Females can experience harassment. Males and females can be harassers. Sexual harassment is a form of gender discrimination involving unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature which interferes with the education or work of others. Sexual harassment violates university policy as well as state and federal laws and can result in disciplinary action for employee or student offenders as severe as expulsion or dismissal. In addition to university sanction, persons who engage in sexual harassment may be subject to civil or criminal action.
Sexual harassment occurs in many diverse situations.
What the situations have in common is the irrelevant and unnecessary introduction of sexual comments or activities. Such harassment can be verbal, written, or physical and ranges from subtle innuendos of a sexual nature to coerced sexual relations. Though most victims of sexual harassment are women, men can also be victims of sexual harassment. Both women and men can be offenders. Sexual harassment is an abuse of power.