Getting Help - Resources and References

If you have been victimized by faculty sexual harassment/sexual misconduct, it is important to get help in dealing with the trauma. In this section, we will provide specific recommendations about available resources, along with suggestions concerning additional references or sources of information/assistance.

    1.  Friends and Family

One of the best sources of immediate help when dealing with faculty sexual harassment/sexual misconduct can be your close friends and family members. Simply sharing your experience with someone who is supportive and understanding can be very beneficial. This will enable you  to deal more effectively with the emotional trauma and make better decisions about what to do next.

    2.  Supportive Faculty Member

Another possible source of help is a supportive faculty member, who can listen well, empathize,  and offer advice about how to proceed.

    3.  Student Advocate or Ombudsperson

        Many universities have a designated Student Advocate or Ombudsperson whose job is to help
        students solve their problems. If your campus has such a person, seeking their support and
        assistance can be very beneficial.
 

    4.  University Counseling Center

         Most universities have a campus counseling center for students or a designated counselor.
         These individuals can be particularly helpful in dealing with the immediate trauma caused by a
         victim's experience and making referrals to other qualified professionals if additional assistance
         is necessary.

    5.  Community Mental Health Center

 If for whatever reason you do not feel comfortable seeking assistance from the university's counseling center, you can contact a local community mental health center and ask for an appointment. Most counties and cities have such organizations and they can be easily located in the phone book or by calling a local hospital first. Typically, these centers make every effort to see you as quickly as possible and can then make recommendations/referrals about further treatment.

    6.  Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education

This office known as OCR is responsible for enforcing sexual harassment laws in educational settings. They maintain an informative webpage that can be accessed by clicking here (http://www.ed.gov/offices/OCR/index.html).

    7.  Reference List

For those that might be interested in additional reading material on academic sexual harassment, the list below provides selected references that we have found to be particularly helpful. If you find a book or article that you feel should be included on this list, please let us know. (Click here for reference list)

    8.  Training Handbooks

We have developed three training handbooks on the topic of sexual harassment in university settings and used them in conducting educational workshops for students, staff, faculty, and administrators. If you, one of your professors, or your institution are interested in obtaining any of these training handbooks, content outlines and ordering information are available by (clicking here).

    9.  Speaking, Training, and Consulting Services

If you, your organization, your professor, or your university are interested in pro-student speaking engagements, training/educational workshops, and/or consulting services, please contact Dr. Charles J. Hobson for more information (click here) for email, fax, phone, mailing address.

    10.  If you have general questions or comments please contact us and we will respond as quickly
           as possible.