Graduation Year
2022
Date of Submission
4-2022
Document Type
Campus Only Senior Thesis
Award
Best Senior Thesis in Philosophy
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Philosophy and Public Affairs
Reader 1
Brianna Toole
Abstract
This paper is an examination of the Title IX system and how and why it fails to reliably provide justice for victims of sexual assault and intimate partner violence (IPV). The first two chapters are devoted to providing the ideological context for understanding the claim that the law is shaped by white male interests, using arguments from John Rawls to describe the traditional view of justice then unpacking that view from a feminist epistemological perspective. Chapter Three is an explanation of the cultural context of sexual assault and IPV, including rape culture and victim blaming, that make these kinds of violence different from those the criminal justice system was designed to manage. Also in Chapter Three, I include an overview of the nature of sexual and assault and IPV and explain why these features make it inconsistent with standards of evidence in the criminal justice system at large. Finally, Chapter Four outlines Claremont McKenna College’s Title IX procedures, points out the flaws with this system, and suggests how these issues could possibly be remedied by adding a restorative justice option.
Recommended Citation
McGinnis, Caroline, "A "Reasonable" Evaluation of Title IX: How America’s Legal System is Shaped by Patriarchy and why it Fails Victims of Gendered Violence" (2022). CMC Senior Theses. 3017.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/3017
This thesis is restricted to the Claremont Colleges current faculty, students, and staff.
