Prevention of Harassment
Kobe University is committed to creating and maintaining a working and learning
environment in which all faculty, staff and students can work and study safely andcomfortably, free from any type of harassment, intimidation or exploitation physicallyand mentally. To this end, we will not tolerate, condone or ignore any acts that threaten
our safe, comfortable working and learning environment.
It is imperative that all faculty, staff and students recognize and maintain ethicalstandards that each of us has the right to be respected equally in the relationships thatdevelop in the departments, classrooms, labs, clubs, circles of friends, offices, and anyother spaces in our university community.
Kobe University strives to bring the issue to the forefront of campus activism so thateach of us can have a fruitful time at work and study on campus.
What is harassment?
Harassment is an unwanted, unsolicited or unwelcome behavior or language that isoffensive or intimidating to the recipient. In universities, harassment can happen
between faculty and students, students and students, staff and staff etc, typically in themanner of unwelcome sexual advances, bullying, peer pressure, or creating a hostileenvironment that interferes with employment or education by use of power differentials.
Faculty members have authority to evaluate academic performance. Students, too, havehierarchical relations among themselves in their club activities, seminars, etc. Thus,
closed spaces such as labs, classrooms and club rooms as well as offices in the campus
community can create an environment leading to harassment. This can also happen in
the workplace.
Harassment can be categorized into the following types;Sexual harassment
Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal, visual or
physical conduct of a sexual nature misusing one’s position in a work or academic
situation, and such conduct with the purpose or effect of substantially interfering withan individual’s work or educational performance creating an intimidating, hostile, oroffensive environment.

Academic Harassment
Offensive or malicious treatment that misuses a position of authority in an educational
or a research setting and damages learning or research environments or lowers
individual’s motivation for learning or working on campus.
OthersAbuse of human rights in the form of libel, defamation, slander, forcing someone todrink, etc.
Action to be taken to prevent harassment
Human relationships are vital to social life. In order to maintain good humanrelationships, we must look at things from each other’s viewpoint. Each of us shouldreflect on our verbal and physical conduct. Someone might feel harassed or
uncomfortable because of your words and attitude.
It is important to think of others who are not able to say “No”. We must not tolerate or
forgive harassment that misuses authority or power.
If a particular act is proved by the Investigation Committee to be harassment,
disciplinary action will be taken.

Mutual respect is the key to preventing harassment.
If you feel you are being harassed:
If you feel you are being harassed, tell the harasser clearly that the behavior isunwelcome and you want it to stop immediately. Showing your discomfort is very
important.
If you feel you cannot speak up, or his/her behavior does not stop even after you speakup, seek advice from the Consultation Desk rather than suffer alone.
It is advisable to keep records of details, such as dates, places, times, witnesses and thenature of the harassment as they can be helpful in the course of solving the problem.
Whether or not a particular behavior holds true of harassment depends not on how
others perceive it, but on how you feel it. Do not condone what has happened. Tolerating
the situation will allow the harassment to continue.

For consultation:
When you are being subjected to harassment, talk with one of the resource persons in
the “Harassment Counselors List” on the University’s web page (accessible only throughthe intra-university network). Regardless of the faculty you belong to, consultation
about harassment is available from any counselors in the Harassment Counselors List,including the resources from Mental Health Consultation Desk at the Medical Center
for Student Health.
For any problem involving harassment, do not suffer alone nor hesitate to contact acounselor. We promise to keep all matters confidential. You will not be adversely
affected from a consultation.

“Take courage and speak up” is the first step in resolving the problem.
Many cases have been solved through consultation.

Kobe University Harassment Committee