Encountering and Countering Harassment
This mini case study is designed to help undergraduate students critically reflect on the complex, real-world challenges they may encounter during community engaged experiences of various kinds. After reviewing the focus themes and objectives, students should carefully read the scenario and then engage with the discussion questions. Prompts to guide discussion, along with facilitator notes, are included.
Summary
Responding to instances of sexual harassment and community tension.
Learning Objectives
- Discuss strategies for identifying, communicating, and addressing situations of harassment.
- Analyze situations in which psychological or other safety might influence decision making.
- Explore the challenges of power dynamics and conflicts within communities.
- Reflect on the importance of establishing and maintaining healthy boundaries in service roles or during immersive experiences.
- Identify personal and institutional support systems that can help them navigate emotionally challenging situations.
Scenario
Jasmine is a rising senior studying aerospace engineering. With her busy schedule, she feels she has not had much opportunity to give back and get engaged in her local community. Many of her friends have helped serve food and sort donations at a local drop-in shelter that serves the unhoused population in their college town, and have always told her how much they enjoy the experience. One of her friends puts her in contact with Emily, one of the live-in community members who helps run the shelter. After speaking, Emily offers her a room in their communal home, and the opportunity to spend the last few weeks of the summer as a full-time volunteer. Jasmine eagerly accepts.
On her first day, while serving food to guests, Jasmine receives multiple unwanted comments about her appearance. This bothers her, but she brushes them off and continues with her work. Later in the delay, one of the guests stops her while they’re alone and makes an overtly sexual advance. Jasmine is taken aback, and is not sure how to respond. She handles it well in the moment, but is deeply bothered by this and recognizes the situation as sexual harassment.
That evening, after dinner, she asks to speak to Emily. After outlining the situation, Emily remarks, “To be honest with you Jasmine, that’s just part of the job. We’ve all had it happen, and we’ve all learned to deal with it. If you can’t handle it, this might not be for you.”
Jasmine feels lost. She knows this situation is not right and wants to improve it, but she also doesn’t want to appear naive or thin-skinned to her community members and fellow volunteers.
Discussion Questions
- How might Jasmine be feeling in this situation, both in relation to the harassment and to her conversation with Emily? How might you interpret Emily’s response?
- What might Jasmine do next in this scenario?
- If she wanted to reach out for more support, who might she contact? Was it right to reach out first to Emily?
- What are some possible responses to this situation she could use to address future instances of sexual harassment? Think about this in terms of identifying, communicating, and addressing the problem.
- What might this look like if she is acting independently?
- What might this look like if she is acting with support from your community or organization?
- What policies should the organization put in place to support people who encounter harassment during immersive experiences? Under what circumstances might organizational negligence lead you to withdraw?
- Do you feel there is a limit to what Jasmineor the organization could do in this scenario? Is there a time or situation when the “deal with it” response could be acceptable? Why or why not?
- What might Jasmine do in terms of setting boundaries with the offending guests? If certain guests escalate or continue their comments, what might next steps look like?
- How might Jasmine follow up with Emily or larger community to help resolve the current tension?
Facilitator Consideration
- PROVIDE RESOURCES. Make sure students are aware of and have read the Notre Dame Navigating Sexual Harassment document for students, which outlines Notre Dame’s expectations for site partners and guidance for students.
- PROVIDE CLEAR SUPPORT. Acknowledge that immersive experiences with vulnerable populations away from familiar locations provide a heightened risk of sexual harassment. Discuss the how and why of this reality with students. They should be aware of this reality but should know this behavior is never acceptable and that they should feel comfortable and confident voicing their concerns.
- STRATEGIZE TOGETHER. Guide students in thinking through the steps and potential challenges as they move from identifying, to communicating, to addressing situations of harassment.
- EMPHASIZE SUPPORT. Make it clear to students that their site supervisor and their ND primary contact are there for them in such situations. Networks of support are in place to make sure they feel safe, can think through next steps with someone, and can come to realistic solutions.
Closing Questions
- What’s one thing you learned or thought about differently during this discussion?
- What are other types of harassment or unwanted attention one might receive during immersive experiences? In those scenarios, what might differ or remain the same in your responses to the questions above?