|
Prohibited Sexual Behavior and Sexual Violence
|
|
Sexual Violence: Sexual Harassment: Forms of Harassment 2
|
|
The US Department of Education, in 2001, revised its guidelines concerning the sexual harassment of students (1). It stated that
|
|
“Sexual harassment is unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature. Sexual harassment can include unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal, nonverbal, or physical conduct of a sexual nature. Sexual harassment of a student can deny or limit, on the basis of sex, the student's ability to participate in or to receive benefits, services, or opportunities in the school's program.”
|
|
|
However, the new guidelines also emphasized:
|
|
“It is important to recognize that (the)… prohibition against sexual harassment does not extend to legitimate nonsexual touching or other nonsexual conduct. For example, a high school athletic coach hugging a student who made a goal or a kindergarten teacher's consoling hug for a child with a skinned knee will not be considered sexual harassment. Similarly, one student's demonstration of a sports maneuver or technique requiring contact with another student will not be considered sexual harassment. However, in some circumstances, nonsexual conduct may take on sexual connotations and rise to the level of sexual harassment. For example, a teacher's repeatedly hugging and putting his or her arms around students under inappropriate circumstances could create a hostile environment.”
|
|
|
This latter note of caution points to a dilemma and a potential misuse of laws against sexual harassment. While many cases are unambiguous, there are also cases that are open to different interpretations. Some words and gestures can be misunderstood. A hug that appears perfectly harmless to one person may seem to have sexual implications for another person. After all, people of different cultural backgrounds often have widely divergent traditions, customs, and feelings about the degrees of physical closeness or the frequency of touching others. At any rate, in a multicultural environment like the USA, many teachers have become insecure and over-cautious about how close they should get to their students. This can lead to certain artificial emotional distance and a lack of warmth in the teacher-student relationship. In short, while sexual harassment needs to be confronted and stopped, one should also avoid sweeping judgements about every instance of physical or verbal familiarity.
(1) U.S. Department of Education: Revised Sexual Harassment Guidance: Harassment of Students by School Employees, other Students, or Third Parties. For the full text, click here.
|
