Equity & Diversity

Students, Parents Protest After Student Rape Allegations at Oklahoma High School

By Evie Blad — November 24, 2014 1 min read
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Hundreds of students, parents, and supporters gathered in front of Norman High School in Norman, Okla., Monday, saying the school mishandled allegations that three girls were raped by the same male student.

Protestors said the school did not properly address the claims by the female students who said they were sexually assualted by a male classmate and that it failed to address subsequent bullying of the alleged victims by their classmates, the Associated Press reports. From the AP:

Cleveland County District Attorney Greg Mashburn confirmed Norman police are investigating alleged assaults of three girls. He said two reportedly happened off campus and the third happened at the school. Norman Public Schools spokeswoman Shelly Hickman says administrators were made aware in September of a video of an alleged sexual assault and suspended the suspect. She denied the district allowed any students to be bullied."

Those allegations quickly gained national attention after the women’s interest site Jezebel published a lengthy post Friday called “Why Were Three Teenage Rape Victims Bullied Out of School in Oklahoma?” That post includes unnamed sources, audio recordings, and documents

District officials declined to discuss their handling of the case with the website, citing federal privacy laws.

Under Title IX, schools have obligations to address both sexual assault and harrassment of students that is related to gender or sexuality.

Protestors tweeted under the hashtag #yesalldaughters.

Top photo: Jaide Island, left, a Norman High School sophomore, Kaityn Payton, center, a senior, and Amber Williams, right, not a student, hold signs and shout to passing cars during a protest across the street from Norman High School in Norman, Okla., Monday. --Sue Ogrocki/AP

Second photo: Students, parents and grandparents hold signs during a protest across the street from Norman High School in Norman, Okla., on Monday. --Sue Ogrocki/AP

A version of this news article first appeared in the Rules for Engagement blog.