What the Biden-Harris Administration Can Do On Day One for Survivors

Among the numerous crises created or made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic, the plight of victims and survivors of abuse has especially worsened as a result of COVID. Across the country, and even around the world, the pandemic has dramatically increased the rate of reported domestic violence cases. Research has shown natural disasters of any kind nearly always worsen domestic violence rates — all the more so as a result of a pandemic that’s forced many people to shelter in place and stay at home indefinitely, giving abusers increased access to their victims.

President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have made it clear that handling the COVID-19 pandemic will be the top priority of their administration, but any plan to rein in the pandemic and its most jarring consequences requires action to support victims and survivors. There are pivotal steps the Biden-Harris administration can take immediately no matter the final makeup of the Senate, which will be decided by run-off elections in Georgia on Jan. 5.

First and foremost, the new administration must reverse the Trump administration’s attacks on victims of abuse. President Trump and his cabinet were notoriously cruel to survivors and defensive of abusers — including defending Trump himself, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by 26 women. In terms of policy, President Trump’s secretary of education, Betsy DeVos, revoked key Obama-era Title IX policies, which had lowered the burden of proof for students who report sexual assaults and required universities to investigate assault claims in a timely manner. The Trump Education Department’s Title IX policy changes include a narrower and more stringent definition of sexual harassment that could potentially dismiss and erase many incidents, as well as new limits to schools’ ability to investigate incidents that did not take place on school-owned property. Another change allows accused students to be in the same room and cross-examine their victims. These deliberately prioritize the future prospects of perpetrators of sexual violence — most of whom are young men — over those of survivors. While men are more likely to experience sexual abuse than be falsely accused of it, an estimated one in four female college students have experienced sexual assault, and 34 percent of survivors of campus rape are not able to graduate due to the failure of universities to provide them with the care and resources they need, all while sexual abusers often roam campuses freely without consequence.

The Trump administration has also stripped sexual and reproductive health programs of Title X funding for providing abortion care, which is crucial for the safety and economic security of victims and survivors of abuse. Research has shown when someone isn’t able to get the abortion they seek, they become significantly more likely to experience domestic abuse, or be entrapped in an abusive relationship. Even prior to the Trump administration’s revoking of Title X funds for organizations that offer abortion care, the Hyde Amendment and state laws already restrict federal and state funding of abortion, in a blatantly discriminatory move to deny health care and autonomy to people struggling financially, who are more likely to be people of color.

On the campaign trail, President-elect Biden pledged to do better for women and victims following renewed criticism of his mishandling of the testimony of Anita Hill before the Senate in 1990, when Hill accused then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment, as well as several women accusing Biden of behaviors and physical touching that made them uncomfortable. His selection of Harris, who was the only presidential candidate in the 2020 pool and in recent history to introduce a plan to end the rape kit backlog, is promising — but we still need real commitments from the incoming administration for policies like Harris’ plan to be implemented.

Last month, shortly after winning the election, Biden pledged to reverse the Trump administration’s Title IX policies as president, and reinstate Obama-era policies that support the rights and safety of survivors. While reinstating the Title IX policies of the Obama era is an important step, the incoming administration must commit to their actual enforcement, and invest more funding into prevention programs and other resources to protect student survivors, address the causes of high dropout rates among survivors, and hold perpetrators accountable.

Biden and Harris have also already pledged to reinstate Title X funding for reproductive health care programs, including those that offer abortion care, and oppose the Hyde Amendment. They can take first steps to implement these policies as early as their first budget, in which they can exclude Hyde and ensure funding for family planning services. Title X funding is meant to ensure low-income people and people on Medicaid can access reproductive health care, and is crucial for people who may be victims of abuse, or who are financially dependent on abusers, to safely reach care. Abortion care and contraception are often critical to helping victims free themselves from abusive relationships.

But an essential piece of protecting victims of abuse will be passing and distributing COVID relief. As domestic violence cases have surged due to the pandemic and stay-at-home orders, so have unemployment rates, leaving many people — a disproportionate number of whom are women, and particularly women of color — without jobs, savings, health insurance, or the means to afford housing. Without relief, many victims in abusive situations have no ability to safely leave their abusers, who they may be forced to rely on for shelter, insurance coverage, and other basic needs.

Survivor justice is inextricably connected to alleviating the crisis of the pandemic — just as it’s connected to nearly every other urgent issue the next administration must tackle, from the recession to our overwhelmed health system. On day one, Biden and Harris’ agenda must reflect this reality, with bold plans that invest in the prevention of sexual violence, and guarantee victims and survivors the rights and resources they need to be safe and autonomous during a pandemic and economic crisis.