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  • The endless revelations of high-profile sexual harassment scandals (in politics, tech, media, Hollywood, etc.) are inescapable reminders of what people already know: sexual harassment in the workplace is endemic across industries of all types. Perpetrators and victims of workplace harassment include both men and women, however women are disproportionately targeted.
  • More than ten years ago, federal appellate judge Damon J. Keith cautioned that “[d]emocracies die behind closed doors.” This warning takes on renewed relevance in light of the current administration’s pervasive campaign to dismantle critical transparency measures. These measures include the collection of important data to identify and combat gender disparities in pay and lending.
  •  This morning, the U.S. Department of Education withdrew its 2011 guidance on responding to sexual violence in schools and replaced it with interim guidance that is less protective for survivors. It is especially troubling that this new guidance was issued just days after the Department of Education received thousands of comments urging it to uphold the 2011 guidance and its protections for student victims of sexual violence.
  • Sexual assault is prevalent in schools—both on college campuses and in K-12 schools. Here are 10 things that all students and parents should know as the school year begins:
  • Legal Momentum Tells CTV Your Morning How Shelters Can Prevent Sexual Violence in the Wake of Natural Disasters Legal Momentum Staff Attorney Caitlin McCartney-Gerber was invited to appear on CTV’s Your Morning news show on Thursday, September 14, to explain how shelters can prevent sexual violence in the wake of natural disasters.
  • Legal Momentum's Staff Attorney Caitlin McCartney-Gerber appeared on CTV's Your Morning show on Thursday, September 14, 2017, to talk about how shelters can prevent sexual violence in the wake of natural disasters."After a natural disaster, an evacuation centre can mean women and children are exposed to another danger: sexual violenceAfter Hurricane Katrina in 2005, dozens of women, and several men, reported sexual assaults at crowded evacuation sites and shelters. But at least one legal expert says much that can be done to prevent these attacks.
  • Legal Momentum was invited to contribute an op-ed to The Hill on the Internet safety Modernization Act.
  • Yesterday Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced that the Department of Education will commence a “notice and comment” process to formulate guidance regarding schools’ responsibilities in handling sexual harassment and sexual violence and made clear her intention to replace the Obama Administration-era 2011 guidance which has provided protection to sexual assault survivors and clarity for schools to respond to incidents of sexual harassment and violence. 
  • For women and children who are living through Hurricane Harvey, reaching a place of safety from the storm often means exposure to another danger: sexual violence. As Hurricanes Rita and Katrina demonstrated in 2005, natural disasters often create environments ripe for sexual exploitation, with many sexual assaults occurring at crowded evacuation sites and shelters.
  • On July 26th, the current administration launched two noteworthy attacks against the LGBTQ community. First, the President took to Twitter to announce that no transgender person will be allowed to serve in the military in any capacity. Second, in a combative and unconventional step, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed an unsolicited brief in a case before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals directly opposing the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The case, Zarda v.
  • Lynn Hecht Schafran, senior vice president of Legal Momentum, a women’s rights group in New York, argued that the problem is rooted in stereotypes and myths about sexual assault. She cited several famous quotes and reports, from 1904 to the present, which questioned the validity of women’s rape claims.

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