A seven-year investigation into Yale University’s sexual assault policy has resulted in a $165,000 fine for the prestigious university, which failed to accurately report the number of sexual crimes on campus. Underreporting rape cases is a violation of the Clery Act, which requires colleges to disclose those crime statistics to the U.S. government.

The U.S. Department of Education first began investigating Yale in 2004, when a Yale Alumni Magazine article brought the mishandled sexual assault cases to the attention of the community. The resulting investigation verified that the university failed to report four cases of sex offenses on its campus in 2001 and 2002. Over the past several years, Yale has worked with the Department of Education to improve its reporting policies — but federal officials maintain that those efforts don’t eliminate the seriousness of the university’s past failings, or the need for some kind of punishment. Yale is being fined $27,500 for each of the unreported crimes.

“This is a serious violation because current and prospective students/employees must be able to rely on accurate and complete crime information,” Mary Gust, the director of the Department of Educations’s Administrative Actions and Appeals Service Group, said in a letter to Yale. “Yale’s correction of the crime statistics only after the department alerted the university of its obligations in 2004 does not excuse its earlier failure to comply with its legal obligations.”

The situation on Yale’s campus mirrors similar issues at other universities across the country that are continuing to grapple with rape culture. Particularly at elite institutions, administrators are often accused of sweeping sexual assault under the rug in order to maintain their school’s prestigious reputation. Amherst College, Swarthmore College, Dartmouth College, and Harvard University are just a few of the universities that have made recent headlines for allegedly creating a hostile environment for survivors of sexual assault.

Some college activists are beginning to mobilize to push for change on their campuses, and there has been some gradual progress recently. But as Yale demonstrates, that change can be painfully slow. The university is only now being fined for violations that occurred over a decade ago — and since then, students brought forth another complaint in 2011, and the rate of sexual assaults on campus soared to “historic levels” this year.

The issue of sexual assault on college campuses has captured headlines over the past several months, as students and faculty on several college campuses have filed formal complaints with the U.S. Department of Education alleging that their universities’ administrations have underreported rape cases or mistreated rape victims. In response, a network of campus activists have taken advantage of the current momentum around rape culture to push for change.

Now, on campuses across the country, their work is beginning to have an impact. Change is slow, and there’s no guarantee that university administrations will make an immediate turnaround. But the following institutions are taking small steps in the right direction to ensure that students’ concerns are being heard and sexual crimes are being taken seriously:

University of Montana: After a yearlong federal investigation into the way that UM officials deal with sexual crimes, the university reached a settlement with the Department of Justice and the Department of Education last week. UM agreed to an overhaul of its sexual assault policies, which the administration will implement over the next two years. The federal government is hailing the UM settlement as a success story and hoping it can serve as a model for campuses across the country, although some campus activists are a bit more skeptical that it will bring about dramatic change. But it’s a start. In another encouraging sign for Montana students, the DOJ also reached a settlement with the Missoula Police Department this week, which will officially compel the local police force to stop mistreating survivors of sexual assault.

University of North Carolina: UNC is currently undergoing a federal investigation for mishandling rape cases on campus, and a new campus task force charged with resolving the issue is hoping to look to the University of Montana for guidance as it works to update its own protocol. The university formed a 22-member task force this week to review UNC’s sexual assault policies and look for areas of reform. Since the five women who filed the federal complaint against UNC alleged that the current sexual assault policy was too vague, perhaps partly because it was written by just a handful of select administrators, the task force will include student and faculty representatives.

Stanford University: At the beginning of this month, Stanford announced that the administration will partner with student groups to initiate a campus-wide campaign around issues of sexual assault and rape culture. The student activists who initiated the campaign explained that they hope it will help spark a broader conversation about preventing sexual assaults by teaching students more about consent. “The idea behind it was that there are conversations had about sexual assault on campus but there isn’t always space for discourse just about consent, or having a more positive constructive conversation about consent,” undergrad explained.

University of Notre Dame: Two years ago, the Department of Education investigated Notre Dame’s handling of sexual assault cases and recommended that the administration strengthen its policy for reporting and investigating these types of crimes on campus. Since then, the administration has worked to overhaul its system, and developed a student questionnaire to solicit more feedback about areas it can improve. At the end of last month, the results from that survey revealed that the majority of the student body understood how to navigate the new system for reporting sexual crimes, and 75 percent of students said they believed the administration handled rape cases “effectively and fairly.” Students did indicate that they want university officials to offer more education around consent.

The University of Maryland: This week, administrators at UMD agreed to explore a sexual assault awareness pilot program for all incoming freshmen, the first step toward implementing a proposal to require every incoming student to attend a mandatory workshop on the issue. Under the pilot, about 30 percent of next year’s incoming students would receive information about preventing sexual crimes. And earlier this month, the student senate voted to expand the university’s jurisdiction to address sexual violations — a move that could help ensure that rape victims whose assaults occur off campus can still access administrative resources.

Of course, that doesn’t mean the issue is anywhere close to resolved. Universities still have a long way to go to effectively eliminate the rape culture dynamics that often permeate their student disciplinary systems. A recent national survey conducted by the group Students Active For Ending Rape asked college students to grade their school’s sexual assault policies, and half of the respondents gave them a C or lower. A mere 9.8 percent of students gave their university an A for handling rape cases well.

On Friday afternoon, the Associated Press ran a story about a young woman in Washington state who alleges that her high school’s officials failed to protect her from a 16-year-old boy who raped her on school property, and even allowed the boy to remain in the same classroom with her after her guardian reported she was being harassed by him. The school continues to deny most of her claims, and she is seeking at least $400,000 in damages.

In its headline about the story, the AP chose to characterize the encounter — which took place in a bathroom at the high school — as “restroom sex”:

The AP story goes on to note that a police investigation didn’t determine whether or not the sexual contact was consensual. The girl didn’t want to press charges; instead, she requested a court order to maintain distance between her and her alleged attacker. Regardless of the conclusion of the police investigation, however, the AP’s headline is irresponsible. Describing the alleged assault as “restroom sex” implies that the encounter was consensual, and therefore frames the AP’s entire story as if the girl’s allegations aren’t true.

Using the terms “rape” and “sexual assault” to describe acts of non-consensual sexual violence is an incredibly important journalistic distinction — particularly in light of our society’s pervasive victim-blaming rape culture that often obscures the gravity of those crimes. Across the country, victims of sexual assault are being told that they’re not telling the truth, or they’re the ones at fault for the crimes perpetrated against them, because they somehow “asked for it.” Pretending that “rape” is interchangeable with “sex” is a subtle method of furthering this attitude — especially because rape is about power, not necessarily about sex.

This isn’t the first time that mainstream media outlets have been criticized for glossing over the crime of rape by failing to choose their words carefully. During the Penn State child abuse scandal, the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times were criticized for writing that Jerry Sandusky had “sex” with boys. And during the Steubenville rape case, prominent media outlets furthered rape culture by painting a sympathetic portrayal of the two perpetrators — focusing on their promising football careers and the devastation wrought by the guilty verdict — while emphasizing that the victim was drunk.

(HT: Jeff Emanuel)

When Amanda Knox was accused of murdering her roommate, Meredith Kercher, in 2007, the prosecution and the Italian media helped fuel baseless but titillating rumors that Knox was a sex fiend who killed Kercher for refusing to participate in an orgy. On Tuesday night, Chris Cuomo attempted to bully and shame the 25-year-old with his own theories about her sex life.

Cuomo peppered Knox with invasive questions about her sexual preferences, demanding to know if she was hiding “freaky sexual things”:

CUOMO: Were you into deviant sex? Insensitive question, but hey, we gotta get to what it is. This fuels the doubt. Were you into that kind of experimentation?

KNOX: No.

CUOMO: Did Meredith suspect you were into these types of things and created a barrier between the two of you?

KNOX: No.

CUOMO: And therefore you resented her because she was judging you? None of that?

KNOX: No. Absolutely not. There’s no evidence of that.

CUOMO: That’s the theory. Knox is into some freaky sexual things. She tried to pull in Meredith, who was a staid, buttoned-up Brit, she wasn’t into it, and it went wrong…That was in the discussion of the judges, yes?

KNOX: Absolutely. I was there in the courtroom when they were calling me things like “violent,” “whore,” and “deviant.” And it’s all untrue.

CUOMO: Where are they getting that from? Did you have any type of experimental activities that you’re embarrassed to talk about? That they know about?

KNOX: Well in the book I talk about all my sexual experiences, and I haven’t needed to talk about the details of that because they aren’t deviant. I wasn’t strapping on leather and bearing a whip. I’ve never done that.

CUOMO: No group activities?

KNOX: I’ve never taken part in an orgy, ever.

Watch it:

As Knox became more agitated and appeared to be on the verge of tears, Cuomo continued to insist that someone must have told the prosecution that Knox had a secret kinky sex life, even asserting, “you’re a freak!” Finally, she burst out:

They didn’t get it from me, and they didn’t get it from witnesses. It literally came from the prosecution. And this is what I’ve been up against this entire time. This fact that the prosecution was projecting onto what happened their own theories about young women and women who are…I was sexually active. I was not sexually deviant.

Cuomo’s attempt to use suggestions of sexual deviance to bully Knox follows in a long tradition of public entitlement to scrutinize and judge female sexuality. The recent string of highly publicized sexual assaults has exposed how the media weaves narratives in which “drunk party girls” get what they deserve. Meanwhile, comprehensive sex education is stifled in many conservative states lest children become too comfortable with their sexuality.

However, many women are starting to call out their bullies, from Anne Hathaway’s cold response to questions about a revealing photo to 17-year-old Katelyn Campbell’s protest of an abstinence assembly that told students their mothers would hate them if they used birth control. Most recently, kidnap and rape victim Elizabeth Smart spoke out about the culture of sexual purity that taught her she was worthless after her rape. And Knox, staying composed in response to Cuomo’s probing, firmly refused to equate sexuality with guilt in the public eye.

Last month, a New Jersey middle school banned girls from wearing strapless dresses to prom. Administrators claimed that the dresses were “distracting” — though they refused to specify exactly how or why. Parents reacted strongly to the rule; some supported the dress code while others deemed it “slut-shaming.” On Friday, the school compromised by allowing girls to wear single-strap or see-through-strap dresses.

This is no isolated incident in the United States. Across the country, young girls are being told what not to wear because it might be a “distraction” for boys, or because adults decide it makes them look “inappropriate.” At its core, every incident has a common thread: Putting the onus on young women to prevent from being ogled or objectified, instead of teaching those responsible to learn to respect a woman’s body. Here are five other recent examples:

1. A middle school in California banned tight pants. At the beginning of last month, a middle school in Northern California began telling girls to avoid wearing pants that are “too tight” because it “distracts the boys.” At a mandatory assembly for just the female students, the middle school girls were told that they’re no longer allowed to wear leggings or yoga pants. “We didn’t think it was fair how we have all these restrictions on our clothing while boys didn’t have to sit through [the assembly] at all,” one student told local press. Some parents also complained, leading the school’s assistant principal to record a voicemail explaining the new policy. “The guiding principle in all dress codes is that the manner in which students dress does not become a distraction in the learning environment,” the message said.

2. A high school principal in Minnesota emailed parents to ask them to cover up their daughters. A principal in Minnetonka, MN recently wrote an email telling parents to stop letting their daughters wear leggings or yoga pants to school. He says the tight-fitting pants are fine with longer shirts but, when worn with a shorter top, a girl’s “backside” can be “too closely defined.” The big risk of having a defined backside, he thinks, is that it can “be highly distracting for other students.”

3. Two girls in Ohio were turned away from their prom for being “improperly dressed.” Laneisha Williams and Nyasia Mitchell were barred from prom this spring for wearing dresses that administrators considered “too revealing.” The girls say that they didn’t believe they were violating a dress code that said dresses couldn’t be too short or show too much cleavage. But one administrator told local news that the high school girls were only allowed to wear dresses that had “no curvature of their breasts showing.”

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Over the past two months, the intensifying sexual violence in India has brought national attention to the country’s deeply-ingrained rape culture — an environment in which authority figures often blame victims for endangering themselves, many women don’t feel safe enough to leave their homes, and female tourists have stopped visiting. The ongoing outcry spurred some policymakers to action, inspiring India to strengthen its penalty for rape. But women’s health advocates, including the United Nations’ expert on issues of domestic violence, are disappointed that the country still isn’t doing enough.

Rashida Manjoo, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on violence against women, recently visited India to investigate the gender abuses occurring in the country. But at the end of her trip, she told reporters that India didn’t effectively capitalize on the “golden moment” that presented itself in recent months, and hasn’t taken the right steps to effectively address the root causes that reinforce rape culture:

India missed a golden opportunity to tackle violence against women, by enacting a law that toughens punishments against sex offenders but fails to address the root causes and consequences of gender abuse, a U.N. expert said Wednesday.

The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013, or “anti-rape law” was enacted last month, after the fatal December gang rape of a student sparked protests over the treatment of women in the largely patriarchal country. [...]

“While this legislative reform is to be commended, it is regrettable that the amendments do not fully reflect the recommendations [originally put forth by a committee],” Manjoo said.

“This development foreclosed the opportunity to establish a holistic and remedial framework which is underpinned by transformative norms and standards, including those relating to sexual and bodily integrity rights. Furthermore the approach adopted fails to address the structural and root causes of and consequences of violence against women.”

This is not the first time that the United Nations has expressed concern over India’s ongoing sexual violence. Earlier this year, a report from a UN-affiliated human rights group exposed the high rates of sexual crimes in the country, as well as the persistent issues with law enforcement that discourage women from reporting rapes. It’s estimated that two women are raped every 60 seconds in the country.

Over the past several weeks, intense protests have erupted in India after reports of several child rapes. After a 5-year-old girl was raped toward the end of April, India’s prime minister admitted that his country has “vast improvements to make” when it comes to “the safety, security and status of women in our society.” Just one week later, a 4-year-old was raped and died from the injuries she suffered during the sexual assault.

Over the past several months, students and faculty on several college campuses have filed federal complaints with the U.S. Department of Education, alleging that their universities’ administrations have perpetrated rape culture by mishandling sexual assault cases. But university officials don’t always take those allegations very well. A University of North Carolina student was threatened with expulsion after speaking up about her own rape and criticizing her school’s inadequate sexual assault policy. At Occidental College, sexual violence prevention advocates claim that the administration retaliated against them after they began pushing for better policies on campus.

Perhaps that’s why federal officials found it necessary to remind university administrators that they shouldn’t take any steps to punish the people who bring issues of discrimination to the school’s attention. In a “Dear Colleague” letter distributed to universities last week, the U.S. Department of Education reiterated that students who allege civil rights violations — including enacting inadequate sexual assault policies that create a hostile environment for survivors on campus, as well as failing to accurately report sexual assault cases to the federal government — shouldn’t be afraid to speak out.

“Discriminatory practices are often only raised and remedied when students, parents, teachers, coaches, and others can report such practices to school administrators without the fear of retaliation,” Seth M. Galanter, the acting assistant secretary for civil rights, wrote in the letter. “Individuals should be commended when they raise concerns about compliance with the federal civil rights laws, not punished for doing so.”

This does not represent a change from the federal government’s current policy, but rather a strong reminder for college administrations across the country. Galanter emphasized that the Department of Education will “vigorously enforce this prohibition against retaliation.”

Unfortunately, even when college students don’t go so far as to file a formal complaint with the U.S. government, they can still face serious backlash for speaking up against rape culture. Dartmouth College is currently threatening to discipline the students who disrupted campus activities last week to protest sexual assault. Elite colleges would often rather silence students and sweep issues of sexual assault under the rug in order to “keep up appearances.” The issue has reached a fever pitch recently, and campus activists have mobilized to demand change.

A group of Swarthmore students are filing a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education against their Philadelphia-area college, alleging the elite private institution has been mishandling the sexual crimes that occur on campus. The students say that Swarthmore has violated federal law by failing to accurately report sexual assault cases, as well as by creating a hostile environment on campus where victims are discouraged from coming forward.

Two sophomores at the college, Mia Ferguson and Hope Brinn, filed the complaint along with other testimonials from 10 of their fellow students. They allege that Swarthmore officials have failed to report sexual crimes, intimidated the students and staff who complained about the persistent underreporting, and discouraged some rape victims from going to local law enforcement or initiating formal judicial processes on campus. They say that’s a clear violation of the Clery Act, which stipulates that colleges and universities must disclose crime statistics to the federal government each year.

Based on the recent concerns that students have raised about the college’s sexual assault policies, Swarthmore president Rebecca Chopp announced earlier this month that the administration would launch an external review of its current process for dealing with sexual crimes. But Brinn told Swarthmore’s student newspaper, the Daily Gazette, that the formal complaint is still a necessary step for students to take.

“We have a huge history of not complying with the law, and I think that needs to be addressed,” Brinn said. “We have 12 individuals coming forward, which demonstrates clearly a systemic issue that needs to be addressed with policy changes.”

Particularly at elite institutions, sexual assault is often something that administrators would rather sweep under the rug — largely in order to preserve the college’s reputation and ensure that prospective students won’t be dissuaded from attending. That’s why college campuses across the country are currently grappling with addressing rape culture. Many have recently made headlines amid reports of administrators mishandling sexual assault cases, protecting rapists’ grades and reputations rather than delivering justice for their victims, and punishing students who speak out against inadequate sexual assault policies.

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