Tiffany Reese

It's only 37 words long, but those words were meant to guarantee that every student in the United States could access their education without discrimination based on sex.

Most people know Title IX because of sports, and while expanding athletic opportunities for women and girls was a major milestone, Title IX's protections reach far beyond athletics.

Over time, through guidance of the Department of Education and decades of advocacy from survivors, Title IX became the primary federal law requiring schools and programs that receive federal funding to address sexual harassment, sexual assault, intimate partner violence, stalking, and other forms of sex-based harm.

The idea is simple.

If a student experiences discrimination, sexual violence, or sexual harassment, and it affects their education, the school or federally funded program has a legal obligation to respond promptly, effectively, and in a way that ensures that everyone has equal access to educational opportunities.

But as many survivors know, the reality is often far more complicated.

It's been nearly 50 years since the passage of Title IX, the landmark civil rights law prohibiting sex-based discrimination at federally funded schools, including in athletic programs.

But violations still exist.

Schools often provide better opportunities and benefits for boys.

Devastatingly, sexual violence on college campuses is not rare.

According to Rain, female college students between the ages of 18 and 24 are three times more likely to experience sexual violence than women in general.

Rain also indicates that male students between the ages of 18 and 24 are, quote, 78% more likely than non-students of the same age to be a victim of rape or sexual assault, end quote.

Meanwhile, national research shows that about one in five undergraduate women will experience sexual assault during their college years and that, quote, college women in their first year have reportedly been at the highest risk for sexual assault compared to other college women after their first year, end quote.

That's why the first months of a student's freshman year of college is often referred to as the red zone.

Research cited by the American Psychological Association found that 50% of college sexual assaults occur during the red zone.

LGBTQIA students face even higher rates of harm.

Quote, students who identify as sexual minority men are nine times as likely to have experienced sexual assaults as heterosexual male students and students who identify as sexual minority women

are twice as likely as heterosexual female students to have been sexually assaulted."

And yet, more than 90% of students are estimated to never formally report their assault.

Survivors frequently describe feeling overwhelmed, confused, or afraid they won't be believed.