Drawing the Line: Sexual Harassment on Campus - Where Do You Draw the Line?

By Greta Franklin

Did you know that nearly two-thirds (62 percent) of college students experience sexual harassment at some point during college, yet only about 7 percent of the incidents are reported to a university employee? These are the just some of the findings from the AAUW Educational Foundation’s recent study, Drawing the Line: Sexual Harassment on Campus, which reflects how college students perceive, experience, and respond to sexual harassment.

Drawing the Line is a continuation of the Educational Foundation's groundbreaking research on gender equity in education. In 2001, it released Hostile Hallways: Bullying, Teasing, and Sexual Harassment in School, a study of sexual harassment in public schools, grades K-12. Drawing the Line moves beyond the hallways of grammar and high schools to the corridors of colleges and universities.

As a companion to Drawing the Line, the AAUW Leadership and Training Institute created the Campus Action Projects program to engage students in activism regarding campus sexual harassment. This year, AAUW provided funding and support to 11 CAP programs at colleges and universities around the country. CAP teams presented the outcomes of their programming at the June 2006 National Conference for College Women Student Leaders. The conference — Summit on Sexual Harassment: Leading Change on Campus and Beyond — engaged students in a national dialogue about sexual harassment and other leadership challenges.

In addition to CAP and the student leader conference, students were also asked to share their perceptions and experiences with sexual harassment through an essay contest, Where Do You Draw the Line? The contest challenged students to think proactively about activism and education regarding sexual harassment and gave more students a chance to have their voices heard.

Sexual harassment pervades campus life and prevents students, male and female, from achieving the social and academic benefits that colleges and universities aim to provide. At a time when schools are serving more students than ever before, creating a campus climate that is free from bias and harassment is a key concern that warrants greater attention and awareness.

AAUW has shed light on an issue that is often overlooked, ignored, or minimized in higher education. Through programming and outreach initiatives, AAUW empowers students to be proactive about issues that affect their lives. AAUW encourages students to ask their institutions, administrators, elected representatives, and most important, themselves, "Where do you draw the line?"

Find out more about Drawing the Line: Sexual Harassment on Campus

• Get a description of the report, along with a press kit, photos, and statements from the Jan. 24, 2006, launch at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
• Download a PDF version of the report at DTL-PDF.
• Purchase a paper copy of the report from ShopAAUW.
• Learn more about efforts to address sexual harassment on campus through the AAUW Building Harassment-Free Campuses initiative. Includes information on the 2006 National Conference for College Women Student Leaders, 2005-06 Campus Action Project Teams, and the Where Do You Draw the Line? essay contest.
• Learn more about the laws that can protect against sexual harassment at AAUW Legal Advocacy Fund.