Sexual Harassment and Assault Resources

Sexual harassment is a form of unlawful discrimination and is defined to include unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. Sexual Harassment may involve pressure from a person of any gender against a person of another or the same gender. Examples of sexual harassment include (but are not limited to):

• sexual innuendos, comments, or remarks about an individual’s clothing, body, sexual activities or sexual orientation;
• suggestive or insulting sounds or body motions or humor and jokes of a sexual nature;
• offensive sexual flirting, sexual propositions, or other pressure for sexual intimacy;
• implicit or explicit threats to engage in unwelcome acts of sexual nature;
• sexually demeaning of suggestive photographs, cartoons, or graffiti, which create a hostile work or educational environment;
• graphic commentary about an individual’s body, sexual prowess or presumed sexual deficiencies;
• derogatory or demeaning comments directed to one’s gender;
• derogatory or demeaning comments about one’s sexual orientation.

Sexual harassment is any behavior, comment, gesture, or contact of a sexual nature that could be considered objectionable or offensive. It can embarrass or hurt. It is a form of discrimination that often starts with subtle comments or actions and may escalate to sexual misconduct and assault. It can be an isolated incident or be many incidents over a period of time. It can affect someone’s school or job performance, self-esteem, sense of safety, and cause emotional and health issues.

AT HIRAM

• Students who feel they have been the victim of sexual harassment from another student should contact the Dean of Student’s Office, Residential Education, or Campus Safety and discuss the options of filing a report. Alleged violators of the sexual harassment policy will be sent through the judicial process and may face disciplinary action.
• Students who feel they have been the victim of sexual harassment from a faculty or staff member should contact the Executive Director of Human Resources, who will investigate and adjudicate any harassment or sexual misconduct complaints involving faculty and staff behavior.
• When sexual misconduct occurs, the College sees the health and wellbeing of the victim(s) as the immediate and primary concern. Since time is crucially important in situations like this, the College educates and encourages any employee who finds themselves in this situation to report the incident as soon as possible to the Executive Director of Human Resources.
• If the victim, witness, friend, or family member is reporting an incident after normal business hours, please notify any Campus Safety Officer (330.469.4119 or x6107 on campus). This staff member will put you in direct contact with the Executive Director of Human Resources as soon as possible.