Why Are Sexual Harassment Claims Increasing at Texas Colleges?

Feb 20, 2017 @ 12:50 PM — by Dan Atkerson

Tagged with: Harassment Sexualharassment

Reportedly, since 2013, there has been a 618 percent increase in sexual harassment claims at Texas Tech University. Per a report in the Amarillo Globe-News, the harassment has come in the form of Title IX violations. Title IX is a federal civil rights law that includes regulations to prohibit sex-based discrimination at education facilities.

According to the Amarillo Globe-News article, one possible theory for the over 600 percent increase is that there is more awareness about Title IX than ever before. Therefore, it is not that incidents such as stalking, sexual harassment, nonconsensual sexual contact and sexual assault have not been happening on college campuses, but that victims and their families now know their rights and are taking advantage of their legal rights under Title IX to fight back.

How Can Filing a Sexual Harassment Claim Help Victims and Families?

As this story points out, sexual harassment is still a big problem at many institutions in our country. Therefore, victims need a way to fight back and bring those who hurt them to justice. Sexual harassment claims enable victims to hold their abusers accountable financially for the pain and suffering they caused them. In addition, these claims shine a spotlight on the culture that allowed the harassment to happen in the first place.

Sexual harassment lawsuits help lead to changes like Title IX and can enable victims to prevent what happened to them from happening to others in the future. For victims, knowing what options they have for fighting back is crucial. Therefore, even if they just suspect that they could have a sexual harassment claim, they should speak to an experienced attorney about their situation. A lawyer can answer their questions, explain their rights, tell them whether they have a valid case and advise them on the best way to proceed going forward.

Dan A. Atkerson is a Dallas employment lawyer who handles issues such as sexual harassment, gender discrimination and other forms of workplace injustice.