Navigating the grey area

International college students’ knowledge and perceptions of Title IX

Authors

Keywords:

sexual harassment, sexual abuse, Title IX, college, university, reporting, international students

Abstract

International college students (ICS) in the United States (US) face challenges reporting and accessing services in cases of sexual harassment because they are not aware of the US laws that prohibit sexual violence. This lack of awareness along with cultural barriers may influence the odds of help-seeking among ICS in the US who experience sexual harassment. Minimal research to date has captured ICS’ knowledge and perceptions of Title IX regulations in the US which protects people from discrimination based on sex and gender in educational programs. Our study examined ICS’ knowledge and perceptions of Title IX through in-depth discussions with 13 ICS at a US university. Overall, ICS were not well-informed about Title IX and encouraged colleges to unpack the legal nature of Title IX for ICS who may not have encountered something similar to Title IX as it is “uniquely American.” Practical implications for improving campus resources are discussed.

Author Biographies

  • Lindsay Smith, George Mason University

    Lindsay Smith, MA, is a Research Associate in the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University in The United States. Her major research interests lie in the areas of gender and corrections with an emphasis on reintegration success, gender-based violence, and sexual victimization. Email: lsmith67@gmu.edu

  • Pallie Swartz, George Mason University

    Pallie Swartz, MA, JD, completed her master’s degree in Criminology, Law and Society at George Mason University in The United States. She also completed her law degree at the University of Missouri – Kansas City in the United States. She plans to practice family law, focusing on domestic and sexual violence, education, and disability law.

  • Yasemin Irvin-Erickson, George Mason University

    Yasemin Irvin-Erickson, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society at George Mason University in The United States. Her major research interests lie in the areas of victimization and violence.

Downloads

Published

2024-06-26

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 4 (2024): Fall Edition- Journal of International Students

Section

Research Articles (English)

Categories

License

Copyright (c) 2024 Journal of International Students

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

All published articles are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 Unported License.

How to Cite

Navigating the grey area: International college students’ knowledge and perceptions of Title IX. (2024). Journal of International Students, 14(4), 606-623. https://www.ojed.org/jis/article/view/6635