LANSING, Mich. — Rachael Denhollander was the first woman to publicly accuse Larry Nassar of sexual abuse.
On Wednesday she says she's disappointed in the U.S Department of Education's new rules.
The new policy adds a new measure to make sure students accused of sexual misconduct are judged fairly in campus disciplinary hearings.
Denhollander says these new Title IX regulations strip the rights of the survivors.
"It leaves survivors dramatically unprotected. It also puts provisions back in a place where survivors are subjected to live cross-examinations by their rapist, which is (an) incredibly traumatic position to put a survivor in and it puts in mediation type system where survivors are encouraged to essentially work it out with their rapist rather than viewing this as a crime. It's viewed like an interpersonal dispute and the message that sends to survivors is this is really not a big deal and we don't care," said Denhollander.
She added that it's up to campuses and universities to put better standards in place to protect victims' rights.
Attorney Karen Truskowski who has represented multiple sexual assault survivors, says she's also troubled by the new rules.
"I understand why the Department of Education thought it was necessary to put new rules into place, but I am troubled that they seem to make it more difficult for victims slash survivors to come forward with complaints and to get assistance from their schools and universities."
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