Transcript PowerPoint 簡報 - Lingnan University

Sexual
Harassment
on Campus
Margaret Wu
Training Consultant
Equal Opportunities Commission
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Scope of legislation
 Sex Discrimination Ordinance,
Cap. 480
 Sexual harassment unlawful
 Employment (section 23)
 Educational establishment
(section 39)
 Provision of goods, services
and facilities (section 40(1))
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Education Establishment
Educational establishment sexual
harassment (section 39)
 Student harasses student
 Responsible body or staff
harasses student, and vice versa
The law recognizes that sexual
harassment can occur between
same sex or different sex, and
that woman can harass man
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Defining
sexual harassment
 Two types of sexual harassment
1)Unwelcome conduct of a
sexual nature (不受歡迎涉及性
的行徑) directed at the victim
(section 2(5)(a))
2)Conduct of a sexual nature
creating a sexually hostile
work environment (在性方面
有敵意的工作環境) (section
2(5)(b))
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1) Unwelcome conduct of
a sexual nature
 Makes an unwelcome sexual
advance; or
 Makes an unwelcome request for
sexual favors; or
 Engages in other unwelcome
conduct of a sexual nature
 Gestures and conversations with
sexual meaning
 Jokes with sexual meaning
 Inappropriate physical contacts
 Yuen Sha Sha v Tse Chi Pun (1999,
HK): secret video
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1) Unwelcome conduct of
a sexual nature
Conduct is targeted at the
individual (victim)
A reasonable person, having
regard to all the circumstances,
would have anticipated that
the victim would be offended,
humiliated or intimidated
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Elements constituting
sexual harassment
 To constitute sexual harassment the
behaviour must be
 Unwelcomed (不受歡迎的);
 Sexual in nature (涉及性的); and
 Offensive (冒犯), humiliating
(侮辱) or intimidating (威嚇) to
the receiving end
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Determining
what’s unwelcome
 Unwelcome vs. Friendly Behaviour
 If the behaviour is perceived as
unwelcome it is no longer friendly
behaviour, e.g. (not limited to)
 The person did not solicit or
incite the conduct; or
 Regarded it as undesirable or
offensive; or
 Unwanted attention in a nonreciprocal relationship
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Ask these questions:
 Would my comments/behaviour
change if my spouse, child, sibling
or parent was in the room?
 Would I want someone else to use
the same language/behaviour with
my spouse, child, sibling or parent?
 Would I want any of my behaviours
to be the subject of a column in the
local newspaper or to appear on
the evening news?
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Conduct
“of a sexual nature”
 Have some sort of sexual
connotation
 Can be
 verbal, non-verbal or
physical
 blatant or subtle
 intentional or
unintentional
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Intent vs. Impact
 Intent is ordinarily irrelevant
 The fact that the person did
not intend to sexually harass
another is generally not
considered a defense
 It is the effect and
characteristics of behaviour
that matter
 A person’s failure to object to
certain sexual behaviour is not
considered a defense
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Reasonable Person
Standard
 No bright line test for determining
sexual harassment
 Reasonable Person Standard to
determine if the conduct would be
offensive to a person of average
sensitivities
 In the same or similar
circumstances as the victim (Man
on Bus)

Recognizing the difference
between how a person from
relevant gender might react to
same behaviours
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unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature
Examples/
on campus scenarios
 Jasmine was having trouble with her
economics class. She went to her
Teaching Assistant, Joshua, for extra
help. After a couple of tutorial
sessions, Joshua asked Jasmine out.
She declined it but he continued to
ask her out. Finally, Jasmine felt so
uncomfortable that she stopped
going for help and even skipped the
lectures. Joshua began to send her
notes and to ‘run into her’ in areas
where he did not go before.
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unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature
Examples/
on campus scenarios
 Cassidy liked wearing mini-skirts
and body-fitting outfits. She
seemed to enjoy the extra attention
she received from
others. When she led
class discussion for
History 101, several
of her classmates
from the back of the classroom
made sexually suggestive remarks,
called her a “pork chop” and pointed
and leered at her breasts.
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unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature
Examples/
on campus scenarios
 Roger is a fourth year Ph.D student in
religious studies. Professor Wong has been
his adviser for three years. Roger and
Professor Wong are required by the university
to meet on a regular basis to discuss his
progress. About mid-way through the
semester, Professor Wong suggests that they
begin meeting at her home during the evening
for the “sake of convenience.” Roger accepts
and thinks nothing of it until one evening,
Professor Wong tries to seduce him. Roger is
stunned and leaves abruptly. For the next few
months Roger avoids all but formal contact
with Professor Wong. Professor Wong tells
him off for slacking off and threatens to fail
him.
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2) Sexually Hostile
Environment
A person alone or together
with other persons,
engages in conduct of a
sexual nature which
creates a sexually
hostile or intimidating
work environment.
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2) Sexually hostile
work environment
 Conduct of a sexual nature creating
a hostile work environment
 Display of pornographic material,
general sexual jokes among a
group, posters and banners
 Victim is not targeted
 Does not apply to harassment in
educational establishments
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Sexually Hostile Environment
Examples/
on campus scenarios
From time to time, a group of
students hang out in front of the
dining hall and rate female
students (from 1 to 10) as they
leave the building. Some
women avoid that dining hall
because of this behaviour.
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Sexually Hostile Environment
Examples/
on campus scenarios
Poppy is a lab assistant working
with a university research team.
The team is predominantly male.
She soon finds nude pictures of
women as screen savers on her
colleagues computers. They also
like to exchange obscene jokes
to each other in her presence.
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Sexually Hostile Environment
Examples/
on campus scenarios
Students from different sorority
or fraternity groups shouting
vulgar slogans, calling each
other “whore,” “gigolo,” “slut,”
“bar trash,” etc.
during the university “rush
week”.
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What to do if
sexually harassed?
Say “NO”!
Write a note/letter
Keep a record
Seek help
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Victimisation
Unlawful to treat less
favourably a person who has
 Made allegation or complaint
of sexual harassment
 Given evidence or
information
 Brought proceedings
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Liabilities/Responsibilities
 Individual staff or student liable
for his/her own unlawful act
 Employer liable for sexual
harassment done by employees
 Educational establishments
liable for sexual harassment
committed by staff
 No similar provision in respect
of liability for students sexually
harassing other students or staff
members
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Employer’s defence
 Reasonable and practicable
measures to prevent unlawful acts in
workplace
 Establishment of an EO Policy
 Establishment of an appropriate
Complaint Handling Mechanism
 Appointing a person to be
responsible for EO matters
 Organizing anti-discrimination
training on a regular basis for all
employees
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Possible Amendment
Liability for sexual conduct
creating a sexually hostile
environment at or in relation to
an educational establishment
Educational establishments to be
made liable for unlawful sexual
harassment done by students.
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Preventives
Mainstream EO concepts
through education
Establish clear policy
and procedure
Early intervention
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Disclaimer
All the materials used in this
training are for the participants’
reference only, and they are no
substitute for legal advice.
If you have any enquiries or you
need further information, please
contact the Equal Opportunities
Commission at our hotline 25118211 or visit our website at
www.eoc.org.hk.
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