Could staring at someone for too long, giving someone a hug out of turn, or accidentally brushing up against someone in a crowded room get you accused of sexual harassment? Anything is possible.
Sexual harassment policy at Ohio State University says “unwanted touching, patting, hugging, brushing against another person’s body or staring” are common examples of sexual harassment.
While “unwanted touching” seems pretty self explanatory, it is not clear how long you would have to stare at someone before it’s considered harassment.
However, in case students are confused about the definition of harassment, OSU offers a guide differentiating between sexual harassment and flirting.
According to the policy, “sexual harassment makes the receiver feel: bad, angry/sad, demeaned, ugly and powerless,” while, “flirting makes the receiver feel: good, happy, flattered, pretty/attractive and in control.”
In other words, this policy makes the difference between flirting and harassment entirely up to the receiver and how he or she subjectively decides to feel about another person’s actions.
OSU’s policy, which was recently updated according to the Washington Examiner, is an example of the type of overly broad sexual harassment policy that could leave the school open to a Title IX investigation.
The Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) has seen a dramatic increase in the amount of college sexual violence complaints received over the past year. In May 2014, OCR was investigating 55 colleges over the handling of sexual violence and harassment complaints. A year later, that number has almost doubled. 106 colleges are currently under Title IX investigation for sexual assault cases, and the department and members of Congress have called for increased funding and staff for OCR, as it can barely keep up with the amount of complaints it is receiving.
