‘Protecting women': Education Department, DOJ partnering in Title IX Special Investigations Team
Amid a 'staggering volume' of Title IX complaints, the federal Education and Justice departments have launched a new team to address and resolve the complaints to 'protect students, and especially female athletes from the pernicious effects of gender ideology in school programs and activities,' officials said Friday.
The Title IX Special Investigations Team aims to streamline Title IX investigations by creating a specialized team of investigators from across the Education Department and Department of Justice offices, federal officials said.
'Protecting women and women's sports is a key priority for this Department of Justice,' Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. 'This collaborative effort with the Department of Education will enable our attorneys to take comprehensive action when women's sports or spaces are threatened and use the full power of the law to remedy any violation of women's civil rights.'
The Special Investigations unit 'will allow personnel to apply a rapid resolution investigation process to the increasing volume of Title IX cases' and also enable both the Education and Justice departments 'to work together to conduct investigations that are fully prepared for ultimate Justice Department enforcement,' officials said.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said the new investigations unit 'will benefit women and girls across this nation who have been subjected to discrimination and indignity in their educational activities.'
'From day one, the Trump Administration has prioritized enforcing Title IX to protect female students and athletes,' McMahon said. 'Traditionally, our Office for Civil Rights (OCR) takes months, even years, to complete Title IX investigations. OCR under this Administration has moved faster than it ever has, and the Title IX SIT will ensure even more rapid and consistent investigations.'
'To all the entities that continue to allow men to compete in women's sports and use women's intimate facilities: there's a new sheriff in town. We will not allow you to get away with denying women's civil rights any longer,' McMahon said.
The Title IX Special Investigations Team includes:
ED Office for Civil Rights investigators and attorneys
DOJ Civil Rights Division attorneys
ED Office of General Counsel attorneys
ED Student Privacy and Protection Office case workers and an FSA Enforcement investigator
The launch of the new Special Investigations team comes after President Donald Trump in February signed the executive order Keeping Men out of Women's Sports, which officials said articulates U.S. policy, consistent with Title IX, to protect female student athletes from having 'to compete with or against or having to appear unclothed before males.'
In January, the president signed the executive order Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism which states that 'The erasure of sex in language and policy has a corrosive impact not just on women but on the validity of the entire American system.'
Meanwhile, California lawmakers won't change state policies allowing transgender kids and teens to play on sports teams consistent with their gender identities amid heated nationwide debates over the participation of trans youth in athletics, the Associated Press reported.
Several female student athletes held signs during a hearing on Tuesday in Sacramento, California to consider bills to pass rules banning transgender student-athletes.
'Save Girls' Sports' and 'Will you protect me?' the signs read.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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