steps they're
taking to make it easier to report. For example, they talked about
adding additional ways to make anonymous reports. Consolidating
resources under the Title IX (9) coordinator. And they also talked about
removing some of the health and wellness functions from the athletic
department so that there is more confidentiality for the athletes.

[Holly Hobbs:] So far, we've kind of talked about the athlete side of
it, but what about the staff and leadership of these programs?

[Kathy Larin:] Leadership is really critical. One of the important
things that colleges talk to us about is the importance of providing
training and making sure that not only athletes but also staff are
trained on policies, on how to recognize sexual harassment, how to
intervene as a bystander. And a commitment on the part of the college
leadership to these kinds of efforts is really important. The other
thing I wanted to mention is the grievance process itself. It can be
really retraumatizing for anyone to go through the grievance process,
which includes having a hearing, an investigation, a resolution process,
and making sure that students have supports--that they're really
supported through that process is going to be critical. And that's where
leadership comes in.

{MUSIC}

[Holly Hobbs:] So Kathy just told us that the very comradery that
defines good college athletic programs may also cause students to be
less willing to report sexual harassment and violence. And that colleges
are taking steps to make it easier for students to report and for staff
to recognize these issues. So, Kathy, what's the Department of
Education's role with all of this?

[Kathy Larin:] So the Department of Education has two real roles. First,
it sets requirements for how colleges have to respond to reports of
sexual harassment and violence under the Title IX (9) law. In fact, the
Department of Education recently issued new requirements that will go
into effect this August. But it also is responsible for ensuring that
colleges comply with those laws. So with regard to the compliance piece,
Education's Office for Civil Rights mainly does this by investigating
complaints. For example, someone might submit a complaint that a college
was indifferent when they reported sexual harassment. And they were
denied equitable access to education. Education, they receive all kinds
of complaints about various types of discrimination, and our analysis
found that over a 10-year period, about 9% of the complaints dealt with
sexual harassment and violence.

[Holly Hobbs:] Do we know how the Department of Education has handled
these complaints so far?

[Kathy Larin:] Yeah. So, Education's Office of Civil Rights investigates
the complaints. And if they find a violation, they have to work with the
college to resolve it. What they might ask the college to do is really
specific to the complaint itself. So, it can vary. It can be make a
change in their policies, reimburse the student for tuition. But in
another report, we found that there are often really lengthy delays in
how the Office of Civil Rights handles complaints, similar to what we
also found. That report included recommendations around improving the
timeliness of the Office of Civil Rights efforts to monitor the
resolution and agreements and to make sure colleges are following
through and doing what they're required to do as part of the law. 

[Holly Hobbs:] Last question. What's the bottom line of this report?

[Kathy Larin:] So the bottom line is that sexual harassment and violence
can inflict lifelong trauma. It can ruin athletic careers. It can
adversely affect educational outcomes. And the prioritization and
capacity of colleges to address this really varies. But thanks to some
very high-profile cases, there's really been a cultural shift in
awareness around this issue. And colleges have stepped up their efforts
to respond. But this can happen to anyone among any gender, any sport,
any athlete. So, the focus on this issue really is critical.

[Holly Hobbs:] That was Kathy Larin talking about GAO's new report on
sexual harassment and violence in college athletics. Thanks for your
time, Kathy.

[Kathy Larin:] Thanks for having me, Holly.

[Holly Hobbs:] And thank you for listening to the Watchdog Report. To
hear more podcasts, subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or
wherever you listen. And make sure to leave a rating and review to let
others know about the work we're doing. For more from the congressional
watchdog, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, visit us at
GAO.gov.