Not long after a student from Brigham Young University reported her own rape, she received an email from her university saying she had “violated” the BYU’s “honor code.”
“I felt revictimized,” she told Utah news channel KUTV.
BYU student, Madi Barney, was allegedly raped at her apartment in September of 2015; she claimed she did not invite the man into her bedroom.
Barney said the school’s Title IX investigator wasn’t compassionate in the least about the assault.
“She only said we need to talk about the honor code. It looks like you violated it,” Braney said.
According to the Independent, the school gave Barney two offers: either she does a Title IX investigation—a federal law that goes against sex-based harassment or assault which would hinder a student from having equal and full access to education—or an honor code investigation, which goes against drugs, alcohol, bad language and sex.
Barney later learned that the friend of the suspect took the police report to BYU’s honor code office, which was how they became aware of the alleged rape.
The alleged rapist spoke to Barney over the phone and admitted that he did in fact, rape her, according to police documents.
He was then charged with rape; and the case is set for trial, told KUTV.
Carri Jenkins, spokesperson for BYU, said the following:
In order to protect their own and others safety, individuals who believe they have been subjected to Sexual Misconduct should make a report even if they have simultaneously been involved in other violations of university policy, such as use of alcohol or drugs. Violations of university policy or the Church Educational System Honor Code do not make a victim at fault for sexual violence or other forms of Sexual Misconduct and will be addressed separately from the Sexual Misconduct allegation.
Jenkins said the report of rape would be sent directly to the Title IX office not to the honor code office.
She stressed that the Title IX investigations have absolutely nothing to do with Honor Code Compliance, told KUTV.
Other BYU students and survivors of sexual assaults have also came forward and spoke about their experience. Like Braney, they too, do not agree with the Honor Code.
One student in particular, Briana Garrido, a sexual assault survivor, said that the honor code “creates fear.”
“They are afraid of coming forward about their assaults because they don’t know how it will affect their standing academically,” she said.
Braney said she'll transfer out of BYU after this semester.
“I cannot stay here one more second,” she said.
