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News

Students face harassment

Study finds sexual harassment an underreported problem on college campuses

by LORINDA ROBB
The Daily Cougar

Almost two-thirds of college students in the United States have endured some form of sexual harassment on campus, according to a report released last month.

The American Association of University Women's study "Drawing the Line: Sexual Harassment on Campus" found 62 percent of undergraduate students surveyed said they had been verbally or physically harassed while attending college, and only slightly more women than men had experienced unwanted sexual advances.

The report also found one-third of students reported having suffered unsolicited physical contact such as pinching, grabbing or body contact.

The report stated that 35 percent of female and 29 percent of male students have been sexually harassed.

Jesse Kelsey, a psychology and political science junior, said she wasn't surprised by the percentage of men who identified themselves as harassment victims in the survey, but she was disturbed.

"What this says about our society is that we're not even learning," Kelsey said. "You hear that women are treated badly, then do you expect women to treat (others) with respect?"

Of 49 UH students who responded to an informal survey conducted by The Daily Cougar, 8 percent said they had been on the receiving end of verbal harassment or unsolicited and persistent e-mails from other students. None of those students said they reported the problems to the University.

That lack of reporting echoes the findings of "Drawing the Line," which found 7 percent of students who had been subjected to harassment had reported it to their universities.

UH General Counsel Dona Hamilton said policies are in place at the University for students who believe they have been harassed, and cases are resolved based on their individual facts. Though there have only been three harassment complaints at UH in the last three years, the University doesn't discount the problem, Hamilton said.

"Is it a big problem (at UH)? No. Does it exist? Yes. But we take it seriously, and people know we take it seriously," she said.

The University's definition of sexual harassment in the Student Handbook states that "only unwelcome sexual conduct constitutes a violation." And though harassment usually happens when two people don't have the same power, it can also occur between two students or two employees with the same rank. 

In the Cougar survey, 12 percent of respondents said they knew about the University's policy on sexual harassment.

After receiving a complaint, the University can take informal or formal action, ranging from advising an individual about the scope of UH's sexual harassment policy to helping to arrange job resignations, along with other levels of action appropriate to each case.

Though University administrators look seriously at sexual harassment, some students said they don't think it's a problem. 

Katherine Acosta, a pre-nursing sophomore, said she has been sexually harassed at UH but did not report it because "it was just a nuisance."

English senior Charles Menefee said the line between benign flirtation and harassment can blur because some students "are not taught any common sense.

"It's harder for them to see where the line is," Menefee said. "I hear, ‘Hey, girl, what's your digits?' all the time. And it's always directed at the girls. A guy will persist in asking for information and won't quit, even after she says no. It's ridiculous."

Sexual harassment complaints should be filed within one year of the incident at the University's Office of Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunity, Room 153, Student Service Center 2. For more information, call (713) 743-8835.

-- Additional reporting by Sarah Stubbs
 

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