Filed Under: Definitions
In defining sexual assault, does OCR intend recipients to use the terms forcible and non-forcible in policy language?
The 2020 Title IX regulations incorporated the statutory definition of sexual assault from the Clery Act through a cross-reference to that statute into the definition of “sexual harassment” under Title IX. 34 C.F.R. § 106.30(a). Instead of incorporating the statutory definition of sexual assault through a cross-reference to the Clery Act, the 2024 Title IX regulations include the relevant statutory language. The 2024 Title IX regulations do not make any substantive changes to the content of the definition of sexual assault that was incorporated to the 2020 Title IX regulations via a cross-reference to the Clery Act. See 87 FR 41418.
The preamble to the 2024 Title IX regulations notes that the definition of sexual assault in the 2024 Title IX regulations mirrors the Clery Act’s statutory definition of sexual assault. 89 FR 33519. The Department’s Clery Act regulations include a definition of sexual assault, which does not explicitly include the terms “forcible” and “nonforcible” from the statutory language. Nothing in the 2024 Title IX regulations prohibits a recipient from using the definition of sexual assault in the Department’s Clery Act regulations to define sexual assault under Title IX and for consistency recipients may find it useful to consult the definition in the Clery Act regulations.