This file was prepared for electronic distribution by the inforM staff. Questions or comments should be directed to inform-editor@umail.umd.edu. Chapter 8 SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CHANGE Schools are our children's workplaces. For this reason, the Task Force has been concerned about sexual harassment in educational institutions. At many of the public hearings and other meetings conducted by the Task Force, students, teachers, and parents described instances of harassment and hostile academic environments that created significant barriers to students' personal and academic achievement. A teacher at a vocational high school in New York City wrote to the Task Force and urged that our inquiry not be limited only to sexual harassment in the workplace as directed by the Executive Order establishing the Task Force, but that it also include an examination of sexual harassment in schools, which is a serious and commonplace problem at her school. Sexual harassment does not begin when young people join the workforce. Rather, sexual harassment is behavior that often has been observed, learned, practiced and condoned for many years. Sexual harassment in educational institutions presents a particular danger to our society. Whether students themselves are the targets of unchallenged harassment, or witnesses to inappropriate behavior by or among the very people entrusted with the power and responsibility to prepare them for productive citizenship and teach them appropriate conduct, young people learn terrible lessons when sexual harassment is condoned or ignored. They experience violation and betrayal of their trust in adults, inappropriate role modeling and conditioning to accept sexual harassment as normal and acceptable behavior. Sexual harassment raises different issues for elementary and secondary schools, and for institutions of higher education. Sexual harassment in higher education generally involves adult victims and harassers. At the elementary and secondary levels, acts of sexual harassment committed by adults, and in some cases by children, against underage, nonconsenting persons also can constitute sexual abuse and sex offenses. In order to provide the greatest possible protection for our children, sexual harassment between adults and children, particularly of the quid pro quo type, must always be examined from the dual perspectives of civil sexual harassment and criminal sex offenses. Using the civil courts to handle any type of sexual assault of young people may minimize the seriousness of the conduct. It is critical to be aware of these intended and unintended consequences in devising programs to address sexual harassment in educational institutions. The sexual harassment of students and school personnel already is prohibited by federal and state law. Title D of the Education Amendments of 1972 is the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination, and thereby protects students against sexual harassment in programs that receive federal education funds. (1) In 1981, the United States Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights, which enforces Title D, stated that sexual harassment of students is illegal and defined sexual harassment as: verbal or physical contact of a sexual nature, imposed on the basis of sex, by an employee or agent of a school that denies, limits, provides different, or conditions the provision of aid, benefits, services or treatment protected by Title D. The sexual harassment of students also is prohibited by the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, the Vocational Educational Act of 1963 (for students in vocational education programs) and, in certain cases, state criminal and tort laws. In February, 1992, the United States Supreme Court, in Franklin v. Gwinnett County (Ga.) Public Schools, (2) ruled that Title D provides students with a private right of action for damages against a school for the sexual harassment of a student by a teacher. The liability of schools for sexual harassment recognized by the Supreme Court in Gwinnett underscored the urgency of the need to identify, prevent and redress sexual harassment in the schools. In the wake of Gwinnett, the Task Force has received an increasing number of requests for information and assistance from schools, teachers, parents and students. In response to these calls and the frequency with which sexual harassment in educational institutions was discussed at the public hearings, regional meetings and roundtables, the Task Force undertook an examination of the issue of sexual harassment in the schools, from the elementary level through post-secondary programs. The Task Force focused on defining the nature and extent of the problem, determining what steps educational institutions are taking to address sexual harassment and identifying the resources available and those needed to combat sexual harassment. As a part of its work, the Task Force sponsored roundtable meetings of representatives from post-secondary institutions and from elementary and secondary schools to gather information about the problem of sexual harassment in their institutions and the steps that can be taken to prevent and redress sexual harassment. ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS In its inquiry, the Task Force found that while there are a number of important studies of sexual harassment at the post-secondary level documenting a widespread problem, there has been little research on the issue in elementary and secondary schools. Only two states, Minnesota and Massachusetts, have implemented significant sexual harassment prevention strategies in elementary and secondary schools, including the creation of curricula and other training materials for teachers, staff and students. (3) Minnesota, California and a few other states have enacted legislation requiring that elementary and secondary schools have policies against sexual harassment and procedures for resolving complaints of sexual harassment. (4) In New York and most other states, the problem of sexual harassment in schools, particularly at the elementary and secondary levels, has only been acknowledged recently. STUDENT FOCUS GROUPS The Task Force's examination of the availability of educational resources on sexual harassment in elementary and secondary schools found few materials suitable for use with school age children. To meet this need, a group of volunteer professional filmmakers was brought together by the Task Force to create a videotape program on sexual harassment and gender respect. As part of its research for the design of the program, Task Force staff and volunteers conducted focus groups with middle school age children across New York State. Over 100 students from urban, rural and suburban schools participated in videotaped discussions about sexual harassment in their schools and their personal experiences. Their comments helped to guide the Task Force's inquiry in this area. The students in the focus groups were able to easily identify and describe many behaviors that they experience on a regular basis that constitute sexual harassment. These include being touched by members of the opposite sex, having rumors about their sexual conduct spread around the school girls having to pass through a gauntlet of boys in an unlit school hallway where they were touched and harassed in other ways, unwanted touching and kissing on school buses and in cafeterias, girls being stalked by boys who could not accept that they did not want to date them, and girls and boys having obscenities and sexual insults directed at them on a regular basis. Boys also described situations in which they were subjected to unwanted physical contact. Most of the boys interviewed said they knew the difference between flirting and harassment and that, for the most part, they could tell when a girl was uncomfortable, or even frightened, by sexual behavior. Many also expressed the desire to help girls who were being harassed, but said that they had never been given any tools or support for doing so. In fact, boys who challenged harassing behavior often were subjected to insults and questions about their masculinity. When sexual harassment is viewed as typical male behavior, and schools, parents and communities write it off as "boys will be boys," boys who do not want to participate in harassment or support it are unable to effectively oppose it. Students of both genders also described teachers who used sexual talk and sexually derogatory comments when speaking with them. A small number of students also experienced other forms of harassment by teachers, administrators and other members of the staff. Unfortunately, in most cases where students complained to school authorities about harassment, nothing happened. School administrators and faculty members often told students that the behavior was "normal teenage behavior", that they were overly sensitive, or, worst of all, that they were imagining a problem where there was none. In one case, the latter comment was made by a school principal to a seventh grade girl who complained about one of her teachers who kept her after school so that he could "look at her." The teacher also made comments about her hair, her clothes and other aspects of her physical appearance not only to her, but in front of her classmates as well. After the principal dismissed the complaint as groundless, a large group of students spoke to the principal about the teacher's behavior towards the female student. The principal told the students to "forget it." The female student told the focus group that she would never again complain about harassment because there was no point in doing so since no one would believe her. Dr. Nan Stein, one of the leading authorities on sexual harassment in elementary and secondary schools, has described the harm that unaddressed sexual harassment, such as the incident described above, causes in schools: Problems in schools fester, spawning an atmosphere that permits and tolerates, at a minimum, sexual harassment and discrimination, denying students the right to an equal educational opportunity and equal protection under the law. Other more cynical lessons also are taught by such behaviors: schools become unsafe places and students lose confidence in school policies and trust for school officials. These consequences are felt not only by victims and subjects, but also by bystanders, whether they are innocent witnesses or deliberate colluders. (5) Most of the students interviewed by the Task Force stated that their schools did not have a policy against sexual harassment, and that they had not been given any information or training on the subject. A few schools had policies against harassment, but had not defined sexual harassment for the students, described the penalties for it, or the procedure for making a complaint. Only a small number of schools had adequate policies and procedures and student awareness of them. Virtually all of the students interviewed expressed a desire for more information on sexual harassment. More importantly, students wanted the opportunity to discuss the problem among themselves to identify the unwanted behaviors and to devise solutions for it. SURVEYS Two surveys published in 1993 confirm much of the information shared by the students in the focus groups. These surveys measured not only the incidence of harassment in schools, as described in Chapter 4 of this Report, but also the types of harassing conduct, who harasses and is harassed, and the schools' responses to harassment. In March, 1993, the Center for Research on Women at Wellesley College released the results of a survey conducted by means of a questionnaire in Seventeen magazine. (6) Over 4,200 girls from across the United States completed and returned the survey. The Center concluded that sexual harassment in schools is widespread and that it "operates in full and plain view of others. Boys harass girls with impunity while others stand by." Further, the study found that: Too many of our schools have become unsafe, uncaring and unjust. Students have a right to expect that if something frightening, unpleasant or illegal is happening in school--especially if it is occurring in public someone in authority will intervene to stop it. They also deserve to be believed when they report an incident. Yet sexual harassment seems, for the most part, to proceed without adult interventions. The lessons of silence and neglect resulting from official inaction not only affect the subjects of sexual harassment, they also spread to the bystanders and witnesses. Boys as well as girls become mistrustful of adults who fail to intervene, to provide equal protection and to safeguard the educational environment. The types of harassment reported by the survey respondents included being touched, pinched or grabbed (83%), receiving sexual comments, gestures or looks (89%), receiving sexual notes or pictures (28%), being leaned over or cornered (47%) and being pressured or forced to do something sexual (37%). The survey also showed that girls are most often harassed by fellow students. Ninety-seven percent of the instances of student-to-student harassment were committed by male harassers, less than 1% by female harassers and 2% by male and female harassers. However, 4% of the respondents reported being harassed by teachers, administrators or other school staff. Only 8% of the respondents stated that their schools had and enforced a Title D or other policy against sexual harassment; 82% said that their schools had done nothing on the issue. Even when girls reported incidents of harassment to faculty or administrators, nothing happened to the harasser in 45% of the cases. Overall, schools were even less likely to do something about the harassment when the harasser is a teacher. In June, 1993, the American Association of University Women (AAUW) Educational Foundation published the results of a poll conducted for it by Louis Harris & Associates that, as described in Chapter 4, also found that sexual harassment is a serious and pervasive problem in our schools. (7) The poll focused on identifying the different types of sexually harassing behavior and on the ways in which teenagers react when it happens to them. In addition to the types of behavior described in the Wellesley College survey, the AAUW survey identified that 57% of the girls and 36% of the boys were intentionally brushed up against in a sexual way, 42% of the girls and 34% of the boys had sexual rumors spread about them, 38% of the girls and 28% of the boys had their clothing pulled in a sexual way and 20% of the girls and 18% of the boys had sexual messages written about them in public areas. (8) More importantly, these behaviors were found to have extremely negative and widespread consequences for all students, particularly for girls. Significant numbers of girls reported that harassment made them not want to go to school (33%), not want to talk in class (32%), made it harder for them to pay attention in class (28%), lowered their grades on tests (23%) and for classes (20%) made it hard to study (22%) and even made some of them think about changing schools (17%). Smaller percentages of boys also experienced these reactions to harassment. The poll revealed different experiences with harassment for students from different racial groups. African American (42%) and Hispanic (40%) girls are more likely to first have experienced harassment in grade six or earlier, compared with whites (31%). Thirty-three percent of the African American girls surveyed reported experiencing harassment by an adult, compared with 25% of whites and 17% of Hispanics. African American girls also report higher rates of harassment involving direct physical contact (64%), compared with whites (58%) and Hispanics (49%). The study also found some differences among groups with respect to those who harass. Among all girls surveyed, African Americans were more likely to have harassed than were Hispanics and whites (63% African Americans, compared with 50% of Hispanics and 50% of whites). Almost equal percentages of African American and white males surveyed (67% and 66%, respectively), compared with 56% of Hispanics, admit to committing acts of harassment. The AAUW poll also revealed significant harassment based on perceived or actual sexual orientation. Eighty-six percent of all students said they would be very upset if they were called gay or lesbian. The report notes that, for boys, this is the most disturbing form of unwanted behavior... Being called gay would be more upsetting to boys than actual physical abuse. Seventeen percent of the students reported that they had been called lesbian or gay when they didn't want to be. The report concluded: Parents, teachers and administrators must acknowledge that sexual harassment in schools is creating a hostile environment that compromises the education of America's children. Sexual harassment is clearly and measurably taking a toll on a significant percentage of students' educational emotional and behavioral lives. (9) Dr. Nan Stein has observed: Peer-to-peer sexual harassment is rampant in elementary and secondary schools. Examples include students attempts to pull down gym shorts or flip up skirts; the circulation of "summa cum slutty" or "piece of ass of the week" lists; designation of "national sexual harassment week;" personalized graffiti on bathroom walls; sexualized jokes that mock women's bodies; bras snapped and body parts groped; and outright physical assault and attempted rape. Sometimes identified and curtailed, these behaviors more often than not are allowed to continue recklessly and deliberately. Sexual harassment is tolerated as a true-blooded, healthy American phenomenon, a normal stage in adolescent development. Often it is labeled as "flirting" or as "initiation rites" that must be tolerated...Regardless of how its appearances and existence are rationalized, sexual harassment interferes with the right to receive an equal educational opportunity. (10) Elementary and secondary schools are just beginning to address sexual harassment. Clearly, sexual harassment in our schools is a serious problem that demands swift and comprehensive action if we are to eliminate it and provide a safe and equitable academic environment that is supportive of learning and achievement for both boys and girls. POST-SECONDARY INSTITUTIONS Sexual harassment at post-secondary institutions has been studied in greater depth and for a longer period of time than has sexual harassment in elementary and secondary schools. Despite this difference, the results of the studies are strikingly similar. Dr. Michele Paludi has found that, "Sexual harassment in United States colleges is a major barrier to women's professional development and a traumatic force that disrupts their personal lives." (11) As described in Chapter 4, sexual harassment in post-secondary institutions is widespread. Gender harassment, defined as generalized sexist remarks and behavior not designed to elicit sexual cooperation but rather to convey insulting, degrading or sexist attitudes, and seductive behaviors are the most common situations widely experienced by women students. Direct sexual coercion, on the other hand, including bribery and intimidation, appears less widespread. Researchers Wilson and Kraus reported in 1983 that 9% of the female undergraduates in their study had been pinched, touched or patted to the point of personal discomfort, while 17% of the women in another survey received verbal sexual advances, 14% received sexual invitations, 6% had been subjected to physical advances, and 2% received direct sexual bribes. (12) Another study conducted in 1988 found that 75% of the survey respondents were subjected to jokes with sexual themes during their graduate training, 68% to sexist comments demeaning to women, and 58% reported experiencing sexist remarks about their clothing, body or sexual activities. (13) The sexual harassment of women students has serious academic as well as personal consequences. In one study, 13% of the women students surveyed said they had avoided taking a class or working with certain professors because of the risk of being subjected to sexual advances. (14) A 1983 study conducted at Harvard University indicated that 15% of the graduate students and 12% of the undergraduate students who had been harassed by their professors changed their major or educational program because of the harassment. (15) A third study, of a sample of 246 women graduate students conducted in 1985, found that 21% of the respondents had not enrolled in a course to avoid sexually harassing behavior by professors. (16) Anecdotal evidence gathered by the Task Force confirms these studies. For example, a high-ranking woman administrator at a large university told the Task Force that in the 1950s she had been forced to leave a doctoral program at a leading university because only one faculty member would oversee doctoral work by women and he sexually harassed her repeatedly. According to Dr. Paludi, this experience is not uncommon. Research also has suggested that for certain groups, professors are particularly powerful in relation to their students. For example: women graduate students, whose future careers are often determined by their association with a particular faculty member; women students in small colleges or small academic departments, where the number of faculty available to students is quite small; women of color, especially those with 'token' status; women in male-populated fields, e.g., engineering; women students who are economically disadvantaged and work part-time or full-time while attending classes. (17) As a result of the power imbalance that exists in these relationships, many women students are particularly vulnerable to sexual harassment. Because the problem of sexual harassment at post-secondary institutions has been recognized and studied for a longer period of time than at the elementary and secondary level, many colleges and universities have implemented sophisticated programs for preventing and redressing sexual harassment on their campuses. At the roundtable meeting focusing on post-secondary institutions sponsored by the Task Force, representatives described their institutions' strong, clearly articulated policies against sexual harassment, sexual harassment training as a component of mandatory student orientation programs, highly publicized and easily accessible complaint resolution procedures, peer counseling groups and advisory panels comprised of students, faculty and staff that provide formal and informal avenues of resolution for complaints of sexual harassment. Examples of these programs can be found in Appendix J. While these programs have not completely eliminated sexual harassment at colleges and or universities, they undoubtedly have increased awareness of and sensitivity to sexual harassment and have reduced the rate of harassment incidents. RECOMMENDATIONS The following recommendations have been adopted by the Task Force to achieve the goal of preventing and redressing sexual harassment in the educational institutions in New York State. RECOMMENDATION 14: Human Rights Law section 296(4), which provides that nonsectarian, tax-exempt educational corporations or associations may not deny the use of facilities to any otherwise qualified person on the basis of race, color, religion, disability, national origin, age or marital status, should be amended by adding "sex" as an additional protected classification. An exception should be made, in single sex institutions, for gender-based admission. There is currently no provision in the New York State Human Rights Law to protect applicants to or students at educational institutions from sexual harassment or other forms of sex discrimination. This omission leaves an enormous gap in the ability of the State to prevent and redress sexual harassment. In Human Rights Law section 290(3), which describes the purposes of the law, the Legislature recognized that discrimination, caused by, among other causes, inadequate education...not only threatens the rights and proper privileges of [the state's] inhabitants but menaces the institutions and foundation of a free democratic state and threatens the peace, order, health, safety and general welfare of the state and its inhabitants. The Legislature created the Division of Human Rights, to encourage programs designed to insure that every individual shall have an equal opportunity to participate fully in the...intellectual life of the state;...[and] to eliminate and prevent discrimination...in educational institutions. The statute enacted to accomplish these purposes, with respect to educational institutions, was Human Rights Law section 296(4), which provides: It shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice for an educational corporation or association which holds itself out to the public to be non-sectarian and exempt from taxation pursuant to the provisions of article four of the real property tax law to deny the use of its facilities to any person otherwise qualified, by reason of his race, color, religion, disability, national origin, age or marital status. Although there have not been many cases interpreting this section, it has been held to apply to both admission to educational institutions and to equal access to the education system once admitted. (18) Under the present law, equal opportunity in educational facilities would include freedom from racial, ethnic or religious harassment. If the law were amended to add "sex" as a covered category, sexual harassment of students would be covered as well. Because discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is an aspect of sex discrimination, sexual harassment of students on the basis of sexual orientation also would be prohibited. The Legislature has already taken the position that education institutions should not discriminate on the basis of sex (with the exception of gender-based admission in single sex schools) by amending Education Law section 313, in 1982, adding sex as a protected classification. However, the enforcement mechanisms under the Education Law are inadequate, since there is no private right of action. Aggrieved individuals therefore cannot pursue legal actions on their own. The U.S. Supreme Court recently recognized a private right of action for sexual harassment under Title D of the Education Amendments of 1972. (19) New York State also should provide a private right of action for sexual harassment in schools. RECOMMENDATION 15: The Education Law should be amended to require school boards to adopt policies and procedures that define and prohibit sexual harassment (covering students, all school personnel school board members, volunteers and others who work in or with the schools) and explain procedures for reporting complaints of and the penalties for harassment. These policies and procedures should be distributed to all students, faculty and staff on an annual basis and posted conspicuously in every school facility. The Task Force's interviews with students and other research make it clear that too few schools have adopted sexual harassment policies and complaint resolution procedures as part of their Title D implementation or otherwise.2 Prevention begins with strong policies. Schools in New York State should be required to adopt such policies and to publicize them widely so In that everyone in the schools, including students, teachers or staff, knows that sexual harassment is illegal and will not be tolerated. The primary components of an effective sexual harassment prevention and redress program are a strong policy against harassment articulated by the administration of a school and to a sensible and readily accessible procedure for accepting and resolving complaints of sexual harassment. Everyone who is to be governed by the policy, including students, staff (paid and in volunteer), faculty, parents and community members should participate in the development of the policy to ensure that it is meaningful and comprehensive. The policy should define sexual harassment and give examples of sexual harassment that might occur in school settings, state that sexual harassment is illegal and that acts of harassment will be subject to sanctions commensurate with the severity of the acts, and provide information about the complaint procedure. Where policies already have been adopted, they should be reviewed to determine whether they accurately reflect current law and whether they can be strengthened to increase their effectiveness. After meeting with Task Force representatives, the City University of New York, under the leadership of Chancellor Anne Reynolds, undertook such an initiative. It is particularly important that elementary and secondary schools take steps to ensure that their students understand the meaning of sexual harassment and the types of behavior that can constitute harassment. The students interviewed by the Task Force in the focus groups repeatedly emphasized their lack of information and understanding about these concepts. Without such information, sexual harassment policies and complaint procedures are of limited utility. An effective complaint procedure should provide for multiple points of access; swift, confidential and fair investigation of complaints; and meaningful resolution of every complaint within a stated time frame. Informal counseling and complaint resolution also should be available. A number of post-secondary institutions already provide a full range of complaint resolution services. For example, many colleges and universities, including Hunter College, C.W. Post, Kingsborough Community College, the University at Albany and Columbia University have implemented programs which include confidential consultations, voluntary mediation, and formal grievance procedures. Many also have established panels on sexual harassment, which are comprised of faculty, staff and student members. These panels offer assistance in educating their academic communities about the nature and seriousness of sexual harassment, resources for addressing sexual harassment and provide a safe, impartial, nonadversarial setting in which the problem can be considered or solved, through confidential counseling and, when requested, mediation between the complainant and the alleged harasser. (21) Complaint procedures will be utilized widely only if the institutions create a supportive atmosphere for students, faculty and staff so that they are encouraged to address sexual harassment problems. A key factor is the institution's adoption of an explicit policy that absolutely prohibits retaliation against those who file harassment complaints and provides for proactive monitoring to ensure that even subtle retaliation does not occur. A number of states have enacted laws that require schools to have policies and procedures on sexual harassment. For example, in 1992, California enacted a law that requires every educational institution in the state, from pre-kindergarten through post-graduate programs, to have a written policy on sexual harassment which includes information on where to obtain the specific rules and procedures for reporting charges of sexual harassment and for pursuing available remedies. (22) The law requires the institutions to post the policy prominently in the institution, and to provide it to students as a part of every orientation program, and to faculty and staff on an annual basis. In addition, a copy of the written policy must appear in every publication that sets forth the comprehensive rules, regulations, procedures, and standards of conduct for the institution. Other states have adopted laws that include some or all of these requirements. (23) RECOMMENDATION 16: Families of students and all community members should become familiar with and be supportive of the schools' sexual harassment policies, complaint procedures and the other components of sexual harassment prevention programs. Schools cannot eliminate sexual harassment without the support and involvement of all members of the community, especially the families of students. Education begins in the home. Families need to be become knowledgeable about sexual harassment so that they can be a part of the education process on sexual harassment prevention. Family members often are the first people that children turn to when they are facing a problem. They need to be able to help their children when they experience or observe sexual harassment. They will be able to do this best if they have a good understanding of sexual harassment and are well informed about the steps to take to remedy the problem. Families also can play a central role in teaching children to have respect for all individuals and to not engage in harassment. RECOMMENDATION 17: Educational institutions should explicitly incorporate sexual harassment prevention in their curricula for students and in-service training programs for all school personnel. Training materials appropriate for each group should be developed. The work of the Task Force demonstrates unequivocally that all members of the academic community need to receive sexual harassment prevention training and information on the laws governing sexual harassment and their institution's prevention program. Participants at the Task Force's educational institutions roundtables agreed unanimously that policies and procedures must be accompanied by training programs in order for them to be effective. One roundtable participant stated, "reading alone doesn't work." Another said: Students don't read their student handbooks until they have a problem. If the only place the policy appears is in the handbook, they may not learn anything about sexual harassment until after it has occurred. By then it may be too late. Persons assigned the responsibility for implementing sexual harassment prevention programs agree that students, faculty and staff all want and need opportunities to learn about sexual harassment and to discuss it with each other. A student representative at the roundtable meeting said, When guys how what the definition of sexual harassment is, they realize what the problem is. Without this information, we won't be able to stop the problem. Minnesota adopted a law in 19922 requiring all elementary and secondary schools in the state to develop a process for discussing the school's sexual harassment and anti-violence policy with students and school employees. Tennessee requires public colleges, universities and community colleges to provide training on sexual harassment for their campuses. (25) New York State should join these states and mandate sexual harassment training for all students and school personnel. At the post-secondary educational institutions roundtable, a number of the participants noted that their faculty members could not legally be required by their institutions to attend training sessions. Where this is the case due to the nature of the faculty-administration relationships or union contract provisions, institutions must make every effort to encourage faculty attendance or include sexual harassment training in mandated programs. Some institutions have provided training during departmental meetings, as a part of presentations about available grant monies, or in other forums where it is in the faculty's self-interest to attend the meetings. Every possible avenue for assuring faculty attendance at sexual harassment training sessions must be explored. As one participant at the roundtable noted, faculty and staff are sometimes called upon to provide sexual harassment training and information to students. When the faculty and staff have not received any training themselves, the presentations to the students are less than satisfactory. At the elementary and secondary levels, institutions should examine whether sexual harassment training can be included as a teacher pre-service certification requirement. Training programs cannot be effective unless the materials they utilize have been carefully designed to be interesting and accessible by their intended audience. The Task Force's Project to develop a videotape for middle school age children is only one example of the resources needed to educate children about sexual harassment and gender respect. Students of different ages require different materials for effective learning. Teachers and staff need materials explicitly designed to address their roles in the institutions. A number of roundtable participants and others in the education community have noted that training materials developed for the workplace are not appropriate for use in educational institutions. The unique sexual harassment problems and faculty, staff and student roles and relationships must be addressed by training materials specifically designed for that purpose. One roundtable participant, a representative of People Against Sexual Abuse, Inc., a group that provides education and training on sexual abuse and violence issues and works extensively with young people, noted that sexual harassment training, needs to include education and discussion about gender issues and gender role assignments, as well as a component on the cultural development and aspects of these areas. Further, activities that develop personal skills need to be developed to help youth create different ways of relating to each other. This can include comprehensive education on communication skills, team building, cooperative learning and decision making skills. The State Department of Education funds the Occupational Education Equity Center which provides training sessions on sexual harassment without charge for teachers and students. (26) Especially in this time of extremely limited school budgets and tremendous competition for the existing dollars, schools need to take advantage of this type of program and other low cost and no cost training resources, such as the programs funded by the federal Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act. Roundtable participants also urged that state monies be allocated in the State Department of Education's budget for professional development of supervisors, administrators and teachers on these issues. RECOMMENDATION 18: The Regents of the State of New York should act swiftly to implement goal 2 of its action plan on equity in education which states: "The State Education Department and all educational and cultural institutions will ensure an environment for learning and working that is equitable, supportive, safe and free from sexual harassment." A detailed implementation plan, including monitoring and assessment, should be adopted. The Regents of the State of New York have recognized that sexual harassment in our schools is a compelling problem that demands remedial action. In its policy paper, "Equity for Women in the 1990s," the Regents state: Within secondary schools, particularly, sexual harassment is pervasive and increasing. In a study of females taking nontraditional vocational courses, 65 percent reported that they encountered sexual harassment from male students and teachers. (27) To address this growing problem, the Regents' action plan has as one of its goals the creation of an environment for learning that is free from sexual harassment. The outcome indicators for this goal include a decrease in instances of sexual harassment and an increase in the number of programs to train students and staff in the prevention of sexual harassment. The Regents propose to start this effort immediately. The Task Force endorses the Regents' goal and urges that the implementation plan be adopted as quickly as possible. The implementation plan should be sufficiently detailed to provide a comprehensive approach to sexual harassment, including policies, procedures, training and support for victims. It also should include provisions for monitoring and assessment of the efficacy of the various components of the implementation plan, to ensure that the plan is achieving the goal. Task Force members and staff have met with representatives of the State Education Department to offer support and resources to assist in the development of the implementation plan. RECOMMENDATION 19: Educational institutions in New York State should conduct studies to determine the nature and extent of sexual harassment in their institutions and to assist in the design of effective policies to prevent and redress it. As the studies described in the beginning of this Chapter demonstrate, sexually harassing behavior in schools comes in many different forms and occurs in many locations. In order to fully address the problem in each institution, it is crucial to know as precisely as possible what a type of harassment problems exist in that institution, where and when they are likely to happen, and to whom. Anonymous surveys or other confidential studies can provide the answers to these questions, as well as solicit suggestions for remedial actions. Individuals who participate in the survey or study also benefit by spending time thinking about and describing the sexual harassment in their institution. Often, this effort enhances awareness about sexual harassment and causes individuals to become involved in prevention activities. The students interviewed by the Task Force uniformly expressed strong interest in discussing the problem of sexual harassment in their schools and in working together to devise strategies to combat it. A survey or study conducted with student participation can be one vehicle for utilizing this interest. Adults receive similar benefit of increased understanding of and awareness about sexual harassment by participating in surveys and studies. At the post-secondary level some researchers have told the Task Force that they have been prevented from conducting surveys and other studies on sexual harassment in their institutions by the committees that are responsible for approving such projects. In some instances, the committees have taken the position that any inquiry into the issue which involves victims of harassment retraumatizes the victims. In other instances, concerns also have been raised that such studies could be used to support sexual harassment claims filed against institutions. Some members of the Task Force also expressed serious reservations about the ability of institutions to handle appropriately issues of study subjects' privacy and confidentiality, as well as to prevent reprisals against those who share damaging information. While these issues must be resolved by institutions before assessment surveys and studies can be undertaken, they cannot and should not be used to obstruct much needed inquiry into the scope and nature of sexual harassment problems at educational institutions. RECOMMENDATION 20: Peer counseling programs and peer support and discussion groups should be made available to provide support and information to students, faculty and staff who experience sexual harassment or who want to help those who do. Frequently, those who experience sexual harassment feel extremely isolated, each individual believing that she or he is the only one to have suffered this problem. These feelings of isolation often are compounded by the victim's concern that she or he somehow caused the harassment or contributed to it. Many victims also feel ashamed. All of these reactions cause victims to not report the harassment and to otherwise keep their experiences to themselves. In many cases, this silence by victims not only prevents them from receiving help and redress, but also frees harassers to continue to harass others. Too often, even when victims report incidents of harassment they are not believed. This is particularly true for students, whose reports of harassment may be unfairly assessed by school authorities in light of the students' perceived sexual reputations, physical appearances or other inappropriate measures. If sexual harassment is to be eliminated from our schools, and if we are to effectively help those who experience it, the silence of victims must be stopped. Peer support groups are a proven way to encourage safe, open discussion of difficult problems and to assist those who have experienced them. Students who participated in the Task Force focus groups repeatedly emphasized the need for such groups to address the issue of sexual harassment, particularly because students often only feel comfortable talking with other students who they believe can better understand them. Support groups also can help to identify harassers who have multiple victims, as many of them do. At the post-secondary educational institutions roundtable meeting, a number of school administrators stated that it is easier to prove a case against a harasser if there is a group of victims, rather than just one individual who will testify to the harasser's conduct. Group complaints lessen the "he said/she said" conundrum of harassment cases and are effective in causing harassers to admit to their actions. For this reason, many educational institutions are encouraging group complaints. Peer counseling programs also have proven to be effective in providing assistance to individuals who have to deal with difficult situations. The process of training peer counselors can provide individuals with an enhanced awareness of and information about sexual harassment. Victims of harassment can receive guidance and support from persons with whom they are comfortable. Everyone benefits. The experience of victims' support groups in a variety of contexts suggests that it is vitally important for these groups to function independently of any authority structure. These groups must be organized and operated by victims for victims. Support groups are designed to be safe havens where individuals can freely share their experiences and insights. They can be either school-based or community-based. If schools establish support groups, they must be careful to ensure the autonomy and confidentiality necessary for the groups to operate successfully. Discussion groups for students also are important. They provide forums for students to work together to identify harassing behavior and devise effective responses. Peer discussions, unlike lectures delivered by adults or printed materials, allow students to talk about sexual harassment in ways that are meaningful to them. The high level of interest and enthusiasm of the students in the focus groups sponsored by the Task Force graphically illustrates that students want to participate in these discussions. RECOMMENDATION 21: College and university administrators should world in cooperation with faculty and staff unions to develop and implement sexual harassment prevention programs at their institutions, including policies against harassment, complaint resolution procedures, victim support services and training programs. Similarly, unionized and nonunionized faculty and staff at elementary and secondary schools should work with their school boards and administrators on such programs. The broader the support for a sexual harassment prevention program, the more likely it is to succeed. An excellent example of a labor-management approach to a sexual harassment is policy and prevention effort is the statement recently adopted by the State University of New York (SUNY) and United University Professions (UUP), the union that represents professors and other professionals at the university. The statement, which was distributed to every member of the union and the administration of the university, provides in part: We write you now to declare our mutual support in administration and union for the principles of a community in which there is no place for sex discrimination and sexual harassment. Sexual harassment has been properly declared a violation to of rights protected in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 More than that, though, sexual harassment tears the fabric of community. If we wish to have an environment that is hospitable to the full professional and social development of all our students and colleagues, we must prevent sexual harassment from occurring. Toward that end the administration and union have adopted clear policies stating both our refusal to tolerate sexual harassment and our recognition that there must be a well-defined procedure protective of due process for addressing complaints of sexual harassment. Both administration and union also support a preventative program of information and education about sexual harassment on the campus. We will join forces in workshops, forums, and publication, while also seeking to have an exemplary procedure for correction. The proactive and cooperative position taken by SUNY and UUP is the best and most effective approach to sexual harassment prevention and redress. When the commitment and resources of both labor and management are combined, the impact of such an effort is maximized. This policy was developed after representatives of SUNY and UUP met with members of the Task Force to identify effective measures they could take to further combat sexual harassment on the SUNY campuses. Unfortunately, a meeting between the Task Force and another union representing a different academic faculty was less successful. That union expressed the belief that preventing sexual harassment was solely a management responsibility and that the union therefore would not take any action on the issue. This attitude is both irresponsible and a disservice to the union's members. The Task Force calls upon all school boards, administrators and personnel to consider this policy statement as a model for working in collaboration to eliminate sexual harassment from all educational institutions in this State. RECOMMENDATION 22: Programs and services designed to prevent sexual harassment in educational institutions should explicitly address the pervasive hostility and harassment to which many lesbian and gay youth are subjected by their peers and by some school personnel. Gay and lesbian youth, and those perceived to be gay or lesbian, are subject to frequent and severe sexual harassment as a result of their sexual orientation and the widespread societal prejudice against gay and lesbian persons. Organizations working with lesbian and gay youth report that these youngsters suffer an alarming incidence of harassment in and around school buildings because they do not fit into rigidly constructed adolescent gender stereotypes. Among gay and lesbian teens, this daily harassment can lead to social isolation, depression, absenteeism, a high drop-out rate and, all too frequently, suicide. (28) Classroom curricula, training programs and school sexual harassment prevention policies and procedures need to explicitly identify this type of harmful behavior as sexual or gender harassment and specifically prohibit it. Peer support, discussion and counseling groups also should be responsive to the unique needs of gay and lesbian students in preventing and responding to sexual harassment. RECOMMENDATION 23: Every New York State school district should establish or participate in an existing Task Force on Gender Equity, to devise a specific set of initiatives to carry out the Task Force recommendations and other equity proposals, to monitor their implementation and to ensure that the schools are providing an environment that is supportive of academic achievement by all students. The elimination of sexual harassment from our schools and the creation of an equitable educational environment for all students requires comprehensive, concerted action by school districts that is supported by their communities. Every school district in the state should establish or participate in a Task Force on Gender Equity comprised of educators, administrators, parents, students, advocates and other community representatives. These task forces can assist with the design and implementation of gender equity strategies, build local support for them and ensure the continuity and efficacy of these efforts. The Chancellor of the New York City schools established one such task force, which has worked with the Board of Education and administration to encourage the development and implementation of a wide range of programs designed to achieve sex equity in the New York City schools. Where it is not feasible for a district to establish a separate gender equity task force, schools should consider the establishment of a regional effort or participation in already existing groups. However, a task force in every district is the most desirable alternative because they can work most effectively to make gender equity and sexual harassment prevention a reality in their schools. ENDNOTES 1. 20 U.S.C. sections 1681-1686; Title IX regulations, 34 C.F.R. section 106 and section 5 C.F.R. Part 8d. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. sections 2000e et seq., prohibits sex discrimination in employment and makes sexual harassment of school personnel illegal. 2. 117 L.Ed. 208 (1992). 3. For a description of programs implemented in Minnesota see, Minnesota Department of Education. Sexual Harassment of Teenagers: It's Not Fun/ It's Illegal. Undated, Minnesota Department of Education: St. Paul Minnesota. For examples of programs implemented in Massachusetts see, Lydiard, B. (1993) January. "A Decade of Dealing with Sexual Harassment." The School Administrator, page 20 and, Massachusetts, Department of Education. (1986). Who's Hurt and Who's Liable: Sexual Harassment in Massachusetts Schools: A Curriculum and Guide for School Personnel. Massachusetts Department of Education. Quincy: Mass. 4. See Note 23 for citation to statutes. 5. Stein, N. (1993) January. "Sexual Harassment in Schools: Administrators Must Break the Casual Approach to Objectionable Behavior." The School Administrator. page 18. 6. Stein, N., N.L. Marshall and L. R. Tropp. (1993) March. "Secrets in Public: Sexual Harassment in Our Schools." Center for Research on Women: Wellesley College. 7. American Association of University Women Education Foundation and Louis Harris & Associates. (1993) June. "Report on Sexual Harassment in America's Public Schools." AAUW Educational Foundation: Washington, D.C. 8. The statistics cited refer to the responses of the 81% subgroup of students surveyed who reported some experience with sexual harassment in school. 9. American Association of University Women Education Foundation and Louis Harris & Associates. 10. Stein, N. at note 5, page 15. 11. Paludi, M.A. (Ed.) (1990) Ivory Power: Sexual Harassment on Campus. Albany: SUNY Press. 12. Wilson, K. and L. Kraus. (1993) "Sexual Harassment in the University." Journal of College Student Personnel. Vol. 24., pages 219-224. 13. Bond, M. (1988). "Division 27 Sexual Harassment Survey: Definition, Impact and Environmental Context." The Community Psychologist. Vol. 21. pages 7-10. 14. Adams, J., J. Kottke and J. Padgitt. (1983). "Sexual Harassment of University Students." Journal of College Student Personnel. Vol. 24. pages 484-490. 15. Perry, S. (1983) March. "Sexual Harassment on the Campuses: Deciding Where to Draw the Line." Chronicle of Higher Education. p. 21. 16. Bailey, N. and P. Richards. (1985). 'Tarnishing the Ivory Tower: Sexual Harassment in Graduate Training Programs." Paper presented at the annual conference of the American Psychological Association, Los Angeles, CA. 17. Barickman, R., Paludi M.A. and V. Rabinowitz (1992). "Sexual Harassment of Students: Victims of the College Experience." In E. Viaro (Ed.) Victimization: An International Perspective. New York: Springer. 18. New York University v. New York State Division of Human Rights. 84 N.Y.5.2d 702 (Supp. Ct. N.Y. Co. 1975), afPd 49 A.D. 2d 821 (1st Dept. 1975). 19. Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools, 117 L.Ed. 208 (1992). 20. Since, 1981, the Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights has interpreted Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, to require schools to have procedures for the resolution of complaints of sexual harassment. The Task Force's findings from its focus groups that few schools have such procedures suggests that compliance with Title IX by schools in New York State is less than satisfactory. 21. Columbia University. (1992). "Protection Against Sexual Harassment." Flyer. 22. Cal. Ed. Code Section 212.5; 212.6. 23. For example, Minnesota has enacted laws that similarly require all educational institutions to have written policies setting forth the disciplinary actions that will be taken for violation of the policy. The policy must be posted conspicuously and included in each school's student handbook on school policies. In addition, in 1991, the Minnesota State High School League, which governs athletic and fine arts activities statewide, was required by law to have a sexual harassment/violence policy. Minn. Stat. Section 127.455 and Section 363.03. Washington State has adopted a law that requires post-secondary level institutions to develop and distribute policies and procedures for handling complaints of sexual harassment. Wash. Rev. Code Ann Section 28B.110 South Dakota has mandated its higher education board to "develop rules and guidelines to eliminate possible gender discrimination to students, including sexual harassment." So. Dak. Code. Laws Ann Section 28B 100.010100.030. Tennessee requires public post-secondary institutions to provide a process for hearing complaints of sexual harassment. Tn. ALS Section 307. 24. Minn. Stat. Section 127.455. In April 1992, the Minnesota Legislature approved spending over $1.5 million to teach students in grades K through 12 about anti-violence, including sexual harassment and sexual assault. 25. Tn. ALS Section 307. 26. The Occupational Education Equity Center (Project VOICE - MOVE) is located at 47 Cornell Road, Latham, New York 12110-1402. The telephone number for the Center is (518) 786-3211. 27. The University of the State of New York and the State Education Department. (1993) January. "Equity for Women in the 1990s: Regents Policy and Action Plan with Supporting Background," page 26. Albany: New York. 28. U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service. (1990) Report to the Secretary's Task Force on Youth Suicide. Alcohol Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration: Washington, D. C.