Reporting and Resources
The Office of Respect is a confidential support resource, and therefore does not report on, provide, or adjudicate any legal or administrative process to ensure the focus always remains on paths to healing. Because reporting to the Department of Title IX (Emory administrative process) and/or Police (criminal or civil processes) can be part of the support and healing process for some, we accompany survivors through any process they are going through and partner on increasing a trauma-informed campus and systems approach to anti-violence.
Office of Respect Counselor/Advocates will always meet with you CONFIDENTIALLY to validate your experience and navigate various reactions you may have while you identify ways in which you choose to move forward. Please feel free to always ask for a counselor/advocate to accompany you when working with DTIX or with any administrative or criminal reporting process. These are not easy processes, and you do not need to go through any of them alone.
It is important to note that there are policy/legal definitions and there are behavioral definitions that we follow. Please visit the Department of Title IX’s website to review university policy definitions.
At the Office of Respect, we define consent and other relational behaviors based on what promotes healthy dynamics, which is BEYOND a policy definition.
Affirmative Consent
Affirmative Consent means an informed, affirmative, conscious, voluntary, and mutual agreement to engage in sexual activity. It is the responsibility of each person involved in the sexual activity to ensure that s/he has the Affirmative Consent of the other participant(s) to engage in each sexual activity. Just because someone agreed to one activity does not mean they consent to other activities. Just because someone agreed to do something before does not mean they agree to do this again.
Consent can be revoked at any point.
Administrative Process
Emory must abide by the Federal Title IX regulations, which prohibits any form of discrimination based on sex to ensure you have access to your education. Title IX staff are required to maintain neutrality during their processes, which means that they cannot validate that something happened to you. This can feel hurtful to someone seeking care if they are not aware of this. It is for this reason the Office of Respect hopes you will meet with a counselor/advocate as a first connection to the university.
Please visit the Department of Title IX’s website for more information on Emory’s Title IX processes.
Legal Resources and Processes
It is for this reason the Office of Respect hopes you will meet with a counselor/advocate as a first connection to the university.