Such conduct will typically be directed against a particular individual or individuals and will either be abusive or severely humiliating or will persist despite the objection of the person targeted by the speech or conduct. Sexual harassment includes but is not limited to situations where one person has authority over another. In such situations, sexual harassment is particularly serious because it may unfairly exploit the power inherent in a faculty member's or supervisor's position.
Sexual harassment can be verbal, visual, physical or communicated in writing or electronically.
The inquiry can be particularly complex in an academic community, where the free and open exchange of ideas and viewpoints preserved by the concept of academic freedom may sometimes prove distasteful, disturbing or offensive to some. The fact that someone did not intend to sexually harass an individual is generally not considered a sufficient defense to a complaint of sexual harassment, although the reasonableness or the accused's perceptions may be considered. In most cases, it is the effect and characteristics of the behavior on the complainant and whether a reasonable person similarly situated would find the conduct offensive that determine whether the behavior constitutes sexual harassment.