Suit: Brown failed to protect women from sexual misconduct

Brown University has systematically and repeatedly failed to protect women from rape and other sexual misconduct, according to a federal class action lawsuit filed recently by four current and former female students.

The suit, which was filed last Friday in Providence federal court, alleges the Ivy League school in Rhode Island actively prevented the reporting of incidents of sexual violence and perpetuated a “culture of silence” on campus.

One of the women said she was advised against making a formal complaint after being raped at a party hosted by players on the men’s rugby team because it happened off-campus, where officials said it would be more difficult to hold someone accountable.

Kim Evans, one of the lawyers representing the women, said Monday that the women's experiences dealing with university administrators are particularly shocking given they come years after the #MeToo movement sparked a global reckoning on sexual misconduct.

“It’s hard enough for a survivor of abuse to come forward with their truth, even under the best circumstances. But here we have Brown survivors who are met with apathy and indifference, which makes a really hard situation, even more traumatic,” she said.

Cass Cliatt, the university’s senior vice president for communications, said Monday that the university is aware of the lawsuit but has not been formally served.

She said in an email that Brown has taken a “strategic and sustained approach” to confronting sexual misconduct on campus, including recommendations from the university’s sexual assault task force released in 2015.

“Brown has made it an institutional priority to create an environment in which no incident of sexual violence is tolerated, and the experiences and perspective of students and others impacted by sexual violence...