Elizabeth Yates, Program Assistant

Beatrice Culbertson was only fourteen-years-old when she was sexually assaulted and raped by two male classmates near her local school in Lansdale, Pennsylvania. "It was the worst day of my life," the teenager told local news, nearly two years later.

Yet the abuse did not stop there. The very next day, Beatrice reported the rape to the police. Immediately afterwards, Beatrice and her sister, a student at the same school, were targeted by their classmates for vicious bullying involving texts, emails and phone calls — some of which eventually escalated to death threats. Even after both assailants pled guilty to sexual assault and were sentenced to one to two years of prison, the sisters continued to be victimized by fellow students.

Local news has covered the story by describing her as a "double-victim of bullying," choosing to focus on the abhorrent behavior of her classmates. Yet the real story here is the role of the school in this situation — where were the teachers and administrators when Beatrice and her sister were continuing to suffer?

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 requires that schools protect students from harassment and bullying based on sex, and mandates that girls are provided with a safe learning environment in which they are afforded the same educational opportunities as their male peers.

In 1972, only 15 percent of college athletes were women, while girls made up only seven percent of high school athletes. To many Americans, this division made sense. Women and girls don’t want to play sports, said popular logic. Girls naturally prefer tea parties to soccer games. And why would “co-eds” waste time at practice when they could be in the hair salon, gearing up for the real collegiate competition - husband hunting?

Fast forward forty years: Today, women make up approximately 43 percent of NCAA athletes, while girls represent 42 percent of all high school athletes. It’s a classic case of “if you build it, they will come” – as girls and women have been introduced to opportunities in sports, they have jumped on them. And yet, the playing field is still not level, and groups are still trying to undermine the law.