Sexual Harassment
The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the States of Washington and California regard sexual harassment as a form of sex/gender discrimination and, therefore, as an unlawful discriminatory practice. Bastyr University has adopted the following definition of sexual harassment, in order to address the special environment of an academic community.
Sexual harassment is:
- unwelcome,
- sexual, sex-based and/or gender-based,
- verbal, written, online and/or physical conduct
Anyone experiencing sexual harassment in any University program is encouraged to report it immediately to the Title IX Coordinator.
Sexual harassment may be disciplined when it takes the form of quid pro quo harassment, retaliatory harassment and/or creates a hostile environment.
A hostile environment is created when sexual harassment is:
- Sufficiently severe or pervasive, and
- Objectively offensive, such that it unreasonably interferes with, denies or limits someone’s ability to participate in or benefit from the University’s educational program.
Quid Pro Quo Sexual Harassment:
Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature by a person having power or authority over another constitutes sexual harassment when submission to such sexual conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of rating or evaluating an individual’s educational development or performance.
Sexual Misconduct
State law defines various violent and/or non-consensual sexual acts as crimes. While some of these acts may have parallels in criminal law, Bastyr University has defined categories of sex/gender discrimination as sexual misconduct, as stated below, for which action under this policy may be imposed. Generally speaking, Bastyr University considers Non-Consensual Sexual Intercourse violations to be the most serious of these offenses, and therefore typically imposes the most severe sanctions, including suspension or expulsion. However, the University reserves the right to impose any level of sanction, ranging from a reprimand up to and including suspension or expulsion, for any act of sexual misconduct or other sex/gender-based offenses, including intimate partner (dating and/or domestic) violence, non-consensual sexual contact and/or stalking based on the facts and circumstances of the particular allegation. Acts of sex-ual misconduct may be committed by any person upon any other person, regardless of the sex, sexual orientation and/or gender identity of those involved.
Violations include:
- Sexual Harassment (as defined above)
- Non-Consensual Sexual Intercourse, defined as:
- any sexual intercourse
- however slight
- with any object by a person upon another person
- that is without consent and/or by force
- Sexual intercourse includes:
- Vaginal or anal penetration by a penis, tongue, finger or object, or oral copulation (mouth to genital contact) no matter how slight the penetration or contact.
- Non-Consensual Sexual Contact, defined as:
- any sexual intercourse
- however slight
- with any object
- by a person upon another person
- that is without consent and/or by force
- Sexual touching includes:
- Intentional contact with the breasts, groin, or genitals, mouth or touching another with any of these body parts, or making another touch you or themselves with or on any of these body parts; or
- Any other bodily contact in a sexual manner.
Sexual Exploitation
Sexual Exploitation refers to a situation in which a person takes non-consensual or abusive sexual advantage of another, and that behavior does not otherwise fall within the definitions of Sexual Harassment, Non-Consensual Sexual Intercourse or Non-Consensual Sexual Contact.
Force and Consent
Force: Force is the use of physical violence and/or imposing on someone physically to gain sexual access. Force also includes threats, intimidation (implied threats) and coercion that overcome resistance or produce consent.
Coercion is unreasonable pressure for sexual activity. Coercive behavior differs from seductive behavior based on the type of pressure someone uses to get consent from another. When someone makes clear to you that they do not want sex, that they want to stop, or that they do not want to go past a certain point of sexual interaction, continued pressure beyond that point can be coercive.
NOTE: Silence or the absence of resistance alone is not consent. There is no requirement on a party to resist the sexual advance or request, but resistance is a clear demonstration of non-consent. The presence of consent is not demonstrated by the absence of resistance. Sexual activity that is forced is by definition non-consensual, but non-consensual sexual activity is not by definition forced.
Consent: Consent is knowing, voluntary, and clear permission by word or action to engage in mutually agreed upon sexual activity. Since individuals may experience the same interaction in different ways, it is the responsibility of each party to make certain that the other has consented before engaging in the activity. For consent to be valid, there must be a clear expression in words or actions that the other individual consented to that specific sexual conduct. Con-sent can be withdrawn once given, as long as the withdrawal is clearly communicated.
Consent to some sexual contact (such as kissing or fondling) cannot be presumed to be consent for other sexual activity (such as intercourse). A current or previous dating relationship is not sufficient to constitute consent. The existence of consent is based on the totality of the circumstances, including the con-text in which the alleged incident occurred and any similar previous patterns that may be evidenced.
Incapacitation: A person cannot consent if they are unable to understand what is happening or is disoriented, helpless, asleep or unconscious for any reason, including due to alcohol or other drugs. An individual who engages in sexual activity when the individual knows, or should know, that the other person is physically or mentally incapacitated has violated this policy.
It is not an excuse that the responding party was intoxicated and, therefore, did not realize the incapacity of the reporting party.
Incapacitation is defined as a state where someone cannot make rational, reasonable decisions because they lack the capacity to give knowing/informed consent (e.g., to understand the “who, what, when, where, why or how” of their sexual interaction). This policy also covers a person whose incapacity results from mental disability, involuntary physical restraint and/or from the taking of incapacitating drugs.
In Washington State, a minor (meaning a person under the age of 16 years) cannot consent to sexual activity. In California, the age of consent is 18. This means that sexual contact by an adult with a person younger than the age of consent may be a crime, and a potential violation of this policy, even if the minor wanted to engage in the act.