Wits has a problem with sexual harassment: sex pest report

The University of the Witwatersrand has released a report stating that the university has a problem with how it handles sexual harassment.

In March Tsepo wa Mamatu, deputy head of dramatic arts was accused to sexually assaulting students during rehearsals and auditions. According to the Sunday times he, along with media studies lecturer Last Moyo, was found guilty of sexual harassment in July.

While the university's report didn't lay blame at the feet of any one individual for the issues it highlighted, it did find that there were systemic problems with how the university dealt with complaints.

Its first and most pronounced finding was that there wasn't a clear understanding of what sexual harassment was, getting in the way of nipping the issue in the bud.

"Sexual harassment should be understood as a spectrum of activity, ranging from inappropriate or suggestive comments to threats and acts of physical violence," the report stated.

The report found that it was relatively seldom that sexual harassment was a one-off event.

"There was usually a continuum of conduct that was initially uncomfortable, developing over time into a more invasive version of harassment.

"The slow progression of harmful behaviour means that many people do not identify themselves as victims of sexual harassment until there is an extreme incident of sexual harassment at which point many feel that they are to blame or somehow complicit," the report found.

The report also found that none of the people responsible for dealing with sexual harrassment cases at the university had any training in the area, and that there were too many disparate role players dealing with complaints, often with conflicts of interests.

"None of the persons working in the Roleplayer offices has been provided with training on handling sexual harassment, or sensitivity training in dealing with integrated issues such as gender, race and power differentials," according to the report.

Staff handling sexual harassment cases also didn't have any formal support structures to help them deal with the emotional issues that such cases could create.

Worse, sometimes "staff members have reported that in instances where students have approached them to report and seek guidance, it has afterwards been implied by the University that they “incited students to come forward”."

The report found that this, along with how complaints were often treaded with suspicion had a silencing effect.

You can read the full report at Wits.