Types of Harassment
(From equalrights.org Equal Rights Advocates)
Quid pro quo (in Latin it means “this for that”) sexual harassment occurs when a teacher or school employee offers you a better grade or treats you better if you do something sexual. It could also be a threat to lower your grade or treat you worse than other students if you refuse to go along with a request for a sexual favor. For example, if your teacher says, “I’ll give you an ‘A’ if you go out with me,” or “I’ll fail you in this class if you don’t have sex with me,” this is sexual harassment.
Example:
Mary is a student in Mr. Smith’s communications class. Mr. Smith is everyone’s favorite teacher, but he has started to make Mary feel uncomfortable. He asks her to come to his office alone after class to discuss her work. When she shows up, he only talks about how pretty she is and once or twice he puts his hand on her knee. He always asks for a hug before she leaves. He is now suggesting that they hold their meetings at an off-campus café. He tells her that she must continue to attend these extra discussion sessions if she wants to earn a good grade in his class.
Hostile environment sexual harassment occurs when unwanted sexual touching, comments, and/or gestures are so bad or occur so often that it interferes with your work for class, makes you feel uncomfortable or unsafe in class, or prevents you from participating in or benefiting from a college program or activity. This type of harassment does not have to involve a threat or promise of benefit in exchange for a sexual favor. The harassment can be from your instructor, college officials, or other students.
Example:
Mike gets constant attention from a particular group of girls. They send him sexually explicit e-mails, blow kisses at him, and rub up against him on the way to class. They wait for him when he gets out of class. They always seem to show up wherever he is. Someone keeps calling his cell phone, and then hanging up, and Mike is sure it’s those girls. At first, he thought it was funny, but it’s starting to embarrass and frustrate him. He’s started to avoid going out so he won’t have to see them, and he’s pretended to be sick a few times so he didn’t have to go to class.
Example:
Diana’s soccer coach is constantly telling her sexual jokes and making suggestive comments. During practice, he whistles and winks at her when she runs by him. Diana told the coach that his behavior makes her uncomfortable, but he responded by saying that she needs to learn how to accept compliments. Recently, he showed her a calendar of bikini-clad female athletes and told her she is sexy enough to pose for such a calendar. She is thinking of quitting the soccer team just to avoid the coach.
Example:
Elliot is a student in a science class where Mr. Cheney is an assistant. Elliot uses a wheelchair and usually has to wait for his aide after class. Mr. Cheney often waits with him and at first Elliot liked talking with him. Mr. Cheney says he inspires him and sometimes strokes his hair. Their conversations have included him asking questions about his body, how it works, and what things he can do. One day Mr. Cheney confessed to being curious about whether boys like him can have sex. When Elliot said talking about that with him was weird, Mr. Cheney got flustered and said he would make sure Elliot got an A if he didn’t mention their conversation to anyone.
Example:
Sally has a work-study job in the mailroom where her co-workers have hung explicit pornographic posters. Sally is extremely uncomfortable working there and she is considering giving up the job even though she needs the money.