Project STOP (Student Team for Outreach and Prevention) An Anti-Harassment Coalition At LSU

1. Project STOP(Student Team for Outreach and Prevention) An Anti-Harassment Coalition At LSU Funded by the AAUW (American Association of University Women) Campus Action Project Grant

2. The AAUW’s definition of Sexual Harassment: • Sexual harassment is unwanted and unwelcome sexual behavior which interferes with your life. • These behaviors can range from unwanted sexual comments, jokes and gestures, to being touched, grabbed, or pinched in a sexual way, to being forced to engage in a sexual activity. • A most important feature of this definition is that sexual harassment is not behaviors that you like or want (for example wanted kissing, touching, or flirting).

3. Who Took the Survey: • 906 LSU students • 174 identified as men. • 651 identified as women. • 57 identified as LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgender) • 72 identified as African- American or Black • 71 identified as an Other Minority • 670 identified as Caucasian or White

4. Survey Results: • 77.2% of all survey takers reported that they had been sexually harassed in some way at LSU.

5. Who is being harassed at LSU? • 79% of female survey takers reported being sexually harassed at LSU • 73.6% of male survey takers reported being sexually harassed at LSU • 87.3% of LGBT survey takers reported being sexually harassed at LSU • 80% of Caucasian survey takers reported being sexually harassed at LSU • 76% of African-American survey takers reported being sexually harassed at LSU • 68% of survey takers who identified themselves as an other minority reported being sexually harassed at LSU

6. How are they being harassed? Of all 906 survey takers: • 76.8% experienced some form of non-contact harassment (harassment that does not involve any physical contact) • 20.3% reported experiencing two types of non-contact sexual harassment. • 9.2% reported experiencing four types of non-contact sexual harassment.

7. How are they being harassed? Of all 906 survey takers: • 47.5% experienced some form of contact harassment (harassment that involves physical contact) • 10.2% reported experiencing two types of contact sexual harassment. • 7% reported experiencing four types of contact sexual harassment.

8. Student’s Words:Descriptions of Sexual Harassment • “A professor and a fellow student commented to each other about my breasts.” • “A stupid guy who I didn’t know called me a ‘f---ing dyke’ because of the way I was dressed [and] went on to blabber about maybe if I’d been with a guy, I’d change, followed by an offer to drop by his place some time.” • “The worst is walking to the testing center … some of the football players like to stand out there and say something sexual to whomever walks by. They say dirty things, stand in your way, and bark at you … I tried to avoid it by walking around, and they made fun of me for doing it.” • “My boss will say stuff like, ‘hey,Tuesday is bj (blowjob) and steak day,’ and insinuate that I should do this to my boyfriend.”

9. Student’s Words:Descriptions of Sexual Harassment • “I was frightened in the fraternity house because one guy locked himself and me in a room and his fraternity brothers were banging on the door and cheered. I had to fight to get away.” • “I was walking from my dorm to class and I passed by a group of male students. One of them slapped me on the behind and others whistled.” • “I passed out in my room at a party at my house; my friends pulled down my pants and put a beer bottle in my ass so they could take a picture of it … they posted the picture on multiple computers and sent the pictures around. My friends told me I had eaten x [ecstasy], then had gay sex … this went on for two months before I was told it was a joke.”

10. Who are the harassers at LSU? Of students who experienced non-contact sexual harassment: • 51% reported being harassed by one person, a male • 42% reported being harassed by more than one person, all males • 11% reported being harassed by one person, a female • 79% reported being harassed by a fellow student • 15% reported being harassed by a professor or t.a. • 8% reported being harassed by another school employee

11. Who are the harassers at LSU? Of students who experienced contact sexual harassment: • 54% reported being harassed by one person, a male • 32% reported being harassed by more than one person, all males • 12% reported being harassed by one person, a female • 73% reported being harassed by a fellow student • 13% reported being harassed by a professor or t.a. • 5% reported being harassed by another school employee

12. Sexual Harassment interferes with an optimal educational experience at LSU: Of the 654 students who reported being harassed: • 33% reported that the harassment caused them to stay away from particular buildings or places on campus • 20% reported that the harassment caused them to have difficulties studying and paying attention in class. • 15% reported that the harassment caused them not to participate as much in class • 13% reported that the harassment caused them to skip a class or drop a course • 9% reported that the harassment caused them not to go to a professor/ t.a.’s office hours

13. Sexual Harassment interferes with an optimal educational experience at LSU: Of the 654 students who reported being harassed: • 63% reported that the harassment caused them to feel self-conscious or embarrassed • 55% reported that the harassment caused them to feel angry • 41% reported that the harassment caused them to be less sure of themselves or less confident • 33% reported that the harassment caused them to feel afraid or scared • 17% reported that the harassment caused them to feel disappointed with their college experience

14. Student’s Words:Responses to Sexual Harassment • “It is pretty much inevitable and I have grown used to it.” • “This offended me because I felt like he was categorizing me based on negative stereotypes about lesbians. I felt unattractive.” • “I just brushed it off and ignored it. And was called a bitch for doing so.” • “Unsafe … like, if he will do this, what ELSE will he do?” • “I was scared to death and pretty pissed off.” • “Very uncomfortable, upset, gross, nauseated, nervous about my grade because I didn’t agree.” • “It makes me feel like I’m not really there.” • “Afraid; unsure of who to turn to. It made me want to switch schools.”

15. Who Do Students Tell? Of 654 students who reported being sexually harassed at LSU: • 16% indicated that they did not tell anyone • “because it happened all the time to other girls, too” • “I didn’t see it as such a big deal – at the time.” • “because I didn’t want to stir up controversy” • “I was afraid of retaliation.” • “I felt no one cared. This campus has an attitude of, ‘it’s only harassment, not rape.”

16. Who Do Students Tell? • 42% told a friend • 9.6% told a family member • 3% told a school employee (other than a teacher or an RA) • 2.7% told a professor or a t.a. • 2.6% told a Title IX representative • 0.7% told an RA

17. What do students know about resources at LSU? When asked if LSU has a policy in place to deal with sexual harassment issues and complaints: • 55% said yes • 41% said they were not sure • 1.4% said no

18. What do students know about resources at LSU? When asked if LSU has a designated person or office to contact if someone is the victim of sexual harassment: • 30% said yes • 63% said they were not sure • 5% said no

19. What do students want us to do about sexual harassment at LSU? • “More awareness in first-year dorms” • “Case studies, public talk sessions, inviting not just female but also males” • State often and clearly the range of behaviors that constitute sexual harassment; increased support for women’s centers; expansion of the ‘Safe Space’ program; more discussion by administration; stronger statements supporting gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender students.” • “I think there needs to be a known safety for people who have a complaint of sexual harassment – like not being afraid of the results of making it public.”

20. Conclusions: • A significant portion of students affected by sexual harassment at LSU perceive a lack of institutional support present to help them deal with these issues. • Many students are either uninformed or misinformed about official policies regarding sexual harassment at LSU. • There exists a culture of acceptance and complacency surrounding instances of sexual harassment on LSU’s campus, especially instances of “legal” harassment, such as cat-calling, prank playing, pinching, mooning, etc.

21. What’s next? How can we improve our campus climate? The Project STOP Town Hall Meeting: On May 4th the CAP team made the results of the survey public. University administrators, student leaders, and AAUW representatives were invited to share their perspectives on the data and offer their suggestions for policy and practice improvements at LSU.

22. At the Town Hall Meeting, we learned from the administrative panelists that: • While most university units do have policies and educational programs in place to help prevent and handle cases of sexual harassment, the information contained therein reaches a relatively small number of the over 30,000 students at LSU. • Most learning sessions, which commonly take place during orientations, are only presented on one occasion – usually a very busy one – without any type of follow-up.

23. At the Town Hall Meeting, we learned from our audience members that: • The experiences volunteered by several audience members augmented and reinforced data from the survey suggesting that a high level of tolerance exists among LSU students, faculty, and staff for harassing behaviors. Their comments indicated that many forms of harassment have become accepted behaviors against which few are likely to speak out, whether they are witnesses or victims. • A couple of attendees also echoed the desire expressed by some survey respondents for an anonymous or “safe” method of reporting cases of sexual harassment.

24. Taking Action: • The Project STOP Executive Summary will be posted on the LSU Women’s Center website, along with links to other on- and off-campus web-based sexual harassment resources, including the AAUW. • Beginning in fall 2006, the LSU Women’s Center will launch a campus-wide media campaign aimed at encouraging students to raise their expectations for our campus climate – to hold themselves, their peers, and their educators to higher standards when it comes to harassing behaviors, whether they are illegal or not. This campaign will provide students with information and encouragement they can use to interrogate their own behaviors and be empowered to speak out against the harassing behaviors of others.

25. Taking Action: • The LSU Women’s Center will research other universities that have anonymous, web-based systems in place for reporting sexual harassment, and work with Title IX officials at LSU to determine feasibility of providing such a resource at our university. • In conjunction with the Director of Greek Affairs, the Women’s Center will host a series of sexual harassment workshops tailored specifically to LSU’s large Greek population. This series will focus in particular on the relationship between alcohol use and harassing behaviors.

26. Taking Action: • Perhaps our most ambitious effort will be an endeavor to implement sexual harassment education into first-year writing courses. This training would be ongoing throughout an entire semester as part of first-year English courses, would reach a vast majority of incoming students, and provide them with sustained information and discussion of sexual harassment issues.

27. Acknowledgements: • The LSU CAP team would like to thank the AAUW for providing us the opportunity to identify problems with sexual harassment on our campus and use this information to improve our existing policies and practices, as well as create new programs targeting these problem areas. LSU will be a safer, friendlier place thanks to the AAUW’s grant. • We would also like to thank our Campus Partners at LSU who have taken time to review our survey data, participate in discussion of the data, and have pledged to continue to work with the CAP team to implement policy and program proposals. • And of course, we could not have conducted the survey without the help of the students who participated – thank you to all the LSU students who took the time to contribute their thoughts and share their experiences.