2008 Woodie Awards
When Saying No Means No!
By: Sylvia Masuda
Issue date: 5/26/05 Section: Features
- Page 1 of 2 next >
Like bullets, they come whizzing past. Oftentimes, they hit their target, leaving a burn that's hard to forget.
A 20-year-old communications major who wishes to remain anonymous has experienced such attacks firsthand.
"Guys will say things like, 'Hey, you looking good,'" she said.
She has even been pursued.
"They follow you until you tell them you're not interested," she said.
Sometimes, words aren't enough.
"Even then, they'll keep following you, or ask if you want a boyfriend, or if you can just be friends," she said.
She said sexual harassment is an on-campus reality and it's not exactly a secret, either.
"I've heard through word of mouth that there was something about girls being harassed at night in the parking structure," Nick Ortaliz, 20, nursing major, said.
Sgt. Kirk Johnston has received many calls in the past complaining of harassment.
"(Sexual harassment) is not a crime violation; but we will go over and we'll sit them down and talk to the group or the individual," Johnston said.
Sometimes, it's not just words that journey where they shouldn't.
Inappropriate physical contact of the sexual nature is known as sexual battery, and, unlike harassment, is a crime violation that can result in arrest, Johnston said.
He said that sexual battery is also a familiar face on campus.
"We've had guys grab girls in the behinds," Johnston said. "We've arrested many people for that."
Frequently, only women fall prey to such behavior.
Almost 95 percent of sexual harassment and battery reports on campus are from females, Johnston said.
"I don't know any woman who doesn't have a story," sociology professor Sue Dowden said.
"All women in the workplace will eventually experience sexual harassment," she said.
History and women's studies professor Maria Brown said that this slant is inborn in American culture.
"The American attitude about sex is very different from attitudes in other countries," Brown said. "It's the orientation in society that women are the weaker sex."
A 20-year-old communications major who wishes to remain anonymous has experienced such attacks firsthand.
"Guys will say things like, 'Hey, you looking good,'" she said.
She has even been pursued.
"They follow you until you tell them you're not interested," she said.
Sometimes, words aren't enough.
"Even then, they'll keep following you, or ask if you want a boyfriend, or if you can just be friends," she said.
She said sexual harassment is an on-campus reality and it's not exactly a secret, either.
"I've heard through word of mouth that there was something about girls being harassed at night in the parking structure," Nick Ortaliz, 20, nursing major, said.
Sgt. Kirk Johnston has received many calls in the past complaining of harassment.
"(Sexual harassment) is not a crime violation; but we will go over and we'll sit them down and talk to the group or the individual," Johnston said.
Sometimes, it's not just words that journey where they shouldn't.
Inappropriate physical contact of the sexual nature is known as sexual battery, and, unlike harassment, is a crime violation that can result in arrest, Johnston said.
He said that sexual battery is also a familiar face on campus.
"We've had guys grab girls in the behinds," Johnston said. "We've arrested many people for that."
Frequently, only women fall prey to such behavior.
Almost 95 percent of sexual harassment and battery reports on campus are from females, Johnston said.
"I don't know any woman who doesn't have a story," sociology professor Sue Dowden said.
"All women in the workplace will eventually experience sexual harassment," she said.
History and women's studies professor Maria Brown said that this slant is inborn in American culture.
"The American attitude about sex is very different from attitudes in other countries," Brown said. "It's the orientation in society that women are the weaker sex."