Listen Up: Recognize Sexual Misconduct

Sexual misconduct includes a range of behaviors:

  • Engaging in a sexual act with another person without consent or by using force.
  • Threatening or coercing a person to engage in sexual activity including placing them in fear of injury or bodily harm.
  • Impairing their ability by giving them alcohol or other drugs without their knowledge or against their will.
  • Engaging in sexual activity with a person who is incapable of understanding or is unaware of the sexual act for any reason (including alcohol use); when a person is physically incapable of resisting or communicating either consent or unwillingness to participate; or if a person is under 16 years old.
Sexual harassment is conduct that consists of repeated unwelcome sexual advances, including:
  • sexual flirtations, advances or propositions;
  • verbal abuse or innuendo of a sexual nature;
  • uninvited physical contact such as touching, hugging, patting, brushing or pinching;
  • verbal comments of a sexual nature about an individual’s body or sexual terms used to describe an individual;
  • display of sexually suggestive pictures, posters or cartoons;
  • jokes, language, epithets or remarks of a sexual nature;
  • prolonged staring or leering;
  • making obscene gestures or suggestive or insulting sounds;
  • demand for sexual favors accompanied by an implied or overt threat concerning an individual’s employment or academic status
  • indecent exposure.