Newsletter No. 66

CUHK Newsletter No. 66 19th March 1995 3 Checks and Balances in Sexual Politics Dr. Fanny Cheung Explains the Need for a Sexual Harassment Policy on Campus Sexual harassment—its prevalence and the damages it engenders 一 has been gaining public attention in Hong Kong for the past couple of years. The relatively recent increase in profile of these issues is considered by some to be long overdue. Nonetheless, the Sex Discrimination Bill which aims at e l imi na t i ng sexual discrimination, and hence sexual harassment as one of its manifest forms, was gazetted in October 1994 and will in due course be considered by the Legislative Council. Under the Bill's jurisdiction are major social institutions which include the civil service, the private sector, and educational institutions such as universities. Here at CUHK, a working group on sexual harassment policy has been formed. The group consists of University administrators involved in staff and student policies, as well as members of the Gender Research Programme of the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies. Dr. Fanny Cheung, convener of the wo r k i ng group, says with regard to the relevance of their work: 'In any i n s t i t u t i o n where males and females come into close contact, e s p e c i a l l y w i t h the increasing participation of women in the public spheres, there are bound to be encounters between them of a sexual nature.' The sexual harassment policy proposed by the working group aims at educating members of the University on what constitutes sexual harassment. Dr. Cheung goes on to say that while the behaviour of one sex may sometimes be misunderstood or misconstrued by the other, there are more serious occasions when the rights of individuals are violated. These occur in such gender relations where the male, usually in a position of relative power, abuses this power at the expense of the rights of the female, usually in a subordinate position. The policy serves to clarify misunderstandings as well as to provide means of retribution, should the need arise. The University has worked closely with other tertiary institutions on the project. The Interinstitutional Concern Group on Sexual Harassment, formed by faculty and staff representatives from HKU, HKUST, City Polytechnic, Baptist College, and CUHK, met informally in May 1994 at the University to discuss their concerns and to decide on a common definition of sexual harassment. The definition agreed upon (see box below) is based on guidelines issued by the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) which have been adopted with variations across campuses in North America, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. Dr. Cheung comments, 'We're being proactive in coming out w i th our own sexual harassment policy before we're required by law to deal with this issue. Although universities are already specified in the proposed legislation, we still need to promulgate a very detailed guideline and policy to deal w i th such matters, especially where they don't fall into "criminal acts".' Some Definitions in the Draft Sexual Harassment Policy for CUHK A. Sexual Harassment Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favours, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when: 1. any aspect of an individual's employment or educational experience is made conditional on submission to such conduct, either explicitly or implicitly; or 2. employment or education decisions affecting an individual are based on rejection of such conduct; or 3. such conduct has the purpose or effect of (a) unreasonably interfering with an individual's work performance or educational experience, or (b) creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working or learning environment. In determining whether conduct constitutes sexual harassment, the entire record and the totality of circumstances will be considered. B. Aspects of Employment Aspects of an individual's employment include, but are not limited to, hiring, retention, substantiation of appointment, crossing of salary bar, promotion, termination, reassignment, salary increases, pay, fringe benefits, work load, opportunities, training and staff development, and working conditions. C. Aspects of Educational Experience Aspects of an individual's educational experience include, but are not limited to, admission to a class or programme, grades, letters of recommendation, homework, honours, research opportunities, scholarships, housing, grants, employment opportunities, use of facilities, probation, termination, and classroom conditions. Sample Cases of Sexual Harassment on University Campuses in Hong Kong • In the first lecture of an undergraduate course, the male lecturer wondered aloud why there were'so many women' in the class. He further remarked: 'From my own experience with top universities in the world, such a course would be attended mostly by male students. This is not a top university, so I guess I'll have to put up with this.' • A woman student was asked by her lecturer to go out with him. Although she turned him down several times, he persisted with gifts. Feeling nervous and distressed, she made a complaint at her department, which then relocated her to another class. Meanwhile her academic performance suffered because of the experience. • A woman lecturer was caught up on campus by a male colleague she was merely acquainted with. Having inquired about her summer plans, he put his arm around her shoulder, fromwhich she withdrew. He repeated this three times despite her resistance. At the third time, she even felt his hand slipping under her armpit to touch her breast. Disgusted, she ran off to join other colleagues. After the incident, she wrote letters of complaint to the head of her department, the head of the male lecturer's department as well as the faculty dean. However, she felt that nothing concrete was done. • A male Ph.D. student who had been working on his thesis for four years found his supervisor, also male, suggesting he should 'go out more often' with him and that this might help him graduate. He dismissed it as a joke but found his supervisor pressing for social meetings more frequently and finally hinting they might sleep together. The student quit his research in great distress. Sexual harassment is often regarded as a 'lightweight' offence and set apart from acts that constitute criminal offences such as rape and sexual assault. Partly for this reason, it is also less often exposed although its occurrence may be common. Actually how prevalent is sexual harassment at CUHK? Dr. Cheung said in terms of the most serious cases involving bodily damage, it isn't; but in terms of the less obvious or less recognizable ones where abuse may be psychological rather than physical and where the individual, usually female, is slighted because of her sex, it is more prevalent. And it is precisely these grey areas that need more attention because they occur more frequently and because, owing to their nature, they risk being dismissed as trivial, especially by males. Dr. Cheung quoted results of a survey conducted a few years ago with CUHK students as subjects that show that all forms of sexual harassment occur at the University, and with greater frequency than originally expected. Wi th the undergraduates, the harasser was usually a fellow student; with the graduate students, the harasser was often a faculty member. Most cases went unreported because the victim, usually a female student, either didn't know where to lodge her complaint, or was worried her case would seemunimportant, or feared for her own or her harasser's career. According to Dr. Cheung, in cases where sexual harassment has a lasting effect on the victim by way of interfering with his/her original intentions or goals in life, the impact is considered serious. A telling example can be of a sexually- harassed student who skips classes, changes the course of study, or drops out of school altogether in order to avoid the harasser. The policy on sexual harassment opens up more options for potential victims by setting up a Complaint Resolution Office to deal with both formal and informal complaints in accordance with specific mediation and complaint resolution processes, as well as formal disciplinary procedures. Another basic component of the policy is public education. Dr. Cheung feels that it is crucial that the policy be known and understood by the University community at large, especially since sexual harassment is a very sensitive issue. A subgroup consisting of Dr. Choi Poking and Dr. Ma r ia Tam w i l l be responsible for educating both staff and students on the subject and the policy. Information will be available in campus publications, pamphlets, posters, videos of sample cases and so on; workshops will be run for students and staff, especially staff members who have frequent contacts with students. The working group will set up a network of contact persons, consisting of faculty deans and representatives of student and staff bodies, who will serve as their links to the campus community. The working group has begun a campus-wide consultation on the policy which will end with the month of March. For a preview of the draft policy and the expression of views, contact any of the f o l l ow i ng: Mrs. Sophie Lau at the Personnel Office, Mrs. Amelia Wong at the Secretary's Office, Dr. Choi Po-king at the Department of Educational Administration and Policy, Dr. Maria Tam at the Department of Anthropology, or Dr. Fanny Cheung at the Department of Psychology. The working group will submit their final proposal to the AAPC in Ap r i l. Piera Chen