Sexual Harassment at School: Know
Your Rights
WHAT IS SEXUAL
HARASSMENT?
Sexual harassment is a serious
problem for students at all educational levels. Students
in elementary and secondary schools, as well as vocational
schools, apprenticeship programs, colleges and universities
can be victims of sexual harassment. This problem is
more common than you might think because many students
are scared or too embarrassed to report sexual harassment.
It is different from flirting, playing around, or other
types of behavior that you enjoy or welcome. Sexual harassment
can be requests for sexual favors or unwelcome sexual
behavior that is bad enough or happens often enough to
make you feel uncomfortable, scared or confused and that
interferes with your schoolwork or your ability to participate
in extracurricular activities or attend classes.
Sexual
harassment can be verbal (comments about your body, spreading
sexual rumors, sexual remarks or accusations, dirty jokes
or stories), physical (grabbing, rubbing, flashing or mooning,
touching, pinching in a sexual way, sexual assault) or
visual
(display of naked pictures or sex-related objects, obscene
gestures). Sexual harassment can happen to girls and boys.
Sexual harassers can be fellow students, teachers, principals,
janitors, coaches, and other school officials.
There are
two kinds of sexual harassment: quid pro quo and hostile
environment.
- Quid pro quo (in Latin it means “this
for that”) sexual harassment occurs when a teacher
or school employee offers you a better grade or treats
you better if you do something sexual. It could also be
a threat to lower your grade or treat you worse than other
students if you refuse to go along with a request for a
sexual favor. For example, if your teacher says, “I’ll
give you an ‘A’ if you go out with me,” or “I’ll
fail you in this class if you don’t have sex with
me,” this is sexual harassment.
Mary is a student
in Mr. Smith’s history
class. Mr. Smith is everyone’s favorite teacher,
but he has started to make Mary feel uncomfortable. He
asks her to come to his room alone after school to discuss
her schoolwork. When she shows up, he only talks about
how pretty she is and once or twice he put his hand on
her knee. He always asks for a hug before she leaves. He
is now suggesting that they hold these after school meetings
at a café in town.
He tells her that she must continue to attend these extra
discussion sessions if she wants to earn a good grade
in his class.
- Hostile environment sexual harassment
occurs when unwanted sexual touching, comments, and/or
gestures are so bad or occur so often that it interferes
with your schoolwork, makes you feel uncomfortable or
unsafe at school, or prevents you from participating
in or benefiting from a school program or activity. This
type of harassment does not have to involve a threat
or promise of benefit in exchange for a sexual favor.
The harassment can be from your teacher, school officials,
or other students.
Luis gets constant attention from a
particular group of girls in his high school. They send
him sexually explicit notes, blow kisses at him, and
rub up against him in the hallway. They wait for him
when he gets off the school bus and when he gets out
of class. They always seem to show up wherever he is.
Someone keeps calling his house, asking for him and then
hanging up, and Luis is sure it’s those
girls. He has even seen them drive by his house in the
afternoon. At first, he thought it was funny, but it’s
starting to embarrass and frustrate him. He’s started
to avoid going out so he won’t have to
see them, and he’s pretended to be sick a few times
so he didn’t have to go to school.
Diana’s
school soccer team coach is constantly telling her sexual
jokes and making suggestive comments. During practice,
he whistles and winks at her when she runs by him. Diana
told the coach that his behavior makes her uncomfortable,
but he responded by saying that she needs to learn how
to accept compliments. Recently, he showed her a calendar
of bikini-clad female athletes and told her she is sexy
enough to pose for such a magazine. She is thinking of
quitting the soccer team just to avoid the coach.
Elisha
is a student in a science class where Mr. Burns is a
teacher-in-training. Elisha uses a wheelchair and usually
has to wait for her aide after class. Mr. Burns often
waits with her and at first she liked talking with him.
He says she inspires him and sometimes strokes her hair.
Their conversations have included him asking questions
about her body, how it works, and what things she can
do. One day he confessed being curious about whether
girls like her can have sex when they’re old enough.
When Elisha said talking about that with him was weird,
he got flustered and said he would make sure she got
an A if she didn’t mention their conversation to
anyone
Sexual Harassment
is Against the Law
Federal Law:
The federal law prohibiting sexual harassment in schools
is Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title
IX), which prohibits any person, on the basis of sex,
to be subjected to discrimination in an educational program
or activity receiving federal
financial assistance. The law applies to any academic,
extracurricular (student organizations and athletics),
research, occupational training, and other educational
programs from pre-school to graduate school that receives
or benefits from federal funding. The entire institution
falls under Title IX even if only one program or activity
receives federal funds.
Under Title IX, a school is required
to have and distribute a policy against sex discrimination,
particularly one that addresses sexual harassment. Such
a policy lets students, parents, and employees know that
sexual harassment will not be tolerated. A school is also
required to adopt and publish grievance procedures for
resolving sex discrimination complaints, including complaints
of sexual harassment. This provides an effective means
for promptly and appropriately responding to sexual harassment
complaints.
Title IX also requires that schools evaluate
current policies and practices to ensure the institution
is in compliance with Title IX. Schools are also required
to appoint at least one employee responsible for coordinating
Title IX compliance efforts.
Finally, it is illegal to intimidate, threaten,
or coerce a person who has taken action under Title IX.
California
State Law:
The Sex Equity in Education Act of California’s Educational
Equity Laws prohibits sex discrimination, including sexual
harassment, in any California academic, athletic, extracurricular,
research or financial aid program that receives state money.
The California Sex Equity in Education Act requires that
educational institutions of the state have a written policy
on sexual harassment that is distributed to students, faculty,
and parents. This statement must include information on
where to obtain the specific rules and procedures for reporting
charges of sexual harassment and for pursuing available
remedies.
Other States Laws:
Most states have a law that prohibits sexual harassment
in schools. Contact your local branch of the Office of
Civil Rights for more information on these laws. (See
Resources.)
What can I do if I am being
sexually harassed?
Some students who are being
sexually harassed are too embarrassed to voice a complaint,
are intimidated by their harasser, or think that little
can be done to end the harassment. Many students think
that it is not a serious problem and that it will stop
if they just ignore it. These are all understandable reactions
to difficult situations. Sexual harassment, however, is
a serious issue. Many students who have been sexually harassed
report a drop in their grades, and some students have had
to transfer to a different school, drop classes, or leave
school altogether.
WHAT CAN I DO?
If you think you are being sexually harassed, you need
to tell someone who can help you stop it. Here are some
things you and/or your parents can do:
- Don’t blame yourself. The person who is harassing
you is the one doing something wrong and you haven’t
done anything to cause the harassment, even if you flirted
with this person or liked him/her.
- Say “No” Clearly. Tell
the person who is harassing you that his/her behavior
offends you. They may not realize how hurtful their behavior
is and may need a clear message from you to stop. If
the harassment does not end, promptly write a letter
asking the harasser to stop. Keep a copy of the letter.
- Write down what happened. When someone harasses
you or makes you feel uncomfortable, write it down in
a notebook that is just for this purpose. Write down
what happened, the date it happened, where it happened,
and who else may have seen or heard the harassment. Also
write down what you did in response, and how the harassment
made you feel. Do not write other information in this
notebook, such as appointments or homework assignments.
Save any notes or pictures the harasser sent you. It
is a good idea to keep the record somewhere besides school,
such as your home or another safe place.
- Report the Harassment. It
is very important that you tell your parents or another
adult, like a teacher or guidance counselor, about the
harassment. If you want the school to do something about
the harassment, you MUST tell a school official, such
as the principal, that you are being sexually harassed.
If you do not feel comfortable telling the school official
yourself, get the help of your parents, a teacher, guidance
counselor or another adult to go with you. If you and/or
your parents tell a school official verbally, also do
it in writing and keep a copy for yourself. If the first
school official (like the principal) doesn’t respond,
go to the school board or Superintendent to complain.
The law says the school has to stop sexual harassment
of a student whether the harasser is a teacher or another
student(s) but the school is only required to stop the
harassment if someone in authority at the school knows
what is happening to you. So you MUST report the harassment
to a school official.
- Consult the school grievance policies
and Title IX officer. Your school is supposed
to have a policy against sexual harassment. Obtain and
review a copy of the policy. The Title IX grievance policy
may also give you a list of the type of behavior that
the school considers to be sexual harassment. Find out
from your school who the Title IX officer is for your
school or district. You should be able to ask him or
her questions about how to complain, and to whom.
- File
a Complaint With a Government Agency. If nothing happens
after complaining to school officials, you and your parents
can file a complaint against the school with the U.S.
Department of Education’s
Office of Civil Rights (OCR). Generally, you must file
a complaint with the OCR within 180 days of an act of
discrimination. You can call them, and they will explain
how to file a complaint. (Contact information is listed
below.)
- File a Lawsuit. You can also file
a lawsuit against the school. If you want to do this,
you should look into it quickly, because there are time
limits for filing a lawsuit. In California, you must
file a lawsuit within 2 years of an act of discrimination.
Other states’ time limits vary from 1 to 6 years.
If you have any questions about finding a lawyer or filing
a lawsuit, you can call Equal Rights Advocates free Advice & Counseling
Line at 800/839-4ERA. (See information below.)
It is important to remember that retaliation for
taking action under Title IX is illegal. If you feel
that someone is mistreating you or treating you unfairly
because you have complained about discrimination, you should
contact the Office of Civil Rights.
Equal Rights Advocates
Can Help:
ERA provides a toll-free multi-lingual Advice
and Counseling Line (1-800-839-4372), where you can receive
advice and information on your legal rights. All calls
are confidential.
Resources
Office
of Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education
(The federal agency that enforces school sexual harassment
laws)
800-421-3481: National toll-free hotline to report any
educational discrimination, to
request information on civil rights compliance programs
and procedures for filing
discrimination complaints.
415-556-4275: San Francisco, CA local office
www.ed.gov/offices/OCR/index.html
All other states, check
the U.S. government pages of the telephone book for your
local
offices.
EQUAL RIGHTS ADVOCATES
1663 Mission Street, Suite 250
San Francisco, CA, 94103
Phone: (415) 621-0672
Fax: (415) 621-6744
www.equalrights.org
Advice and Counseling:
(415) 621-0505
1-800-839-4372
Equal Rights Advocates' mission is to protect
and secure equal rights and economic
opportunities for women and girls through litigation
and advocacy.
NATIONAL WOMEN’S LAW CENTER
11 Dupont Circle NW, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 588-5180
www.nwlc.org
The National Women's Law Center works to protect
and advance the progress of women
and girls at work, in school, and in virtually every
aspect of their lives.
NOW LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND
395 Hudson Street, 5th floor
New York, NY 10014
(212) 925-6635
www.nowldef.org
NOW Legal Defense works to enforce girls'
equal access to education. Their work in this
area focuses on how sexual harassment in schools operates
as a barrier to equal
education.
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN
1111 Sixteenth St. N.W.
Washington, DC 20036
800/326-AAUW(2289)
www.aauw.org
The AAUW promotes equity for all women and
girls, lifelong education, and positive
societal change.
SAN FRANCISCO WOMEN AGAINST RAPE
3543 18th Street, #7
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 861-2024
24-Hour Crisis Hotline: (415) 647-RAPE
info@sfwar.org
San Francisco Women Against Rape supports
survivors of rape, sexual assault, and
sexual harassment, their friends and family members,
and uses education and community
organizing as tools of prevention.
