This fall, a case out of Ithaca has forced a national reckoning. A former Cornell University student filed a civil lawsuit alleging that seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity, the oldest college fraternity in thecountry, drugged and sexually assaulted her for several hours at the chapter’s fraternity house. Prosecutors have since reopened their investigation. The accused men have generally denied the allegations and said the sexual activity was consensual.
The League of Women Voters of Berkeley, Albany, Emeryville (LWVBAE) takes no position on the guilt of any individual. That question belongs to due process. Two details in this case should trouble everyone. The student says she was never told the outcome of her own Title IX case. And reporting indicates that the police summary sent to the district attorney left out parts of her longer account. Whenever key testimony is condensed, filtered, and silenced before it reaches decision-makers, justice is compromised before it begins.
We write this letter because this is not an Ithaca issue, it’s a hyperlocal one as well. In 2021, hundreds of Oakland students led walkouts protesting sexual assault, harassment and to demand reforms. In 2023, Emery Unified and the criminal legal system took action after a former high school student filed a lawsuit alleging that a security guard groomed and sexually assaulted her. In Berkeley, students raised alarms in 2020 with rape culture protests, and young people have been continuing to lead on these issues. Their voices belong at the center of the conversation, particularly in an age when rape culture is proliferating on social media, enabled by dehumanizing AI-powered apps.
International human rights law already names what is at stake in cases where sexual violence has occurred. The UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women recognizes gender-based violence as a violation of human rights, not a private matter. And the Convention on the Rights of the Child affirms both a child’s right to protection from violence and a young person’s right to be heard on matters that affect them.
Additionally, we refuse a narrow reading of this moment. Sexual violence does not land evenly, and neither does accountability. Kimberlé Crenshaw’s work on intersectionality began with exactly this problem: Black women and poor women are least likely to be believed, least likely to see their cases pursued, and most likely to be failed by the systems that should protect them. The heaviness of this moment also stems from the fact that the full magnitude of the problem is not fully grasped, as there are so many cases that go unreported–whether that’s from the victim’s fear and/or shame, advice from those around them, or a lack of justice support and court evidence. Meanwhile, the criminal legal system has a long, documented record of wrongfully convicting Black men of sexual assault, even as wealthy and well-connected accused men are often shielded by lawyers, institutions, and what philosopher Kate Manne calls himpathy. A justice system that punishes by race and class instead of by conduct fails survivors and the accused alike.
So LWVBAE’s call is not simply for more punishment. It is for a system that deserves trust. We call for:
1. Transparency. Campuses and prosecutors in our region should publish sexual assault reporting, adjudication, and charging outcomes disaggregated by race and class.
2. Survivor rights in state law. As federal Title IX protections recede, California should guarantee survivors notice of outcomes, access to independent advocates, and real accountability for Greek and campus organizations.
3. Equitable forensic care. Every survivor in Alameda County should have timely access to a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) and toxicology testing for drug-facilitated assault, regardless of insurance, immigration status, or zip code.
4. Choice in justice. Survivors deserve a range of paths, including formal reporting, civil remedies, and community-based transformative justice, and the resources to pursue whichever they choose.
5. Prevention that starts early and is built with students. California already requires
comprehensive sexual health education, including affirmative consent, under the California Healthy Youth Act. We call on local school districts and colleges to go further: co-create curriculum with students themselves, that is updated as needed, to address current issues and concerns students have. Extend age-appropriate lessons on bodily autonomy and respect into the elementary years, directly engage boys and young men on dehumanization and masculinity, and make upstander training universal so that students know how to interrupt harm when they witness it and where to turn for support.
If You Need Support Now
• National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN): 1-800-656-4673, available 24/7, with online chat at rainn.org
• Bay Area Women Against Rape (BAWAR): 24-hour hotline at 510-845-7273. BAWAR is the nation’s oldest rape crisis center.
• Alameda County Family Justice Center, Oakland: advocacy, legal, and medical support under one roof
• UC Berkeley PATH to Care Center: confidential support for students, faculty, and staff
Get Involved
• Join the League and learn about our Health Justice Work, as we develop local policy recommendations at lwvbae.org.
• Show up at your school board. Ask how Healthy Youth Act instruction is delivered, whether students help shape it, and whether upstander training reaches every student.
• Train as a volunteer advocate with BAWAR.
• Ask your campus, whether UC Berkeley, Berkeley City College, or your child’s school, to publish disaggregated sexual violence data.
In solidarity and with resolve,
Co-Presidents Sharon Goldfarb & Kandea Mosley Gandhi
2530 San Pablo Avenue, Suite F ♦ Berkeley CA 94702-2000
Phone: (510) 843-8824
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: https://lwvbae.org/
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