Sexual Misconduct & Sexual Harassment – Prohibited Conduct

Sex Offenses

Non-consensual physical contact of a sexual nature, including attempted sex offenses. This includes any acts using force or coercion, or using advantage gained by the reporting party’s inability (whether temporary or permanent) to make rational, reasonable decisions about sex, of which the responding party was aware or should have been aware. Sex offenses include:

Sex Offenses, Nonforcible:

• Incest: Nonforcible sexual intercourse between persons who are related to each other within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by law.
• Statutory Rape: Nonforcible sexual intercourse with a person who is under the statutory age of consent.

Sex Offenses, Forcible:

Any sexual act directed against another person, without the consent of the victim, including instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of their temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity.

Sexual Penetration: any penetration, however slight, with any object or body part, as follows: (a) penetration of the vagina by a penis, object, tongue, or finger; (b) anal penetration by a penis, object, tongue, or finger; and (c) any contact, no matter how slight, between the mouth of one person and the genitalia of another person.

Forcible Fondling: The touching of the private body parts of another person for the purpose of sexual gratification, forcibly and/or against that person’s will or not forcibly or against the person’s will, in instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of their youth or because of their temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity.

Relationship Violence

Domestic Violence: a felony or misdemeanor crime of violence committed:

• By a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim;
• By a person with whom the victim shares a child in common;
• By a person who is cohabitating with, or has cohabitated with, the victim as a spouse or intimate partner;
• By a person similarly situated to a spouse of the victim under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction in which the crime of violence occurred; or
• By any other person against an adult or youth victim who is protected from that person’s acts under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction in which the crime of violence occurred.

Dating Violence is committed by a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim. The existence of such a relationship shall be determined based on the reporting party’s statement and with consideration of the length of the relationship, the type of relationship, and the frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship.

Stalking

Under Massachusetts law, M.G.L., c. 265, §43, an individual engages in stalking if they: 1) willfully and maliciously engage in a knowing pattern of conduct or series of acts over a period of time directed at a specific person which seriously alarms or annoys that person and would cause a reasonable person to suffer substantial emotional distress; and 2) makes a threat with the intent to place the person in imminent fear of death or bodily injury.

Complicity

Complicity means any act that knowingly aids, facilitates, promotes, or encourages another person to commit any other form of conduct prohibited by this policy.

Attempting to Commit Prohibited Conduct

A person attempts to commit prohibited conduct if, with the intent to commit such conduct, that person engages in conduct directly tending toward completion of the prohibited conduct.

Sexual Harassment: Sexual harassment and sexual violence are forms of sex discrimination that are illegal under both federal and Massachusetts state law. Sexual harassment includes sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when:

• Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s employment or an individual’s participation in an educational program;
• Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment or academic decisions affecting such individual; or
• Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work or academic performance or unreasonably creating a working or educational environment on the Curry campus that a reasonable person would perceive to be intimidating, hostile, or offensive.

Sexual harassment may occur in person or by telephone, email, text messaging, or other electronic means. Such conduct is a violation of this policy and may also be a violation of Curry’s Acceptable Use Policy and federal law.

Types of Sexual Harassment:

Quid Pro Quo Harassment: Quid pro quo sexual harassment may occur when anyone in an institutional position of power or authority over another uses any academic or supervisory reward (such as withholding appropriate grades, a promotion, or an evaluation) to subject such other person to unwanted sexual attention or to subject such other person to verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. Examples of relationships involving institutional positions of power or authority include, but are not limited to, program chair to faculty member, tenured to non-tenured faculty member, teacher or teaching assistant to student, student leader to student, supervisor to employee, and administrator to staff or student.

Hostile Environment Harassment: Sexual harassment may also occur when unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, inappropriate displays of sexually suggestive material, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature unreasonably interfere with an individual’s work or academic performance or unreasonably create a campus environment that a reasonable person would perceive to be intimidating, hostile, or offensive. Such conduct may create a hostile environment for individuals other than those at whom the conduct is directed. Hostile environment harassment includes peer harassment, such as student-to-student or colleague-to-colleague.

To constitute a hostile environment, the harassment must affect the conditions of the reporting party’s employment, academic standing, or participation in an educational program or activity, and must create an objectively offensive or abusive environment. A single incident or isolated incidents of offensive sexual conduct or remarks may create a hostile environment but generally do not unless the conduct rises to the level that a reasonable person would perceive the environment to be hostile. Even instances that may not constitute a hostile environment should, however, be addressed, so that they are not repeated.

Examples of conduct prohibited by this policy include, but are not limited to:

• Insults of a sexual nature, including lewd, obscene, or sexually suggestive displays, remarks, or conduct;
• Indecent exposure;
• Unwanted patting, pinching, hugging, or other touching (this may also constitute “fondling”);
• Sexist remarks and sexist behavior;
• Unwelcome flirtation, advances, inappropriate social invitations, or unwanted requests for sexual favors;
• Unwanted discussions of sexual matters; and
• Requests or demands for sexual favors accompanied by implicit or explicit promised rewards or threatened punishment.

Such behavior may be expressed in person or by telephone, email, text messaging, or other electronic means.

Sexual Exploitation: Sexual exploitation occurs when a person takes non-consensual, unjust, or abusive sexual advantage of another person for their own benefit or for the benefit of anyone other than the person being exploited, and which conduct does not otherwise constitute sexual misconduct under this policy.

Examples of conduct prohibited by this policy include, but are not limited to:

• Non-consensual photographs, video, or audio recording of sexual activity by any electronic device;
• Non-consensual posting or sharing of a consensually made photograph, video, or audio recording of sexual activity;
• Going beyond the boundaries of the consent given, such as by secretly allowing others to watch consensual sex;
• Disrobing another person or exposing oneself without consent;
• Voyeurism, cyberstalking, bullying, or intimidation of a sexual nature;
• Causing another person to become incapacitated by drugs or alcohol with the intent of making that person vulnerable to nonconsensual sexual assault or sexual exploitation; and
• Exposing another person to a sexually transmitted infection without the knowledge and consent of the person exposed.

Retaliation

Retaliation means taking an adverse action against someone for making a complaint, assisting with an investigation, or participating in a proceeding related to sex discrimination. This protection extends to students and employees. Examples of Retaliation:

Adverse educational or employment actions such as undeserved failing grades, or being denied opportunities provided to similarly situated individuals, refusing a promotion, demotion, or termination of employment.