Beyond the Rhetoric of Sexual Harassment Policy to Good Leadership in Higher Education Institutions: Case Study, University for Development Studies

Purpose: Sexual harassment has been working itself up as a social canker where women are widely abused. Regrettably, this menace has been systematically ignored by the relevant authorities. Sexual harassment has gained currency in institutions of higher learning for several reasons. The study is limited to sexual harassment of females since this is pervasive and systematic. The paper investigates the extent of sexual harassment in contemporary times, its impact on the learning environment of higher education institutions. The paper also attempts to identify perpetrators of this heinous act. The study uses the University for Development Studies as case study. The writer closely examines the Sexual Harassment Policy of the University which only became operational in 2018.Methodology: A qualitative research design was employed. The population was the student leadership (Student Representative Council- SRC) of the multi-campus structure of the University for Development Studies (40), Simple random sampling technique was used to draw a sample size of 8 from which qualitative data was obtained using interview schedules for the four (4) Campuses of the University. Direct-observations and interviews of some key persons in the University was also employed.Results: The study revealed some weaknesses of the policy and concludes that the policy per se does not guarantee a complete protection for victims of sexual abuses. This therefore leaves much to be desired. Unique Contribution to theory, practice and policy: The paper therefore draws attention to this handicap that indeed, the policy may be in the right direction, but in itself not a sufficient bulwark against sexual harassment on campus. The writer therefore advocates extra guarantees or interventions for the University for Development Studies, whose policy on sexual harassment only recently became operational. Additional safeguards are recommended and above all a committed leadership to make the sexual harassment policy work

#METOO

The #MeToo hashtag is a welcome contemporary addition to the long struggle to end sexual harassment against women. An American Academy of Religion (AAR) iteration of this struggle began at the first meeting of the Committee on the Status of Women in the Profession (SWP) in 1990. One of the issues the members considered was to create a sexual harassment policy for the AAR; it was the discussion of the sexual harassment policy at that first meeting that first unfolded the deep layers of harm that women of the academy had endured over the years.