Sexual Harassment
Under federal regulation, college and
universities are liable for sexual harassment perpetrated by their faculty or
staff, regardless of whether the advance is accepted or rejected. Please share
how and why students might feel uncomfortable about coming forward with
information about inappropriate advances made by a staff or faculty?
I think the biggest reason students are scared to admit an advance, is the threats to their grade in the class. It is an adult vs. a student, where adults are generally more trusted. There is also a feeling of shame or wrongness to the student; they don't want to be known as the kid who was in the news for sexual harassment by a "trusted" adult.
ReplyDeleteI think some students may be afraid of the after effect ,that they think will come. In some cases the victim may believe that they wont be taken seriously because are merely a student and this a faculty member.In some cases they may also not wanted to be treated differently or become alienated by what happened.
ReplyDeleteI think that students would feel uncomfortable or have a hard time coming forward with this kind of information because it is a truly awkward situation. What are you supposed to do? If you bring this information to the head of the school, that faculty/staff individual will find out, which would not be good. It could put you into danger because it would get the faulty/staff individual mad and it could also jeopardize your grade for the class. This would probably cause you to get yourself out of the class, which would be a pain. Furthermore, this kind of information would spread, which would be embarrassing for the student. All in all, this is a difficult situation because there is no easy way out of it.
ReplyDeleteI think students might have trouble coming forward about sexual harassment from staff partly because it comes from someone they were taught to trust and feel safe around. They might want to avoid and awkward encounter if they were to see them again but i think mainly because they are scared of being told they are lying. I know many girls dont like coming out because they fear no one will believe them.
ReplyDeleteI think students may feel uncomfortable and afraid to about coming forward with information about inappropriate advances made by a staff or faculty because it puts them in a very vulnerable position. Normally, faculty or staff have more authority over the students in a class room setting. Even when a situation as severe as this occurs, students still fear that the faculty's words would be trusted over theirs. In the chances that this occurs, the student will have their academic career on the line and some are not willing to take that risk.
ReplyDeletei think it is because the faculty of the school might threaten the students with grades. having a bad grade might affect students life long. For example their final GPA for college applications, etc. Students will hesitate to tell others when it affects their life. also the reputation of the student won't be as good if he/she doesn't say anything. no one will know and nothing will occur to him/her.
ReplyDeleteA student could feel uncomfortable for many reasons regarding coming forward with a sexual harassment allegation. If it's a professor, they may be worried that it will negatively effect their grade. Even if the staff/faculty member isn't their professor, they could still be worried that the university wouldn't believe the student or sweep it under the rug for fear of bad publicity or losing a valuable staff member. This may also make the student feel that their peers will look at them differently after reporting such an incident.
ReplyDeleteStudents may feel uncomfortable speaking up about a sexual harrassment experience becasue they feel embarrassed about what happened to them. Aslo, many adults who sexually assult other young adults and teens threaten them into not speaking up about what happened and students might be worried about getting the staff member in trouble.
ReplyDeleteThere still exists an unfortunate stigma about being a victim of sexual assault. I think that in a situation that one is betrayed by someone that they are supposed to trust in such a dramatic and violent way would of course shatter that person's confidence in the institution that the abuser is supposed to represent. There is of course the threat of repercussions for coming out, and the fear of not being believed. It is a terrible situation that I think would hinder anyone's trust in anything, especially the system.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that being sexually assaulted has got to be an incredibly damaging and mentally scarring experience. I would assume that most people don't talk about it because they don't wish to dredge up those awful memories, nor do they want to discuss the traumatizing event with other people.
ReplyDeleteAny sexual harassment victim is strong for living with the scars that another person put on their life with traumatic events. Sexual assault victims are not the only victims of sexual harassment and I believe it is important that everyone understands that both can make a significant change in a student or person's life. I believe that it takes more strength than a non-victim will ever understand to stand up against the person who hurt you in this way. I think it can be difficult for students to speak up about staff or faculty because they have to face many people to explain their stories. I also think that it can be difficult to think about being forced testify against well liked teachers that no one would expect it from. It is hard to get people to hear your story when you are just a student who will come and go, and these are teachers that these colleges trust.
ReplyDeleteMost students would not come out if a faculty or staff member had approached them with a sexual advance(s) because of the fear that they will be punished academically by that person. Also, there is a fear that a superior faculty member would not do anything because that superior authority may assume under certain circumstances that the student may be lying in order to receive a better grade or any form of compensation. This is why most students will go to authorities such as the police and/or a lawyer in order to have a case that won't be dismissed.
ReplyDeleteHonestly i think this overall situation is just a weird one. It could cause major problems for you as a student because the faculty or staff member will find out and they might be very upset and could be out to get you or mess up your college career after that. It really is a weird situation and most likely kids won't say anything or just tell police.
ReplyDeleteI think students would feel uncomfortable about coming forward about this issue due to the fact that they might think they will still have to face the person who sexually harassed them or that whoever they tell won't believe them or do anything about it.
ReplyDeleteIf a student comes forth with the complaint of a faculty member sexually harassing them, I think that the feeling of being uncomfortable might come from knowing that people will hear. They might look at the victim, even, somewhat differently even if that's not what they want. The victim might be ashamed or not want to make a "big deal" out of it even though it would be a serious issue.
ReplyDeleteAlso, in the case where the victim had never before experienced sexual harassment, they might not know how to handle it.
I think most students would not come to a faculty or staff member to approach them with sexual harrassment because of the fear that they will be punished and a lot of hate by that person that sexually harassed them. Also, the fear that a superior faculty member would not do anything and they may assume under certain circumstances that the student may be lying in order to receive high attention. I think most students will not say anything to anybody just keep it to themselves because its very embarrassing and a awkward position to be in. If it escalates to the point where they can not tolerate it anymore than I think students will go to much higher authorities such as the police or a lawyer to plead their case to prove it actually happened and put that person to have to pay a lot of fines, or put the person who harassed the student in jail.
ReplyDeleteIn my experience, most of student may feel uncomfortable share about a sexual harassment experience in front of people. If it is a teacher in the class, student may think that it will effect their grade, and teacher will mean to student in the future. Also, student still want have a normal college life instead of other student will talk about the student who have a sexual harassment.
ReplyDeleteThey may feel uncomfortable because of fear of grades being damaged or no one believing the word of a student over the teacher. Which could make it very difficult for someone in that situation to come forward.
ReplyDeleteA student may be uncomfortable to come forward about a teacher that was sexually abusive for the simple fact that they have to be around them every day. Grades may also be at risk when the student opens up about what is going on.
ReplyDeletethere are many reasons someone might not feel comfortable admitting to an unwanted sexual advance, they might simply want to avoid the awkward situation of seeing that faculty member every day for the rest of the semester after you both know that you got them in trouble, they might be scared their grades would be affected, or they might just not want anyone to now that something like that happened to them.
ReplyDeleteSome people might not feel like they can go report sexual harassment from a faculty member because they think it will reflect on their grades. They feel like if all of the teachers will look down on them for reporting what happened and they will give them lower grades. Another possible reason is that they are embarrassed about what happened. Some people aren't comfortable to talk about sex or say anything about it especially to someone at their school.
ReplyDeleteOne of the biggest threats to this is trust. Studying in an insitution where you are meant to look up to the majority of the staff makes it hard to grasp that they are just people too, regardless of their masters and doctorates. Thus, creating a problem of superiority and inferiory between students and faculty when certain problems, like this one, are faced. Students may feel that because it was a faculty member the institution will not believe them or not care enough to do something about it. Most of the people affected by this think of the consequences of coming to terms and light of the actions that took place instead of just going to the authorities since what happened was illegal. Then again, this all depends on the individial but predetors tend to strike the weak for this very reason. They are less likely to get caught then if they cornered a strong personality.
ReplyDeleteI think the victim is afraid because of what's going to happen next. Sexual harassment is such a scary thing and can be looked at in so many different ways. The victim could be afraid that it somehow is their fault on what they were wearing, how drunk they were, if they're telling the truth, etc. and sometimes people don't want to deal with that and would rather just act like nothing happened. Especially being a staff/faculty member, telling someone could affect their grades or affect their life. They could feel like they would get in trouble somehow and I feel that is the main reason a victim doesn't tell.
ReplyDeleteI think most people are afraid because they don't want people to know. They are embarrassed by it and think people will look at them differently. Also, without evidence it's a faculty's word against a student's. Most victim's don't think people will believe them. Grades could also be at risk.
ReplyDeleteI think that students are afraid to come forward because they don't want to get the faculty member in trouble. Even though they might be uncomfortable with the situation, they might not wish the staff member to receive such a harsh punishment.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a big thing coming to terms with being sexually harassed. And it's hard to terms with. Also how it might affect grades.
ReplyDelete