Policy On Sexual Harassment

Q: Your university almost certainly has a written policy on sexual harassment, that policy almost certainly details the sexual harassment enforcment procedure. What should sys admins do about nude pictures and displays of nude pictures in public terminal rooms? Is a special rule banning such pictures and/or displays needed?

A: It is very unlikely that an ordinary university department or staff person is authoritized by the school to enforced the sexual harassment policy (by, for example, expelling students from the computer system or by searching for *.gif files). You can, however: 1) Find out if your university's "sexual harassment" officer thinks that public display of nudes is, in more situations, sexual harassment. If so, post notices that public display of sexual material is *likely* a violation of the school's sexual harassment policy. Quote the policy and the opinion of the university's "sexual harassment" officer. 2) If anyone engages in what appears to be sexual harassment, * warn them informally (at your discretion) * charge them with sexual harassment (or tell the harassed person how to charge them) following your schools's sexual harassment procedure. Note you are not creating a new rule; rather you are helping to explain the University's existing rule. This is important because it is very difficult to create and enforce a good sexual harassment rule.

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