{ What is Sexual Harassment? }

Academic sexual harassment represents an illegal violation of a student's civil rights. There are two basic types of academic sexual harassment : (1) Quid Pro Quo and (2) Hostile Environment.
 

Quid Pro Quo This phrase is Latin and essentially translates as "this for that". With quid pro quo harassment, a professor typically offers some tangible academic benefit (test score, project grade, course grade, thesis approval, letter of recommendation) in exchange for sexual favors from a student. Quid pro quo is considered to be the most blatant form of illegal sexual harassment and clearly represents an abuse of a professor's power.
 

Hostile Environment This type of harassment involves a sexually charged learning environment that (1) interferes with a student's academic performance and/or (2) is perceived by the student to be threatening, intimidating, and offensive. Hostile environment harassment typically involves a repeated pattern of sexually offensive comments and/or behaviors on the part of a professor that is unrelated to course content. For example an economics professor who frequently discusses sexual intercourse and degrades women during class time would clearly be guilty of hostile environment sexual harassment.