Title IX the Federal Civil Rights Law of The United States of America. How Can This Benefit The American Feminist Foreign Policy?

 

What is Title IX?

 

Title IX is part of the Education Amendment of 1972 in the United States. This bill prevents the discrimination of gender in sports and schools which are government funded. This bill prohibits the act of sexual violence and misogyny. This bill gives equal opportunities for females to take part in male-dominated areas. However, this bill only occurs in government-funded sectors leaving private sectors that do not receive federal assistance to have a choice whether to follow or not. This leaves students vulnerable to the actions of their male counterparts if ever men make the decision of sexually harassing them. However a school to required to respond if ever sexual harassment is happening in school and off school if the school has control over the person being accused and the victim. 

(U.S Department of Education, Sex Discrimination: Overview of the Law, (July, 12,2022) https://www2.ed.gov/policy/rights/guid/ocr/sexoverview.html)

In this case, privately funded schools should be cautious and should give importance to this matter if ever this issue of assault occurs. This gives the victim injustice, and violates human rights and causes discrimination. As you can see, you can already see the unfair treatment of the law to its own citizens. In this case, students should also speak up if something happens to them. In this way, everything will be easily monitored and addressed. Speaking up is the only way to prevent these issues from happening and this is the only way to apprehend the person being accused of such crime. 

 

How is Title IX being applied to the athletic industry and scholarships?

 

Title IX gives female athletes get the same opportunities as male athletes in sports that are under government-funded educational institutions like the NCAA. The bill also sees to it that female athletes get to take part in male-dominated sports and have the same opportunities as their male counterparts.  Women are as strong as men and women can do the same training as men. This way of thinking should be normalized and should be talked about more often. The more we talk about gender equality then the more people will get educated and the more we can inspire people to create a change. It is upsetting to see that in our day and age, we still see communities treat women as weaker and vulnerable individuals. When  we have worked for years to get away from the stereotypes society placed on us, women. Relating this to scholarship grants, some scholarships promoting women’s empowerment have been canceled or put aside. For example, the award “Davis Scholarship '' at the University of California has been canceled because of its limitation to female students and female athletes. It was thought that it was sexist towards men because men were not included in the scholarship. The Davis Scholarship could have been a step forward in creating a positive change in our society today. But, since it was canceled for the “unfair” treatment of male opportunities, opportunities for women have been wasted.  I find this to be very unfair because for generations men have been more dominant and had more opportunities than women. We can still see the sexism and the misogyny our society brings to the table. 

According to this article

 

“Women’s scholarships, leadership programs, awards and even gym hours are being eliminated or canceled by universities because they discriminate against men. Complaints are being filed with the Department of Education (DOE) about programs and funding for women at universities across the country, and the DOE is taking action. One of the latest targets is the Marilyn C. Davis scholarship at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC).” (Forbes, “Women’s Scholarships and Awards Eliminated To Be Fair To Men”, (April, 13, 2022), https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimelsesser/2022/04/13/womens-scholarships-and-awards-eliminated-to-be-fair-to-men/?sh=1834c88e7fe2)

 

 Why is the American Feminist Foreign Policy struggling? What should be resolved?

 

“A coalition of more than 80 women’s rights and civil society organizations has released the first annual scorecard to track U.S. progress toward a feminist foreign policy. In their first year, the Biden-Harris administration has taken some key foundational steps and  earned a score of 50%. 

The Coalition for Feminist Foreign Policy in the United States has continued tracking the administration’s advancement of a feminist foreign policy following the first 100 days scorecard released in April 2021,as measured against the executive actions called for in the Coalition’s A Feminist Foreign Policy for the United States: A Memo to the Next Administration and Toward a Feminist Foreign Policy in the United States.”  (Women’s Refugee Commission, “ Biden-Harris Administration earns 50% on Feminist Foreign Policy 1 Year Scoreboard, (January,28,2022),http://www.womensrefugeecommission.org/press-releases/biden-harris-administration-earns-50-on-feminist-foreign-policy-1-year-scorecard/) 

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The coalition was used to track the administration’s establishment percentage on their progress in the feminist policy. They used this to analyze its policy recommendations, leadership, funding and sustainability. The Biden-Harris administration has managed to keep the 50% percentage of its policy recommendation against the pandemic, economic crisis and national and global challenges. Which did improve their approach little by little but unfortunately it was not enough to sustain such a policy. 

The changes implemented were not that strong and policy recommendations were not fully implemented because of the lack of funding for feminist organizations. The administration also were not able to implement successful policy changes, which caused the agenda to delay and feminist organizations to suffer. 

 

“Unfortunately, in terms of funding, the administration fell far short of commitments necessary to effectively and efficiently implement meaningful policy changes – implementing just two of eleven (14%) recommendations put forward by the Coalition.”

(Women’s Refugee Commission, “ Biden-Harris Administration earns 50% on Feminist Foreign Policy 1 Year Scoreboard, (January,28,2022),http://www.womensrefugeecommission.org/press-releases/biden-harris-administration-earns-50-on-feminist-foreign-policy-1-year-scorecard/) 

 

In order for the United States to be fully part of the feminist foreign policy, a shift in leadership strategy has to be implemented for the US to help lead this agenda locally and internationally. The administration should not just limit the leadership of its feminist foreign policy to a limited scope of gender-focused offices. The Biden-Harris administration should widen its approach on their leadership, resources and invest in more personnel to support this agenda so that the United States can become a global leader for gender equality. The administration should dig deeper into this situation and go towards action, to improve their feminist policy and to strengthen their approach to their human rights system. Relating this to the OCR enforcement, where the Office of Civil Rights lacks personnel to fully support female athletes and students in gaining justice if they are violated. This causes the agenda to weaken, especially since feminist values are not properly addressed internally. Relating this to the bill Title IX, 27% of female college students across the US are women’s empowerment activists. (Pew Research Center 61% of U.S. women say ‘feminist’ describes them well; many see feminism as empowering, polarizing, Amanda Barroso (July,7,2020), https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/07/07/61-of-u-s-women-say-feminist-describes-them-well-many-see-feminism-as-empowering-polarizing/) 

If the US does not improve on supporting feminist groups especially with the youth, the feminist foreign policy will be more of a challenge to implement. Since, the strategy also consists of empowerment and opportunities for more young female leaders to take leadership roles. In that case, the policies and resources of Bill Title IX need to be properly addressed and funded. 

This proves to show, The United States should first improve on their approach on taking action with these internal human rights organizations before they can expand internationally. A lot of improvement needs to be done in order to fully help lead this strategy. 

 

In my own analysis, the feminist policy in the United States is very individualistic. 

The US advocates about women’s empowerment through NGOs but not collectively as a government. The Biden-Harris administration has been improving their approach to this strategy but it isn’t as strong as other G7 nations. In this way, the feminist foreign policy will be a challenge to strengthen. As a government, the US should pay attention to this strategy more to further expand their growth into the feminist movement. Because in that way the United States can greatly influence other countries to do the same. Especially in developing countries , for example in West Asia where the US has the most power on influencing compared to other G7 nations. Another example, in Afghanistan women are being banned from attending University and in Iran where women are being killed for speaking up for their rights. Since the US has the most influence in addressing this issue because of the power the country has internationally, the feminist foreign policy will greatly strengthen. This will also strengthen the agenda of all the countries involved in the strategy as a whole. However, the American feminist policy will be a challenge to fully implement because there are loopholes in American law for an individual not to follow the bill Title IX and the strategy is not served as a priority in the agenda. For example, if the school or company is privately funded then the law does not apply to them. Feminism is not a political interest, but it does not mean that this agenda should not be considered. Investing in military, trade, investments and intelligence is good, yes,  but the US should also invest on the humanitarian side of things.  However, if we increase the amount of involvement then we will increase the number of voices. In that way, the US government will pay attention to this issue. We should continue collaborating with NGOs and speaking up about these issues in every opportunity we have.To bring the possibility of bringing more  people together to pay attention to these issues and slowly more opportunities for this agenda will occur. We should also create a safe space for victims to get medical help and to increase funds on organizations involving mental health. To give a safe place for victims  to share their experiences, to not only help them mentally but it will  also help address the issue of gender inequality. Because having more support on mental health awareness,  the easier it is to create productive leaders. In that way young women would not be distracted in trauma and mental health issues, which makes it easier for them to focus on their work and to be inspired to be empowered leaders. 

 

Notes

 

(Women’s Refugee Commission, “ Biden-Harris Administration earns 50% on Feminist Foreign Policy 1 Year Scoreboard, (January,28,2022),http://www.womensrefugeecommission.org/press-releases/biden-harris-administration-earns-50-on-feminist-foreign-policy-1-year-scorecard/) 

 

(Forbes, “Women’s Scholarships and Awards Eliminated To Be Fair To Men”, (April, 13, 2022), https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimelsesser/2022/04/13/womens-scholarships-and-awards-eliminated-to-be-fair-to-men/?sh=1834c88e7fe2)

 

(U.S Department of Education, Sex Discrimination: Overview of the Law, (July, 12,2022) https://www2.ed.gov/policy/rights/guid/ocr/sexoverview.html)

 

(Office of Credit Ratings, Staff Report On Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations, (2022), https://www.sec.gov/files/2022-ocr-staff-report.pdf)

 

(United States Institute of Peace, How to Advance a Feminist U.S. Foreign Policy, Shirley Graham, Ph.D.;  Megan E. Corrado, Esq.(March,8,2021),https://www.usip.org/publications/2021/03/how-advance-feminist-us-foreign-policy)

 

(Binnall Law Group, ARE PRIVATE COLLEGES SUBJECT TO TITLE IX? OUR EXPERIENCED TITLE 9 LAWYER EXPLAINS, (September, 24, 2021), https://www.binnall.com/insights-news/are-private-colleges-subject-to-title-ix-our-experienced-title-9-lawyer-explains/)

 

(Toward The Feminist Foreign Policy of The United States,Lyric Thompson of the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), Gayatri Patel of CARE, Gawain Kripke of Oxfam America and Megan O’Donnell of the Center for Global Development,(2020), https://www.icrw.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/ICRW_FFPUSA_2021.pdf)

 

(International Center for Research for Women, Feminist Foreign Policy in the US A Scorecard on the Biden-Harris Administration First Year, The Coalition for a Feminist Foreign Policy in the United States, (2022),https://www.icrw.org/publications/ffp-in-us-scorecard-on-biden-harris-administration-first-year)