Dear Aunt Art Agony,
I teach in an art program at a university. One of the male technicians has sexually harassed students and had a sexual relationship with a women student. (She dropped out of school in her fourth year when he ended the relationship.) The students concerned told me what happened but they are too afraid to sign a statement, because this guy has the power to help them or not help them with their work. So he gets away with it. How do I deal with this situation?
Thank you for giving voice to what no one wants to acknowledge,
Your Anonymous Friend
PS. And in case anyone from my art school sees this and thinks that they recognize the situation, could you please delete this e-mail?
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2 comments:
Gentle Reader,
Let us get this straight. We were a student seeking to learn. We met a serial predator who taught us self-abjegation in service of his sexual hobbies. As a result, we were supposed to write down evidence against him to be able to return to learning what we paid to study. Ergo, Licentious Predator prevents us from stopping him. He prevented our colleagues from stopping him. He prevented his bosses from stopping him. Therefore, we changed our status from student to McClerk. Tricky, very tricky.
Fortunately, your institution did not descend into that perfidious pastime from the seventh level of Hell, mediation. We urge readers most fervently to avoid that perpetrator-centred form of bureaocratic anaesthesia. But, we digress.
Is there no policy forbidding sexual liaisons between staff and students? Is there no policy governing off-campus conduct?
But wait. A spark! Could there not be weekly bombardments of circulars on avoiding sexual harrassment? Could there not be a flood of new non-discrimination ideas streaming down your university's hallowed halls? Posters, e-mails, a deluge of flickering and tweeting? Make the subject line say BOX LUNCH or COURSE EVALUATION and slide in a sentiment or two about how sex causes limb dysfunction in men or driving impairment.
Some simple life forms live where there is no illumination. They thrive perfecly well without it. Perhaps they perform a waste-distilling function. Naturally enough, one's thoughts begin to inquire about this man's protectors. What is their motive for remaining in the dark? Or, have they not the tools to create fire?
For Mercy's sake however, create a barrier so that unwitting innocents never cross into that fungal portal ever again.
We are certain that Scandinavia has led the development of a clever solution to all of this. Let us seek their protocols and precedents.
1.Students should keep notes at home detailing exactly what happened , when and who might have overheard it
2.ask the student/faculty union about policies regarding rights.(freedom from harasment, discrimination etc)
3.post charter of rights(international, national, university etc). If it's the law of the land then ALL have to obey
4.find a university committee on rights of student/general codes of behaviour etc(should conform to #3 above)
5.ask your Human resources personnel to offer workshops, compulsory to university employees.
6.have the technician come to your class to do his demos and correct him publicky if he shows signs of predation/inappropriate behaviour.
7.he has a supervisor. find out who it is and suggest that there is work to do.
8.have him transferred to another department for a while
9.talk with trusted colleagues and make a pact to watch him and try to be around when he might be able to prey on vulnerable students.
10.tell all students that they should always go to his shop in pairs or 3s.
11.make the students so well informed that they rarely have to use his skills. have a technical q&A at the beginning of every class. emphasize the importance of being well informed early and developing these skills...design some projects that can develop the skills early and solidly and perhaps require that they be group projects so they must work together.
12.Inform students about inappropirate behaviour and student/human rights
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