The Clery Act and VAWA are related to Title IX because in 2013 when VAWA was reauthorized (Campus SAVE Act), it amended the Clery Act to require institutions to disclose statistics, policies and programs related to dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking, much of which overlap with Title IX compliance requirements (United States Department of Education, 2016).
The Clery Act was passed in 1990 as the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990
The Clery Act requires institutions of higher education to "disclose accurate and complete crime statistics for incidents that are reported to Campus Security Authorities (CSAs) and local law enforcement as having occurred on or near the campus (Not Alone, n.d.)."
The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was passed in 1994 to improve advocacy, services, and support for all victims of sexual violence.
There are two sections of the VAWA that apply specifically to college campuses;
Section 303, Grants to Combat Violent Crimes on Campuses - assists with funding educational, awareness, and protection programming to combat sexual violence, as well as funding for staff training.
Section 304, Campus SAVE Act - Amended the Clery Act to modify institutions’ reporting requirements, provide guidance on campus statements of policy and improve protection of victims’ rights. Institutions responsibilities as a result of this are explained thoroughly in the ACE document below.
The Clery Act is enforced by the Department of Education, not the Office of Civil Rights like Title IX.
The VAWA is overseen by the Office On Violence Against Women in the U.S. Department of Justice.
The full law and institutional requirements from the Federal Register can be found here.
The handbook issued by the U.S. Department of Education has very detailed compliance guidelines for institutions to follow to ensure they are properly reporting on all requirements of the Clery Act
This chart from the United States government's Not Alone website provides a side-by-side chart of the reporting requirements of Title IX and the Clery Act relating to sexual violence.
This letter from the Department of Education states "changes made to the Clery Act by VAWA did not affect in any way Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, its implementing regulations, or associated guidance issued by the Department's Office for Civil Rights. Nothing in the Clery Act, as amended by VAWA, alters or changes an institution's obligations or duties under Title IX as interpreted by the OCR (Mahaffie, 2015)."
Despite the letter stating that that VAWA does not have an impact on Title IX, many of the guidance for compliance with Clery and VAWA overlap with Title IX guidance such as; required prevention and awareness programs on sexual violence, publicly stated proper definitions of terms related to sexual violence, clearly stated prompt, fair, and impartial policies, procedures, and discipline for those involved in incidents of sexual violence, stated protective measures the institutions will provide following an allegation of sexual violence, and required written explanation for victims of their rights and all services available to them.
This document published by the American Council on Education (ACE) explains all the requirements institutions must adhere to stay compliant with the VAWA after the reauthorization in 2013.
This document was published by the National Network to End Domestic Violence and explains all areas of the VAWA and its protections.
References Not Alone. (n.d.). Intersection of Title IX and the Clery Act. Retrieved from https://notalone.gov/assets/ferpa- clerychart.pdf United States Department of Education. (2016). The handbook for campus safety and security reporting 2016 edition. Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/safety/handbook.pdf Mahaffie, L. B. (2015, July 22). Implementation of the VAWA final regulations [Letter to Dear Colleague]. Washington DC. American Council on Education. (2014). New requirements imposed by the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act. doi:10.1037/e600022012-001 National Network to End Domestic Violence. (2013). The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013: Summary of changes. Retrieved from http://nnedv.org/downloads/Policy/VAWA2013_Summary.pdf