Toward Prevention of Harassment

Kobe University is committed to creating and maintaining a working and learning environment in which all faculty staff and students can work and study safely and comfortably, free from any type of physical/mental harassment, intimidation or exploitation. To this end, we will not tolerate, condone or ignore any act that threatens our safe and comfortable working/learning environment.
It is imperative that all faculty staff and students recognize and maintain ethical standards that respect each other equally in relationships developed within the departments, classrooms, labs, student clubs/circles, offices, and other related university community.
This issue is brought to the forefront to ensure a fruitful life for all who work and study at Kobe University

What is harassment?

Harassment is an unwanted, unsolicited or unwelcome behavior or language that is offensive or intimidating to the recipient. On campus, harassment can happen between faculty and students, students and students, staff and staff etc, typically in the manner of unwelcome sexual advances, bullying, peer pressure, or creating a hostile environment that interferes with employment or education by the use of power differentials. Faculty members have the authority to evaluate academic performances. Students, too, have hierarchical relations among themselves in their club activities, seminars, etc. Thus, closed spaces such as labs, classrooms, clubhouses, and offices in the campus community can create an environment fit for harassment.
Harassment can be categorized into the following types:

Sexual Harassment

Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature misusing one's position in a work or academic situation, and such conducts meant to cause ill-effect or substantially interfere with an individual's work or educational performance, thus creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive environment.

Academic Harassment

Offensive or malicious treatment by the misuse of authority in an educational or a research setting that poisons learning or research environments or lower individual's motivation for learning or working on campus.

Others

Abuse of human rights in the form of insult, defamation, slander, and/or forcefully making someone drink alcohol, etc.

Action to be taken to prevent harassment

Human relationships are vital to social life. In order to maintain good human relationships, each one of us must look at things through the other person's eyes and reflect on our verbal and physical conduct. Someone might feel harassed or uncomfortable from that word spoken or action taken unintentionally. It is important to give consideration to those who cannot say "No" to your request. We must not tolerate or allow this kind of harassment by the use of authoritative power. If a particular act is judged to be harassment by the Investigation Committee, disciplinary action will be taken.

Respect for each other is the key to preventing harassment

If you feel you are being harassed

If you feel you are being harassed, tell the harasser clearly and firmly that you want it to cease immediately. Showing your discomfort is very important to prevent recurrence.
If you cannot speak up, or if his/her behavior does not cease even after you spoke up, seek advice from the Consultation Desk, remember do not suffer alone.
It is advisable to keep detailed records, such as dates, places, times, witnesses and the nature of the harassment, for they will come in handy in the course of solving the problem.
Whether a particular behavior is harassment or not depends not on how others perceive it, but on how you see it. Do not condone what has happened. Tolerating it and leaving it unprotested will allow the harassment to continue.

For Consultation

When you are being subjected to harassment, talk with one of the resource persons in the "Harassment Counselors List" on the University's web page (accessible only through the intra-university network). Regardless of the faculty to which you belong to, consultation about harassment is available from any counselors in the Harassment Counselors List. This includes resources from Mental Health Consultation Desk at the Medical Center for Student Health.
For any problem involving harassment, do not suffer alone nor hesitate to contact a counselor. We promise to keep all matters confidential. You will not be adversely affected by consulting us.