SACRAMENTO,CA, (KCRA/CNN) - Hundreds of students walked out of class at a California high school to protest how administrators deal with sexual harassment claims.
It comes after a former student who said she was raped in 2016 was asked to leave campus for a semester while her assailants were allowed to stay.
More than 100 students gathered on the steps of McClatchy High School in Sacramento Wednesday.
"We are protesting the mishandling and inaction on sexual assault cases," said Brenna Leigh Nancarrow, one of the student organizers.
Nancarrow said the walkout was sparked by an alleged gang rape of the former student two years ago.
"We're tired of admin telling us 'Oh it's a mistake' or 'you were leading him on' or things like that, so we're taking a stance saying no more, we're done," Nancarrow said.
The former student’s attorney, Brenda Adams agreed.
"Really, they engaged in a victim blaming course of conduct," Adams said of the lawsuit filed last month.
In it, the woman - named Virginia M - described being gang raped off-campus by classmates in 2016.
The lawsuit also stated, the school retaliated against her for reporting the rape.
The woman claimed a school resource officer "asked me whether I was a virgin or not."
"One of the following questions was 'do you really feel that you were raped?' ” Adams said. “That was a question the officer asked her."
The lawsuit goes on to state, the school resource officer said, "it was up to him whether criminal charges would be filed."
Virginia suffered harassment at the school, according to the lawsuit.
"We'd like to talk openly about this particular case,” said Alex Barrios of the Sacramento Unified School District. “Unfortunately, it's in litigation right now."
Barrios denied the lawsuit’s allegations during the student protest.
"We've reviewed the facts in this case on our side,” Barrios said. “We strongly deny the allegations. It does not reflect our culture here in the Sacramento Unified School District or McClatchy High School.”
But several students said harassment is all too common at their school.
"It can be in the hallways, it can be in the classroom, it can be after school it can be at football games, sport events,” Nancarrow said. “We tell admin or we tell our security officers on school and they say they'll handle it."
While students and officials disagree on the details in the lawsuit, both sides agree on the students' right to have their voices heard.
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