Controversial views should not be silenced. They should be dealt with under separate, tougher policies, or referred to the police. When sexual harassment is alleged, an unwanted action should be punishable if and only if the person performing the action knew that it was unwanted, continued it after being told that the behavior was unwanted, or exercised authority over a person at whom the behavior was directed so that that person feared expressing disapproval. We should not expect people to read each other's minds. Penalties should be tougher when sexual harassment involves abuse of power than in other cases, because the victim has a well-grounded fear of reporting such an incident.
Abuse of power is when someone exercising authority uses that power to demand sexual favors.
A person exercises authority over another if he or she has an official Institute role supervising, advising or evaluating the work of the other person. Complaints should be permitted only by someone at whom an alleged violation was directed. Allowing others to bring complaints in speech cases encourages people to spy on those with whom they disagree and report them for expressing unpopular views. Discussion of the issues of race, sex, and sexual orientation is vital to our diverse society and must remain free and open. These guidelines should be published.