Improving the Prevention of Sexual Assault and Harassment on Campus
Mijeong Lee
Mi-Hye Chang
Bo-Hwa Kim
The college and university authorities should be primarily responsible for the prevention of and prompt response to sexual assault and harassment occurred on college and university campuses as those sexually discriminatory acts put restrictions on the students’ right to learning. However, current laws regarding sexual assault and harassment have limitations in addressing those issues on campus. Especially laws related to sexual harassment are mainly focused on the employment relations in the workplace and there is no separate law to deal with the prevention of and response to that problem in the higher education institutions. The prevention of and response to sexual harassment varies by college and university, and relies heavily on their individual policies and/or the commitment of college and university president. Pursuant to the Framework Act on Women’s Development, a public organization shall establish an official channel to address complaints regarding sexual harassment. The following issues have been identified in relation to sexual harassment on campus. First, 81.6% of colleges and universities have such a channel as a subsidiary body within the student counseling or administration department, not as an independent department. Second, the low presence of the complaint handling body on campus makes smooth implementation of its role difficult. Third, there are no qualifications available for the person in charge of such a body and, more often than not, it is controlled by a non-expert in the field such as a school administrator. Fourth, depending on the individual characteristics of the issues, both arbitration and disciplinary actions should be taken into account. Yet, currently, the focus tends to be only on the disciplinary punishment against the offenders. Fifth, there is a lack of clear standards for examining and determining disciplinary actions, which leads to differences between colleges and universities in the degrees of punishment of similar violations. Both the government and institutions for higher education should do more in order to strengthen the prevention of and response to sexual assault and harassment on campus. The following outlines the role of the government: First, a new provision should be added to the Framework Act on Education, “The president of a college and university is responsible for the prevention of and response to sexual assault and harassment on campus, and restrictions will be placed on the education support budget for a college/university that fails to implement such actions.” Second, the item of the prevention of and response to sexual assault and harassment should be added to college and university assessment. Third, the laws regarding the establishment of a complaint handling body related to sexual harassment should be realigned to provide a guideline for defining the type of the body and the qualifications of employees. Fourth, the scope of issues covered by the National Human Rights Commission to be widened to sexual harassment cases between students, between a student and employees of the college and university so that the victim can take his/her case to the Commission. Fifth, the manuals for addressing sexual assault and harassment issues and the guidelines for examining and determining disciplinary actions should be created. Sixth, the designation of a department should be put in place within the government with regard to the prevention and response to sexual assault and harassment. The following is the role of college and university authorities: First, the complaint handling channel related to sexual assault and harassment should be established and strengthened as an independent body, and the role of the head of such a body should be expressly stipulated in writing. Second, expertise of the person in charge of providing counseling should be ensured through qualifications and training, his/her working environment should be improved, and the legal support for that person should be increased. Third, various supports should be provided to help victims, deal with offenders after the fact and to further promote gender equality on campus.
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