If you aren’t sure who to talk to, consider speaking to a parent, teacher or your coach. If you are being sexually harassed by an adult at the school, it is extremely important that you let an adult know right away. Some schools have people appointed to anti-bullying roles. If your school has one, that person could be a great person to seek guidance from.
Sometimes simply saying to stop will be enough and the harasser will leave you alone or cease their inappropriate behavior. Make sure that you make it perfectly clear. Don’t allow the harasser to interpret your statement as anything but what it is: time for them to change their behavior. Try saying something like, “What you are saying or doing makes me uncomfortable. Please stop right now. " If that does not work, use the word harassment in your statement to them: “Stop harassing me. I am going to get a teacher right now. " Do not lose your temper or escalate the situation to violence. [3] X Research source
No one has the right to sexually harass another person, regardless of their age, position, or level of authority. There is no such thing as “asking for it. ”
Save any offensive notes, messages, texts or e-mails that you receive from the harasser as evidence of their inappropriate behavior. Keep the evidence someplace you don’t have to see unless you want to if it makes you upset to look at.
Listen to your parent’s guidance about the situation. Ask them if they will help you speak to your teacher or other authority figure if you’re uncomfortable doing it alone.
If you have been keeping a record of the harassment, bring that with you when you go to speak to the teacher. Make sure you explain what you have already done to prevent the harassment from continuing.
Ask to speak to the appointed official if there is one; he or she can provide you with information, answer your questions, and help you move forward with the complaint. Read the policy completely to make sure you have a thorough understanding of what the school’s policy considers to be sexual harassment.
Contact the U. S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) by phone or on their webpage: http://www. ed. gov/about/offices/list/ocr/complaintintro. html. Complaints generally need to be received within 180 days of the harassment incident to be investigated by the Department of Education.
Another student asking you on a date or to a dance more than once may not be harassment if the person is unaware that they are making you uncomfortable. If the person becomes forceful, however, that may be harassment. Someone complimenting your appearance may not be harassment if they are simply being polite. Saying you “look great in your new jeans,” may not be considered harassment, but if the conversation turns sexual in any way, it could be.
Verbal harassment is made up of comments about your body, making sexual remarks, or speaking in a generally inappropriate and sexual manner. This could include making any comments about body parts that are generally covered by a swimsuit (even if the comments are ostensibly positive), pressuring a student to make negative or demeaning comments to someone or something else in exchange for companionship or a better reputation, or offering companionship or sexual favors in exchange for helping someone else do something immoral such as cheating on a test. Physical harassment is any time someone makes contact with your body in a sexual and unwelcome manner. This includes physical contact of any kind that continues after the other student requests that it stop. Visual harassment involves obscene gestures, exposure to inappropriate pictures or sexual objects. This could include photographing another student who is urinating or changing clothes, performing a sexual act such as masturbation in full view of other students, or deliberately fouling up a toilet or toilet area for the purpose of intimidating those who need to use it.
Calling someone names like “slut” or “whore” is sexual harassment regardless of the gender of the person doing the name calling. Harassing someone because they do not conform to social gender norms is sexual harassment. Mocking someone for developing or maturing at a different rate than their peers is sexual harassment.
