Dive Summary:

• The U.S. Department of Education wrote a letter last week to chief state school officers in all 50 states to assist in an effort to reduce gender-based violence in schools.
• Susan Junis, education coordinator for the Rape Victim and Advocacy Program, said that school is one of the first places the effects of gender-based violence--defined as sexual abuse, dating or domestic violence, or stalking--are seen in a student, often beginning with an immediate drop in grades.
• Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault executive director Beth Barnhill said student involvement in the conversation was necessary to address the issue, and the state's education department says it already has measures in place to address the issue through the Bureau of Learner Strategies and Supports, the Bureau of Nutrition and Health, and school counseling programs.

From the article:

Leaders in Iowa schools have been asked by a federal agency to initiate more effort to stop gender-based violence in schools. On Feb. 28, the U.S. Department of Education wrote a letter asking chief state school officers to help schools in all 50 states find efforts to reduce gender-based violence. ...