\u201c[The case] definitely made me feel annoyed and kind of unsafe as a student, knowing that people aren\u2019t getting punished properly,\u201d freshman animal biology major, Nora Motta, told The Crow\u2019s Nest.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Within the University of South Florida St. Petersburg campus, there are a number of resources and procedures that exist in response to such cases, such as the Patsy Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act, commonly known as Title IX<\/a> and USF\u2019s Center for Victim Advocacy and Violence Prevention (CVAVP)<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSpeaking with a CVAVP advocate does not mean an official report has been made\u2026 Students also have the option to report anonymously via Ethics Point,\u201d Senior Director of Media Relations at USF, Althea Johnson, mentioned in a statement on behalf of USF\u2019s Title IX office.\u00a0<\/p>\n Johnson also added that Title IX prohibits sex-based discrimination of either employees or students. The federal law applies to all USF programs and activities.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Herskowitz, a civil attorney that focuses much of his caseload on sexual abuse and exploitation, reached out to The Crow\u2019s Nest in light of the recent lawsuit.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think you get your full cup of justice under Title IX. It\u2019s a federal statute written for the universities. So, it\u2019s really going to protect them more than anything,\u201d John Herskowitz, attorney and managing partner of the Baron, Herskowitz & Cohen law firm in Miami, Florida, stated.\u00a0<\/p>\n The statute has been subject to major change by Department of Education under the current Trump Administration with the definitions of sexual harassment and sex being narrowed, disregarding gender identity and sexual orientation in cases of gender-based violence. The limitations are a reinstatement of the previous Trump administration\u2019s regulations on the proceedings of Title IX cases, as stated by The New York Times.<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Herskowitz further highlighted the fluctuating definitions of what constitutes sex-based discrimination, adding, \u201cTitle IX had a lot of changes\u2026 I unfortunately believe that politics had a lot to do with it. Universities have a lot of money. It\u2019s a more conservative political environment and typically statutes such as Title IX get narrowed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Despite policy changes, university resources for student survivors remain a pillar in the education of students on safety and support.\u00a0<\/p>\n Within USF St. Petersburg, information on both Title IX and CVAVP is commonly delivered during new student orientation or through various flyers on campus.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n According to junior marine biology major and President of Planned Parenthood Generation Action (PPGA) at USF St. Petersburg, Emilie Solis, many students may not have a complete understanding of the resources they are provided, or how to utilize them.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBecause there\u2019s so many resources out there, I feel like people don\u2019t really know [since] they just see it on a pamphlet. I feel like they actually need to see it or they need to have that formal connection,\u201d Solis said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Herskowitz echoed a similar sentiment, adding, \u201cUniversities need to stop treating sexual assault prevention as an orientation lecture students sit through once their freshman year. Prevention has to be operational.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n When asked if she was aware of the resources available for student survivors, Motta said she was not.\u00a0<\/p>\n Students pointed out an added layer of risk, considering the USF St. Petersburg campus is located in the center of downtown St. Petersburg.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBeing in the city, of course, is something to be on high alert about\u2026It sucks to say, but you do have to be careful. Make sure you\u2019re not walking alone at night, make sure you\u2019re with someone, make sure you\u2019re not doing anything that could make you susceptible,\u201d junior psychology major and Vice President of PPGA at USF St. Petersburg, Brynn Santucci said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Solis brought up concerns surrounding the protection provided by campus security, citing a recent outage of the Emergency Blue Light Phone System provided at USF St. Petersburg that heightened her apprehensions.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t even know those were broken until they sent out an email that they were going to fix them. And, because I live [on campus], it affected our electricity that day,\u201d Solis said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Alternatively, some students feel that the presence of campus police remains supportive despite the location.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Motta stated, \u201cI feel protected here because I feel like the campus police are everywhere all the time. There\u2019s a lot of good stuff here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Along with security, Solis stressed the importance of sex education and defining consent.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like it\u2019s just deconstruction, deconstructing the social system that\u2019s already in our head,\u201d said Solis. \u201cIn terms of sexual assault or just sexual reproduction in general, because there\u2019s so many misconceptions.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cGoing to a party isn\u2019t consent. Drinking isn\u2019t consent. Going into someone\u2019s bedroom isn\u2019t consent. Consent to one isn\u2019t necessarily consent to another,\u201d Herskowitz added. \u201c\u2026Prevention can\u2019t just consist of telling the students to be careful.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Peer advocacy through student organizations is another avenue for educating survivors and fostering a supportive community.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n PPGA is a student led chapter providing youth with a network for reproductive freedom and justice.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re one project out of many worldwide that are trying to pick at that and make sure that everyone knows, you have an actual community, you\u2019re not scared to speak out,\u201d Solis said, \u201cWe want to make sure that everyone that goes into these centers knows that if something didn\u2019t go your way, you have a community to fall back on.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n While students are presented with pamphlets of resources, Solis promises to also lend a hand to her peers. \u201cWe\u2019ll speak out for you. You have a whole community.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Even in uncertain times, Herskowitz emphasized the importance of survivors feeling comfortable enough to report without fear of retaliation.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the first things to do is to find someone who can make you feel safe and be able to discuss your options.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n If you or anyone you know is struggling, help is available. The number for the National Sexual Assault Hotline, available 24 hours, is 1-800-656-4673.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/6162f899-1521-4287-aad0-4bea43b10b7c.jpg\")
\u201cWe provide an informational kit that contains a variety of resources that may be helpful to a victim of sexual violence. The resources include Rights and Services available to a victim of Sexual Battery, Victims\u2019 Rights, Wellness Center Resources, SAVE kit examination explanations, Trauma Services, Victim Advocacy information, and we make our therapy dog, Snowbird, available,\u201d Regional Chief of Police, USF St. Petersburg Campus, David Hendry told The Crow\u2019s Nest.\u00a0\u00a0
\u00a0
Photo Courtesy of the University Police Department at USF St. Petersburg\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t Post Views: 220
\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n![\"More](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/d9867d208caf614f58413c27c23ee98c.png\")
<\/a>
Written by: Secilia Ruiz<\/a> on October 18, 2026.
Last revised by: Isabella Perez<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Secilia Ruiz and Ashley Pena Content Warning: This article contains discussions of sexual violence.\u00a0 A recent civil…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":431586,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-431585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/431586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}