Draft policies on sexual harassment and rape fine-tuned

Counter point: Assoc Prof Jane Bennett, chair of the Reference Team that helped the Transformation Office revise UCT's policies on sexual harassment and rape, speaks at the first of several town hall consultations, scheduled to elicit feedback.

UCT's new draft policies for sexual harassment and rape were presented to the university community for comment on 5 June, as part of a fine-tuning process before these are presented to Council.

In the making since 2005, the policies are part of UCT's duty to provide a safe working, learning, residential and social environment for students and staff.

Three major innovations have been included in the draft. The first is that survivors of sexual offences will have the right to lodge formal complaints simultaneously with UCT and the criminal justice system.

Second, the issue of discretion in handling such cases has also been clarified. Vicarious liability means that the heads of institutions may be liable for their workers' or agents' contraventions of legislation in the course of their work. This means that all managers, anyone with delegated responsibilities, must take all reasonable steps to prevent harassment or discrimination.

In the new policy, line managers will have to report all incidents of harassment and rape to the Discrimination and Harassment Office.

And third, the draft policies have levelled the fields in terms of the university's current four sets of disciplinary procedures. In the policies on sexual harassment and rape, the reference team '“ which assisted the Transformation Office - has proposed one set of disciplinary procedures for the university.