Campus Harassment: Sexual Harassment Policies and Procedures at Institutions of Higher Learning

Signs ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 792-812 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Robertson ◽  
Constance E. Dyer ◽  
D'Ann Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Higher Learning ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Learning ◽  
Policies And Procedures ◽  
Sexual Harassment Policies

scholarly journals A study of the interplay between the law and organisational codes of conduct with regards to sexual harassment in New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Heike Menne-Spohr
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Human Resources ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Third Parties ◽  
Legal Consciousness ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Policies And Procedures ◽  
The Law ◽  
Sexual Harassment Policies

<p>The aim of this research is to fill a gap in the New Zealand literature which is to investigate whether the sexual harassment legislation is being understood, implemented and monitored in organisations effectively.  This thesis explores how organisations in New Zealand are using tick-box compliance when implementing sexual harassment legislation into their employee policies and procedures documents due to the ambiguity of certain words. It looks at the role that Human Resources consultants and trade unions play, and further using the endogeneity model, the thesis explores the effect that tick-box compliance has on the legal consciousness of sexual harassment in organisations and third parties.  Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with Human Resources professional at public and private sector organisations, Human Resources consultants as well as trade union representatives who are actively involved with the implementation and management of sexual harassment policies in the workplace.    It was found that organisations had implemented sexual harassment policies and procedures several years previously and that these had not been changed significantly due to a lack of change in the law itself. The findings also indicate that the organisations implement sexual harassment polices using a tick-box approach and they do not necessarily fully understand the legislation. It was suggested that the emphasis had shifted from sexual harassment to bullying and that the third parties like trade unions and Human Resources consultants see more cases of this than sexual harassment.   The thesis concludes that although organisations have sexual harassment policies and procedures, these are outdated and are not part of the legal consciousness of organisations, trade unions and Human Resources consultants. The ambiguous nature of the wording in the law itself and the lack of guidelines for organisations on how to implement them has resulted in tick-box compliance and organisations do not know if their policies are effective or not. Further the low penalties for sexual harassment behaviour means that there is no incentive for sexual harassment victims to raise complaints.</p>

scholarly journals The effectiveness of sexual harassment policies and procedures at higher education institutions in South Africa

2011 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Joubert ◽  
Christo Van Wyk ◽  
Sebastiaan Rothmann
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Policies And Procedures ◽  
Sexual Harassment Policies

Orientation: Sexual harassment policies are generally in place in higher education institutions without any indication of its effectiveness as determined by the awareness of the policy.Research purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the awareness levels of academic staff members at higher education institutions in South Africa of sexual harassment policies and procedures in their institutions.Motivation for the study: A number of high profile court cases emphasised the need for effective policies to reduce the incidence of sexual harassment complaints.Research design, approach and method: A cross-sectional survey design was conducted amongst 161 academic staff members, representing 10 higher education institutions in South Africa. The measuring instrument that was used is the Sexual Harassment Questionnaire (SHQ) that was developed specifically for this study.Main findings: The results showed that despite indications that sexual harassment policies do exist and that they are regarded as effective tools in addressing sexual harassment, the implementation of such policies is not effective and few academic staff members received training and/or guidance on the utilisation of the policy. Significant correlation coefficients were found between the elements of an effective policy and between population group and some of the elements.Practical/managerial implications: Employers across the board should regularly conduct an audit to determine the level of awareness of sexual harassment policies and procedures and plan interventions.Contribution: No other study in South Africa attempted to measure the awareness levels of academics and its impact on the management of sexual harassment.

scholarly journals Perception, Prevalence and Awareness of Sexual Harassment among University Students in Abbottabad

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 1182-1195
Author(s):  
Adnan Ahmad Dogar Et al.
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
University Students ◽  
Higher Learning ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Adjustment Mechanism ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Learning ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Cultural Constraints ◽  
Institutional Mechanism

Policy guidelines against sexual harassment in institutions of Higher Learning were introduced in 128 public sector universities across Pakistan in January 2011. However, there has been an increase in the number of reported cases of sexual harassment that became prominent in mainstream media, so the institutional mechanism and the official definition of sexual harassment still needs a lot of clarity. The study aims to investigate the perception, prevalence and awareness of sexual harassment among university students along with possible causes of underreporting of the incidents of sexual harassment. Stratified random sampling and purposive sampling were used for data collection from students and members of sexual harassment committees respectively. The research findings revealed that sexual harassment at campus is a common phenomenon although majority of the cases go unreported owing to different institutional and cultural constraints. Instead of reporting to university administration, students adopt self adjustment mechanism by reducing the stay at campus or reducing the possibility of contact with males. There is dire need of more awareness sessions about what is sexual harassment and what students can do to deal with it.

scholarly journals A study of the interplay between the law and organisational codes of conduct with regards to sexual harassment in New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Heike Menne-Spohr
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Human Resources ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Third Parties ◽  
Legal Consciousness ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Policies And Procedures ◽  
The Law ◽  
Sexual Harassment Policies

<p>The aim of this research is to fill a gap in the New Zealand literature which is to investigate whether the sexual harassment legislation is being understood, implemented and monitored in organisations effectively.  This thesis explores how organisations in New Zealand are using tick-box compliance when implementing sexual harassment legislation into their employee policies and procedures documents due to the ambiguity of certain words. It looks at the role that Human Resources consultants and trade unions play, and further using the endogeneity model, the thesis explores the effect that tick-box compliance has on the legal consciousness of sexual harassment in organisations and third parties.  Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with Human Resources professional at public and private sector organisations, Human Resources consultants as well as trade union representatives who are actively involved with the implementation and management of sexual harassment policies in the workplace.    It was found that organisations had implemented sexual harassment policies and procedures several years previously and that these had not been changed significantly due to a lack of change in the law itself. The findings also indicate that the organisations implement sexual harassment polices using a tick-box approach and they do not necessarily fully understand the legislation. It was suggested that the emphasis had shifted from sexual harassment to bullying and that the third parties like trade unions and Human Resources consultants see more cases of this than sexual harassment.   The thesis concludes that although organisations have sexual harassment policies and procedures, these are outdated and are not part of the legal consciousness of organisations, trade unions and Human Resources consultants. The ambiguous nature of the wording in the law itself and the lack of guidelines for organisations on how to implement them has resulted in tick-box compliance and organisations do not know if their policies are effective or not. Further the low penalties for sexual harassment behaviour means that there is no incentive for sexual harassment victims to raise complaints.</p>

Sexual harassment of critical care nurses: a costly workplace issue

1994 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
pp. 409-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Kaye ◽  
CG Donald ◽  
S Merker
Keyword(s):  
Critical Care ◽  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Sex Discrimination ◽  
Critical Care Nurses ◽  
Physical Contact ◽  
Policies And Procedures ◽  
Discrimination In Employment ◽  
The Media ◽  
Sexual Harassment Policies ◽  
Definition Of

BACKGROUND. Sexual harassment in the workplace is a prevalent form of impermissible sex discrimination in employment. The high profile of this issue in the media, together with laws prohibiting sexual harassment, have not prevented this problem for working nurses. OBJECTIVES. To describe and determine the extent of sexual harassment incidents experienced by nurses working in critical care areas, and to determine attitudes about, and presence of policies regarding, sexual harassment in hospitals. METHODS. For this descriptive study the federal government's definition of sexual harassment and a list of sexually harassing behaviors was mailed with a survey to 188 critical care nurses. RESULTS. Findings indicated that 46% of the respondents had been harassed. Offensive sexual remarks (56%), unwanted physical contact (53%), unwanted nonverbal attention (27%), requests for dates (16%), and sexual propositions (9%) were types of sexual harassment experienced. Sexual assault was experienced by one woman. Harassers were physicians (82%), coworkers (20%), or immediate supervisors (7%). A majority of the incidents (69%) were not reported. Most nurses (80%) had not received training, nor were there policies and procedures to follow in most cases for reporting harassment. CONCLUSIONS. These results suggest that many critical care nurses are harassed and that relatively few hospitals have sexual harassment policies known to employees. They also indicate that sexual harassment training, policies, and procedures are needed to provide a safe, healthy work environment for critical care nurses.

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