Education Secretary Betsy DeVos doesn’t get everything right. That said, her move to bring order to the chaos that surrounds sexual misconduct complaints in American colleges and secondary schools is a big step in the right direction. DeVos made proposed rules on the issue public Friday.

Sexual misconduct is serious business, with what can be lifelong consequences for all involved, and it should be treated as such. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case under the guidelines the proposed rules would replace.

The guidelines were just that, instructions about what should be done. They left far too much up to individuals and individual institutions in handling such sensitive matters. DeVos proposes rules that must be followed.

Among other things, the new rules limit a school’s involvement in sexual misconduct cases to events that either occurred on campus or as part of a school activity. That should encourage women to take such problems to the police. In addition, a victim must have reported the incident to “an official with authority to take corrective action.”

Even when no formal complaint is filed, schools must support accusers, including by offering no-contact orders, leaves of absence and changes in housing and course schedules.

That’s good.

At the same time, the proposals restore some semblance of due process to those accused of misconduct. They would have lawyers or other advisers and be able to cross-examine their alleged victims, neither of which happens today.

Restoration of due process is especially important. It is, in fact, a founding principle of the U.S. justice system, the piece of the Fifth Amendment that requires fairness in American legal proceedings. The phrase appears again in the 14th Amendment, this time in protecting Americans’ citizenship rights. And, unfortunately, due process is a notion singularly missing in the discussion surrounding sexual misconduct in the 21st century.

While it’s easy to assume that no woman would publicly charge a man with sexual misconduct unless it were true, American justice demands more than mere accusation. The DeVos rules are an important step in restoring that balance.