Sexual Harassment Essay, Research Paper
Sexually Harassment at Clark Atlanta University
For many years issues regarding sexual harassment has been kept quiet
and swept underneath the rug. However, presently, more and more
people are speaking up and out about being sexually harassed. In the
schools, students, as well as, teachers are informed of the school s sexual
harassment policy and that it is not to be tolerated in any form or fashion.
Also, since sexual harassment has become an major issue in the
workplace, men and women are told about a company s policy of
sexual harassment at the time of the company s orientation. They are also
educated about the consequences behind such undesirable behavior or
acts, which could lead to job termination or probation with a company.
Hence, more and more companies are gradually doing away with
employee-employee relationships on the job, especially if one of the
employees hold a high position or a certain status. In any event, when
filing a sexual harassment complaint their are specific procedures that a
person must follow. These procedures varies form institution to institution.
This paper will evaluate the proper procedure in filing a sexual harassment
complaint at Clark Atlanta University and the reaction received from the
administration and students when such accusations are brought before
the public.
In filing a sexual harassment complaint at Clark Atlanta University one
must follow specific guidelines. First, anyone who feels that he or she has
been the victim of sexual harassment should contact the Director of
Human Resources in Harkness Hall within 15 working days of the incident.
The report can be made verbally or written. If the report is written they
must submitted a signed statement of the complaint within (3) working
days.
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Secondly, after the Director has received the complaint, they will contact
the person who allegedly initiated the sexual harassment and give them
(7) working days to respond to the complaint. Thirdly, upon receiving the
response from the alleged person, the Director carefully reads the
response and facts and summaries the complaint. She then sends this
summary to Provost. Provost after reviewing the facts of the investigation,
which includes interviews with all parties involved, will determine if sexual
harassment has occurred or not. Then all parties will receive a written
notice of Provost decision.
Fourth, if Provost does decided that sexual harassment took place severe
disciplinary action including discharge will be taken. This act depends on
the severity and frequency of the offense filed. Finally, if he or she fail to
file a written complaint after verbally making the sexual harassment
report within (3) working day will be considered to be a withdrawal. Also,
if the person whom the complaint was filed against fails to respond in (7)
working days, disciplinary measure will be taken under these
circumstances.
In addition, in my pursuit to filing a sexual harassment complaint at
Clark, I decided to do an experiment involving my physical appearance.
Meaning, I changed from my normal attire into an attire that most would
probably be consider inappropriate. The intent of my experiment was to
capture the administrations nonverbal cues such as their facial expression
and body language directed towards me when both the students and
the administration hear the topic of discussion. Unfortunately, nonverbal
cues often discourage victims from filing a sexual harassment complaint.
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The victim may feel as if they are treated like the offender instead of the
victim. So, in search to find out whether the administration s nonverbal
cues were going to be warm, cold, compassionate, or neutral; I wore an
slightly inappropriate attire. As my friend and I walked into the students
affair office, I noticed to my right a lady seating behind a desk and
another women sitting in front of her in a chair. I told the lady seating
behind the desk that my name was Keisha Avis and I wanted to know
the proper procedure in filing a sexual harassment complaint. Waiting for
her response and watching for her nonverbal cues , I received a kind of
distant, but cold stare. The lady began to talk, but her focus was not on
me. She kept fumbling around with papers on her desk and I barely got
any eye to eye contact. She informed me that the person whom I should
speak to about this matter was out of town at the moment and would not
be back until tomorrow. At that moment, I asked the lady is their anyway
that the person whom I needed to speak with could see me tomorrow on
account of I have a research paper to write and I needed to get more
information about filing a sexual harassment complaint at Clark. After I
told her this complaint was dealing with a research paper that I had to do
for a class, she made a comment which I considered to be disturbing.
She said, I m glad that this was a paper because Clark did not need
anymore negativity. All of a sudden, her perception of me seemed to
change, not to mention, her nonverbal cues. Her I eye-to-eye contact
became stronger and the tone in her voice lightened up a little. She
seemed to be more eager to help me now than she did previously.
Furthermore, I came back to that office the next day and the person
whom I was suppose to speak with was still not there. I asked the lady
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whom I spoke with the day before was there anyone else that I could
address about this matter. She assisted my friend and I to another lady
who s office was on the left. We enter into the office and I again
introduced myself to her and I told her that I wanted to find out the
proper procedure in filing a sexual harassment complaint. She replied, I
honestly do not know what the procedure is when filing a sexual
harassment complaint at Clark, but it is handle in Harkness Hall on the 2nd
floor in the Human Resource Office. So, my friend and I walked to
Harkness Hall to the Human Resource Office and again I introduced
myself to the two ladies sitting in the office. I informed them of the reason
for me being there, which was to file an sexual harassment complaint.
Again, looking for nonverbal cues I received a bland and expressionless
facial expression from the both of t
the Student Affairs Office told me to as for Ms. Blank and said that she
could help me with this matter. One of the ladies spoke up and said, I m
Ms. Blank. I proceeded to tell her that I was doing a research paper on
this topic and I needed to get more information about this subject. She
said, the only thing that I can do is give you a card with the person in
charge name and extention and you should call them back some time
tomorrow. So, the next day I call the person in charge and she basically
told me that the information I needed was in the student handbook and
that the information she would give me about the procedure in filing a
sexual harassment complaint would be right out the student handbook as
well. Then, I asked her could she confer any information about sexual
harassment complaints that have been filed in the past. She told me that
she could not because she was not sure if she could release that kind of i
avis, 5
information and that she would have to speak with the Director of
Human Resources before doing so.
Finally, I contacted Public Safety and told them that I wanted to know
the procedure in filing a sexual harassment complaint and Sergeant Reid
instructed me to come down to her office to talk. At her office, she gave
me information about Clark s procedure in filing a sexual harassment
complaint. She also informed that last year Clark only had one filed
sexual harassment case. Public safety s definition of sexual harassment
involves physical contact between the two parties.
She enlightened me in regards to a case involving a teacher and
student. The young lady at the University claimed that a teacher fondled
her breasts one day in his office while they were going over some
classwork. She reported this to Human Resources and the Director of
human resources notified the teacher and instructed him to report to the
public safety office at a specific date and time. When the teacher was
asked about the charges brought against him; he admitted to committing
the charges, but claimed that they were mutual. Public Safety filed a
case against him and both parties had to go to court. Public safety also
found out that a colleague of his filed a similar complaint in reference to
sexual harassment. Unfortunately, public safety does not know the
outcome of the court case. In 1998 two cases of sexual harassment were
reported and filed with public safety. One dealing with an off-campus
stalking. A girl on campus was being harassed by someone who did not
attend the university. The other case dealt with domestic violence. A
couple at the university spilt up and the young men in the relationship did
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not want to leave the young lady alone. He made obscene gestures to
her, as well as, comments involving their love life.
Moreover, I interviewed 50 students at Clark, 25 males and 25 females.
I asked both groups have they ever been sexually harassed physically or
verbally. Sixteen of the females reported have be sexually harassed
verbally, 7 reported to have been sexual harassed physically, and 2
reported that have never been sexually harassed. When I interviewed
the males on campus, all 25 of them reported that they have never been
sexually harassed physically or verbally.
In conclusion, in my pursuit of filing a sexual harassment complaint at
Clark Atlanta University, I feel very discouraged. I honestly feel that
Clark s administration handled themselves inadequately. Some of the
administration staff did know of their institution s policies or procedure and
were not helpful in helping me find knowledge pertaining to my situation.
Their nonverbal cues were desolate. I felt like they were not really
concerned with the accusation I brought forth to them. I assume my
appearance played an important role in their efforts in helping with this
matter. I gather that the administration let their perception and first
impression of me influence their nonverbal responses towards me. My
clothes conveyed one message of me, but my personality conveyed
another. I can only imagine the thoughts that may have crossed their
minds when I told them that I want to know the procedure in filing a
sexual harassment compliant. All in all, from my own personal
experience, I do not feel confident in filing a sexual harassment complaint
at Clark. I seriously, doubt that I will be treated fairly. I believe that
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people s personal judgments will interfere with the proper procedure of
filing a sexual harassment complaint. However, I could be wrong! For many years issues regarding sexual harassment has been kept quiet
and swept underneath the rug. However, presently, more and more
people are speaking up and out about being sexually harassed. In the
schools, students, as well as, teachers are informed of the school s sexual
harassment policy and that it is not to be tolerated in any form or fashion.
Also, since sexual harassment has become an major issue in the
workplace, men and women are told about a company s policy of
sexual harassment at the time of the company s orientation. They are also
educated about the consequences behind such undesirable behavior or
acts, which could lead to job termination or probation with a company.
Hence, more and more companies are gradually doing away with
employee-employee relationships on the job, especially if one of the
employees hold a high position or a certain status. In any event, when
filing a sexual harassment complaint their are specific procedures that a
person must follow. These procedures varies form institution to institution.
This paper will evaluate the proper procedure in filing a sexual harassment
complaint at Clark Atlanta University and the reaction received from the
administration and students when such accusations are brought before
the public.
In filing a sexual harassment complaint at Clark Atlanta University one
must follow specific guidelines. First, anyone who feels that he or she has
been the victim of sexual harassment should contact the Director of
Human Resources in Harkness Hall within 15 working days of the incident.
The report can be made verbally or written. If the report is written they
must submitted a signed statement of the complaint within (3) working
days.