G. Definition of Sexual Misconduct Including Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment
Sexual misconduct encompasses a range of behavior including sexual harassment, sexual assault, and any conduct of a sexual nature that is nonconsensual, or has the effect of threatening or intimidating the person against whom such conduct is directed.
According to the statutes of the State of Connecticut, unwanted sexual contact or sexual assault may take the form of any of the following: vaginal or anal intercourse; fellatio or cunnilingus; or penetration with an object manipulated by the charged student into the vagina or anus. Unwanted sexual contact can also involve contact with the intimate parts of another person (the genitals, groin, anus, inner thighs, buttocks, or breasts). Such contact could be for the purpose of degrading or humiliating another person for the sexual gratification of the charged student, or it could entail use of a weapon, physical force, violence, or superior strength.
Sexual activity requires consent, which is defined as voluntary, positive agreement between the participants, to engage in specific sexual activity. Consent to sexual activity can be communicated in a variety of ways, but one should presume that consent has not been given in the absence of clear, positive agreement. While verbal consent is not an absolute requirement for consensual sexual activity, verbal communication prior to engaging in sex helps to clarify consent. Students, therefore, are strongly encouraged to communicate verbally before engaging in sexual activity. However potentially awkward it may seem, talking about your own and your partner's sexual desires, needs, and limitations provides a basis for a positive experience.
Consent must be clear and unambiguous for each participant at every stage of a sexual encounter. The absence of “no” should not be understood to mean there is consent. A prior relationship does not indicate consent to future activity. A person who is asleep or mentally or physically incapacitated either through the e›ect of drugs or alcohol, or for any other reason, is not capable of giving valid consent. Additionally, the use of alcohol or drugs may seriously interfere with the participants' judgment about whether consent has been sought and given. When there is a lack of mutual consent about sexual activity, or there is ambiguity about whether consent has been given, a student can be charged with, and found guilty of, committing a sexual assault or another form of sexual misconduct.
The State of Connecticut amplifies the definition of lack of consent in the following ways: someone might not give consent because of mental incapacity (they might have consumed alcohol or drugs so as to become significantly impaired in awareness or judgment, or have been given, a drug or intoxicating substance against their will) or because of physical helplessness (they were unconscious or otherwise physically unable to communicate consent). A lack of physical resistance to sexual contact or intercourse does not imply a lack of consent. But the State of Connecticut is firm in its belief that a lack of physical resistance does not in itself indicate consent to a sexual contact.
[See Connecticut General Statutes Sections 53a-65(1-7); and Sections 53a-70(a) (1 and 2).]
Sexual harassment consists of nonconsensual sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other verbal or physical conduct on or off campus, when: (1) submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a condition of an individual's employment or academic standing; or (2) submission to or rejection of such conduct is used as the basis for employment decisions or for academic evaluation, grades, or advancement; or (3) such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual's work or academic performance or creating an intimidating or hostile academic or work environment. Sexual harassment may be found in a single episode, as well as in persistent behavior.
Any student who engages in sexual misconduct should be aware that his or her behavior may be considered criminal under Connecticut statutes and could result in criminal prosecution, as well as disciplinary action by the Yale College Executive Committee.
