Sexual harassment in education

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Sexual harassment in education is an unwelcome behavior of a sexual nature that interferes with a student's ability to learn, study, work or participate in school activities. Sexual harassment encompasses a range of behavior from mild annoyances to sexual assault and rape. [1] [2] As committed by teachers, it is often framed as "sex for grades" and has attracted media attention throughout the world, partly in connection with the #MeToo movement. [3]

Contents

United States

In their 2000 survey on 2064 students in 8th through 11th grade, the American Association of University Women (AAUW) reported: [4]

In their recent study (AAUW 2006) on sexual harassment at colleges and universities, the AAUW claimed that while both men and women were targets of sexual harassment, "women are disproportionately negatively affected."

In the "Report Card on Gender Equity," the NCWGE that 30 percent of undergraduate students, and 40 percent of graduate students, have been sexually harassed. (NCWGE, 1997)

In the United States, sexual harassment is a form of discrimination under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. [5]

Germany

The Universität Bremen was the first university in Germany to establish, in 1992, a contact point for matters regarding sexual harassment. It is generally considered that the power difference between university students and professors, who determine grades and can offer or prolong employment positions for PhD students, results in a risk of harassment. According to a non-representative survey of 12,663 students in 2012, every fourth student reported some form of sexual harassment, and about ten percent of those cases involved harassment by teachers. Concerned students who do not want to report misbehaviour for fear of career repercussions are given advice as to how to handle the situation. For example, a doctoral student may be advised to add an external evaluator to assess their work or to request that they be assigned a different advisor. [6]

In the mid-2010s, allegations of sexual harassment were raised against teachers in institutions of higher education in Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Munich. [7]

Ghana and Nigeria

BBC Africa Eye performed a year-long investigation into sexual harassment committed by university teachers in Ghana. Four academics were secretly filmed as part of the investigation. It involved undercover reporters posing as students at the University of Ghana and the University of Lagos. The resulting documentary was broadcast in October 2019, exposing the misconduct. [8]

The African Feminist Initiative released a solidarity statement condemning the harassment in an institution that should offer a safe environment for learning. [9]

Two academics were suspended from the University of Ghana for six months and four months, respectively, without salary. They were to undergo training about the university's sexual harassment and misconduct policy, to resume work only after a positive assessment, and to undergo an annual assessment for five years. Some have criticized the punishment as too lenient. [8]

In 2020, Nigeria's Senate initiated the debate of a bill aiming to prevent the sexual harassment of university students. [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexual harassment</span> Unwanted sexual attention or advances

Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment can be physical and/or a demand or request for sexual favors, making sexually coloured remarks, showing pornography, and any other unwelcome physical, verbal, or non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature, verbal. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions from verbal transgressions to sexual abuse or assault. Harassment can occur in many different social settings such as the workplace, the home, school, or religious institutions. Harassers or victims can be of any gender.

Acquaintance rape is rape that is perpetrated by a person who knows the victim. Examples of acquaintances include someone the victim is dating, a classmate, co-worker, employer, family member, spouse, counselor, therapist, religious official, or medical doctor. Acquaintance rape includes a subcategory of incidents labeled date rape that involves people who are in romantic or sexual relationships with each other. When a rape is perpetrated by a college student on another student, the term campus rape is sometimes used.

Sexual misconduct is misconduct of a sexual nature which exists on a spectrum that may include a broad range of sexual behaviors considered unwelcome. This includes conduct considered inappropriate on an individual or societal basis of morality, sexual harassment and/or criminal sexual assault.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Association of University Women</span> Nonprofit organization

The American Association of University Women (AAUW), officially founded in 1881, is a non-profit organization that advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research. The organization has a nationwide network of 170,000 members and supporters, 1,000 local branches, and 800 college and university partners. Its headquarters are in Washington, D.C. AAUW's CEO is Gloria L. Blackwell.

Achievement gaps in the United States are observed, persistent disparities in measures of educational performance among subgroups of U.S. students, especially groups defined by socioeconomic status (SES), race/ethnicity and gender. The achievement gap can be observed through a variety of measures, including standardized test scores, grade point average, dropout rates, college enrollment, and college completion rates. The gap in achievement between lower income students and higher income students exists in all nations and it has been studied extensively in the U.S. and other countries, including the U.K. Various other gaps between groups exist around the globe as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Street harassment</span> Harassment occurring in a public setting

Street harassment is a form of harassment, primarily sexual harassment that consists of unwanted sexualised comments, provocative gestures, honking, wolf-whistlings, indecent exposures, stalking, persistent sexual advances, and touching by strangers, in public areas such as streets, shopping malls and public transportation. Besides actions or comments that contain a sexual connotation, it often includes homophobic and transphobic slurs, and hateful comments referencing race, religion, class, ethnicity and disability. The practice is rooted in power and control and is often a reflection of societal discrimination, and has been argued to sometimes result from a lack of opportunities for expression of interest or affection.

Sexual harassment in education in the United States is an unwelcome behavior of a sexual nature that interferes with an American student's ability to learn, study, work or participate in school activities. It is common in middle and high schools in the United States. Sexual or gender harassment is a form of discrimination under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Sexual harassment involves a range of behavior from mild annoyances to unwanted touching and, in extreme cases, rape or other sexual assault.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Estimates of sexual violence</span>

Surveys of victims of crime have been undertaken in many cities and countries, using a common methodology to aid comparability, and have generally included questions on sexual violence. The United Nations has conducted extensive surveys to determine the level of sexual violence in different societies. According to these studies, the percentage of women reporting having been a victim of sexual assault ranges from less than 2% in places such as La Paz, Bolivia (1.4%), Gaborone, Botswana (0.8%), Beijing, China (1.6%), and Manila, Philippines (0.3%), to 5% or more in Istanbul, Turkey (6.0%), Buenos Aires, Argentina (5.8%), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (8.0%), and Bogota, Colombia (5.0%).

Charol Shakeshaft is an educational researcher noted for her studies on sexual abuse of students by school staff. She co-authored a four-year study on sexual abuse at school, which first appeared in March 1995, in the educational journal Phi Delta Kappan. Shakeshaft was chair of the Educational Leadership Department at Virginia Commonwealth University until 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexual bullying</span>

Sexual bullying is a form of bullying or harassment in connection with a person's sex, body, sexual orientation or with sexual activity. It can be physical, verbal or emotional in nature, and occurs in various settings, including schools, workplaces, and online platforms. Sexual bullying can have serious and lasting effects on the mental and emotional well-being of victims.

Workplace harassment is the belittling or threatening behavior directed at an individual worker or a group of workers.

Cyberbullying or cyberharassment is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic means. Cyberbullying and cyberharassment are also known as online bullying. It has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers and adolescents, due to the communication technology advancements and young people's increased use of such technologies. Cyberbullying is when someone, typically a teenager, bullies or harasses others on the internet and other digital spaces, particularly on social media sites.

College dating is the set of behaviors and phenomena centered on the seeking out and the maintenance of romantic relationships in a university setting. It has unique properties that only occur, or occur most frequently, in a campus setting. Such phenomena as hooking up and lavaliering are widely prominent among university and college students. Hooking up is a worldwide phenomenon that involves two individuals having a sexual encounter without interest in commitment. Lavaliering is a "pre-engagement" engagement that is a tradition in the greek life of college campuses. Since fraternities and sororities do not occur much outside of the United States, this occurs, for the most part, only in the US. Technology allows college students to take part in unique ways of finding more partners through social networking. Sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace allow students to make new friends, and potentially find their spouse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MeToo movement</span> Social movement against sexual abuse and harassment

#MeToo is a social movement and awareness campaign against sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and rape culture, in which people publicize their experiences of sexual abuse or sexual harassment. The phrase "Me Too" was initially used in this context on social media in 2006, on Myspace, by sexual assault survivor and activist Tarana Burke. The hashtag #MeToo was used starting in 2017 as a way to draw attention to the magnitude of the problem.

The 1752 Group is a UK-based research and lobby organisation working to end sexual misconduct in higher education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexual harassment in the military</span> Sexual misconduct in the armed forces

Sexual harassment in the military is unwanted sexual behaviour experienced as threatening, offensive, or otherwise upsetting, which occurs in a military setting.

Research consistently shows that the majority of rape and other sexual assault victims do not report their attacks to law enforcement. Reasons for not reporting include fear of reprisal, shame, uncertainty about whether a crime was committed, or a belief that an incident was not sufficiently serious enough to report. As a result, researchers generally rely on surveys to measure sexual violence that is not reported to the police. Estimates of campus sexual assault measured on surveys vary across populations and over time, however a recent review concluded that a "reasonable average" of around 1 in 5 (20%) of women were sexually assaulted during their time in college. And although much of the research on sexual assault has focused on college campuses, there is evidence that non-students of the same age are actually at higher risk than college students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiki Mordi</span> Nigerian journalist and media personality

Nkiru "Kiki" Mordi is a Nigerian investigative journalist, filmmaker, writer and entrepreneur. She dropped out of school because she was harassed by a lecturer in her school. This ordeal was what led her to shoot the Sex for Grades video with the BBC Africa Eye. The documentary exposed the depth of sexual harassment among Nigerians and Ghanaian lecturers. In 2016, she won the award of Outstanding Radio Program Presenter (South-South) at the Nigerian Broadcasters Merit Awards.

In Malaysia, sexual harassment, as defined by the Employment Act 1955Archived 11 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine, is “any unwanted conduct of a sexual nature, whether verbal, non-verbal, visual, gestural or physical, directed at a person which is offensive, humiliating or a threat to their well-being”. The Act does not distinguish between male and female or employer and employee. As such, sexual harassment can be committed by a female against a male, or an employee against an employer.

The #MeToo movement emerged in China shortly after it originated in the United States. In mainland China, online MeToo posts were slowed by government censorship. On Weibo, #Metoo and #MetooinChina were both blocked for a period of time. To avoid the censorship, Chinese women using the #MeToo hashtag on social media began using bunny and bowl-of-rice emojis; "rice bunny" is pronounced mi-tu in Chinese. Feminist activist Xiao Qiqi originated the use of rice-bunny emojis for the movement. Another alternative is “River Crab” which indicates censorship. Generally, the #Metoo movement was only accessible to elite women and urban women.

References

  1. Dzeich, Billie Wright and Linda Weiner (1990). The Lecherous Professor: Sexual Harassment on Campus, University of Illinois Press.
  2. Drawing the Line: Sexual Harassment on Campus (2006), the American Association of University Women
  3. EDT, Marika Malaea On 10/8/19 at 8:15 PM (2019-10-08). "#SexForGrades documentary trending worldwide, reveals sexual harassment university scandal". Newsweek. Retrieved 2020-04-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. "Hostile Hallways" (PDF). American Association of University Women. 2001. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  5. ed.gov
  6. Philipp Seibt (2018-02-27). "Tatort Universität". Der Spiegel (in German). Retrieved 2020-03-06.
  7. "Stellungnahme des Hochschulpräsidenten". hfmt-hamburg.de (in German). 2019-05-02. Retrieved 2020-03-06.
  8. 1 2 3 "University of Ghana lecturers suspended after 'sex-for-grades' exposé". bbc.com. 2020-02-18. Retrieved 2020-03-06.
  9. "Solidarity Statement – Sex for Grades in African Universities". msafropolitan.com. 2019-11-11. Retrieved 2020-03-06.