Definitions
Sexual harassment is defined as “verbal expressions, attitudes and other forms of behavior with sexual content without the consent of the other party even though they do not entail physical contact”
- ‘Depending on the environment and context in which the incident took place, persistently repeated acts or a single act could be considered sexual harassment.
- Continuity is not a prerequisite. People of any sexual orientation and age can be subjected to sexual harassment.
- Sexual harassment can take many forms.
- Some forms of sexual harassment, although not entirely inclusive, include: sexual threats, gender harassment, hostile environment harassment and unwanted sexual attention and intimacy.
- The most common types of sexual harassment that occur on campuses include: retaliation, stalking and promise of reward.
- Retaliation: Deliberately creating difficulties for individuals, explicitly or implicitly, in their workplace or educational environment for the purpose of revenge when someone refuses attempts or requests for sexual or emotional contact, or files or wishes to file a complaint of harassment.
- Stalking: The act of repeatedly following another person without the person’s consent, standing for long periods in front of his/her home, school, workplace, following someone through the streets at a distance or too closely, carrying out investigations to access someone’s personal information and intimate details of his/her daily life and using this information to harass an individual.
- Promise of Reward: The promise that the person will be rewarded with prizes, promotions, grades, or similar gains, which are undeserved, as a result of giving consent to a sexual or emotional act or a sexual offer.
Sexual assault is defined as ’violation of a person’s bodily integrity through non-consensual sexual acts’.
Sexual assault is considered to be the violation of o person’s bodily integrity by being exposed to a physical act of sexual nature through violence such as physical and/or psychological force, threats, fear, oppression, deception, and misleading. The concept of ‘consent’ is important in defining violation of rights, psychological harassment, sexual harassment, and sexual assault. Overt or implied consent that is obtained through the use of physical and/or psychological force, threats, fear, oppression, deception, and misleading, and that is obtained by using title and/or position, cannot be accepted as consent. A person’s silence should not be considered consent. Continuity of the consent is essential and consent is irrevocable.
Discrimination is defined as an act of gender-based arbitrary or unjust treatment, and thereby victimization, of a person. More specifically, it means treating a person or group in the same or similiar position less favourably than others or victimizing them on an arbitrary basis, on the grounds of gender identity or sexual orientation.