While a noticeable decrease in incidents of sexual harassment at the University validates continued efforts to educate faculty and staff, most experts say the majority of cases still go unreported.
Sid Moore, a human rights investigator for the office of affirmative action, said representatives from his office try to attend as many individual department meetings as possible to answer questions and clarify University, state and federal sexual harassment laws and policies. He makes efforts to talk to Graduate Teaching Fellows in each department, too.
He said educational efforts such as these are in part responsible for the decline in reported sexual harassment cases over the last six years. He also attributes the decline to “several high-profile cases that have resulted in people — including tenured faculty members and high-level administrators — being terminated.”
One such case was filed against former Vice Provost Gerry Moseley and the University in September 1995. David Reed, who was a 22-year-old undergraduate at the time, accused Moseley of making “unwanted sexual contact” with him in December 1994 at the vice provost’s rental property in Florence, where Reed was doing maintenance work.
A settlement was reached in January 1996, but court records were sealed at Reed’s request. Moseley is no longer an employee at the University.
News of this case became available only because Reed filed a lawsuit in Lane County Circuit Court. Normally, sexual harassment grievances are handled within the University’s grievance process, which is strictly confidential. Only a few administrators are even notified when a formal grievance is filed. Any sanctions imposed on a faculty member for sexual harassment are also kept under wraps. Sanctions, which can range from probation to termination, become part of an employees personnel file and are not open to inspection.
Sexual harassment grievances filed through the University Office of Affirmative Action & Equal Opportunity have declined since 1994, when 10 were filed. In the last year, however, Sexual Assault Support Services (SASS) reported a 20 percent increase in calls to its 24-hour support and crisis hotline. In addition, the U.S. Department of Justice reports an increase in sexual violence, while other crimes have decreased.
There are basically two kinds of sexual harassment, Moore said. The first kind — trading grades for sexual favors — used to be the most common. These are the “go out with me or you’ll fail my class” types of sexual harassment, he said.
Now the most common kind of sexual harassment is the creation of a hostile environment through offensive comments or materials.
“I admonish [University employees] not to engage in these behaviors,” Moore said.
In addition, Moore reminds faculty members that they should be reporting any incidences of sexual harassment to his office.
“I advise them — strongly advise them — that if a student comes to them with these things, that they can and should be reporting these things to us,” he said.
Moore noted that the severity of the sexual harassment grievances he sees has declined along with the number of grievances. Moore’s office recorded three sexual harassment grievances in 1999 and one thus far in 2000, but “it’s still very underreported — that’s common knowledge across the country,” he added.
There are many reasons for victims of sexual harassment to remain silent. Associate Dean of Students Laura Blake Jones, said victims of sexual harassment often have lots of difficult things to deal with including emotional, health and academic problems as a result of their ordeal. Making a formal complaint is not always high on the person’s list of priorities.
“There’s a whole myriad of things that people need support around,” she said. The Office of Student Life is one of many resources on campus and off that provide support for victims of sexual violence, including harassment.
“We’re trying to work on underreporting,” she said. “It’s a fine line between wanting underreporting to go away and respecting a student who wants to not report for various reasons.”
Victims of sexual harassment are often sought out by alleged perpetrators because they may be vulnerable, accessible or lack credibility, said Sheryl Eyster, associate director of the Office of Student Life.
Sexual harassment cases often come down to “he said, she said” scenarios. In this situation, decisions are often made based on the credibility of the parties involved, she said.
Hilary Berkman, director of the Office of Student Advocacy, an ASUO program, said her office can provide assistance to students who have been sexually harassed and are trying to prepare their cases.
In addition, the OSA can refer victims interested in taking action against the University to outside agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Bureau of Labor and Industries or private attorneys in the area who specialize in civil rights cases.
Katie Antos, community education coordinator for SASS, said that victims of sexual harassment who come forward are often blamed for what has happened. They’re not rewarded for reporting and they fear that nothing will happen to the harasser.
But Antos said asking why people choose not to report sexual harassment is the wrong approach. People are failing to ask key questions such as, “Why does the offender harass? And what is it about our society that makes it okay to harass?”
“This is a significant social problem, and it’s one we need to talk about,” she said.
Antos suggests that people raise their awareness about sexual harassment, become aware of stereotypes and stop sexist jokes. She added that people should “never support the idea that someone is to blame if they’ve been harassed.”