A 13-year-old honor-roll student in Hobbs, New Mexico told her middle school she had been raped on campus. Instead of getting help, she was placed in on-campus suspension while classmates who had seen a video of the attack whispered about it in the same room. Hobbs Municipal Schools decided her case didn't meet the bar for a Title IX investigation, and disciplined her alongside the boy she says assaulted her.

This isn't an isolated failure. Families in Hobbs Municipal Schools have filed at least five lawsuits over the last three school years alleging students were sexually or physically assaulted on campus, including a kindergartner assaulted in a school bathroom and a soccer player abused during a hazing incident while a coach reportedly watched. "There's an epidemic of sexual and physical violence in this district," according to Joseph Zebas, an attorney who has represented students in cases against the district.

New Mexico has no state law requiring schools to investigate student sexual assault reports, leaving families dependent on a Title IX process districts interpret for themselves. When a child comes forward, she should be protected, not disciplined while adults decide whether her report counts.

We're calling on Hobbs Municipal Schools Superintendent Gene Strickland and the Hobbs Municipal Schools Board of Education to commit to two things: stop disciplining students who report being sexually assaulted while their case is under investigation, and bring in an independent, outside reviewer to examine how the district has handled past abuse reports, including this one.

No student who reports being raped should end up serving suspension next to the people who saw it happen. Sign the petition to demand Hobbs Municipal Schools stop punishing survivors and open its handling of abuse cases to independent review, before another student is failed the same way.