SEXUAL MISCONDUCT

Definition of Terms/Policies for:

Sexual Misconduct, Intimate Partner Violence, Stalking and Sexual Harassment

St. Mary’s College is committed to maintaining an environment free from all forms of sexual exploitation and intimidation. The College will not tolerate sexual misconduct including rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, stalking, intimate partner violence or other forms of unwanted sexual activity. The College takes a proactive stance against sexual misconduct and has in place sexual misconduct policies and protocols which are designed to promote:

• the physical and emotional health and safety of the survivor and accused
• the common safety of the St. Mary’s College community
• the protection of all involved from undue embarrassment or publicity
• that SMCM faculty and staff are transparent to the community in their responses to incidents of sexual misconduct
• a coordinated and consistent response
• confidentiality

These policies and procedures refer to a person who has been the victim of a sexual misconduct as the “victim”, “survivor” or “complainant.” This code refers to a person accused of sexual misconduct as the “accused” or “respondent.” The on-campus judicial process determines if a violation of campus policy has occurred and is in no way a criminal investigation or a determination if a law has been broken.

To help students understand behaviors that constitute sexual misconduct, intimate partner violence, stalking and sexual harassment we have provided the following definitions adopted by St. Mary’s College of Maryland. These definitions are provided in addition to sexual offenses, rape, sexual harassment, and stalking as defined by the Maryland Annotated Code: http://www.dsd.state.md.us/comar/AnnotIndex.aspx

Effective Consent: Effective consent is defined as willingly, freely and knowledgably agreeing to engage in sexual conduct. Consensual sexual conduct is a mutual decision reached by both parties without any hint of force, threat, coercion, pressure, fraud, manipulation, intimidation, or reasonable fear of injury. Consent cannot be given if the victim is mentally or physically incapacitated (for example, due to excessive use of alcohol or drugs or a mental or physical condition). Silence, passivity, or lack of active resistance does not imply consent. In addition, previous participation in sexual activity does not indicate current consent to participate. Consent to one form of sexual activity does not imply consent to other forms of sexual activity. Consent can be withdrawn at any point during sexual activity.

Sexual Misconduct: Sexual Misconduct is defined as any activity of a sexual nature that violates another individual’s physical or emotional well-being or personal space without that person’s explicit permission. Any and all non-consensual sexual activity and any non-consensual behavior of a sexual nature constitute violation of the College’s Sexual Misconduct Policy. Violations of the College’s Sexual Misconduct Policy will be adjudicated under the prescribed procedures outlined in Article V, Section 3 of this Code.

Sexual Misconduct I: Sexual Penetration. Any act(s) of forcible or non-consensual sexual penetration, however slight, of another person’s anal, genital, or oral opening with any object or body part.

Sexual Misconduct II: Sexual Contact. Any act(s) of touching of an unwilling person’s intimate parts (defined as genitalia, groin, breast, or buttocks, or clothing covering them) or forcing an unwilling person to touch intimate parts.

Sexual Misconduct III: Sexual Exploitation. Any act which takes non-consensual, unjust or abusive sexual advantage of another, either for their own advantage or benefit, or for the advantage or benefit of anyone other than the one being exploited. This behavior includes but is not limited to:

• Utilizing any electronics for the purpose of posting or publishing and/or capturing images of a sexual act without the consent or knowledge of the involved parties 
• Publishing, recreating, or reproducing images of a sexual act without the knowledge or consent of the parties involved 
• Peeping tommery/voyeurism 
• Unwanted exposure to pornographic material  
• Inducing incapacitation for the purpose of having sex with the incapacitated person regardless if sexual activity actually takes place 
• Prostitution

Intimate Partner Violence: Any acts of physical or psychological harm against a current or former intimate partner including stalking, dating violence, and/or relationship violence. Intimate Partner Violence may occur between people of the same or different sexes and does not require sexual intimacy between those involved.

Intimate Partner Violence I: Physical Harm. Any act(s) that use physical force or weapons against another person with the potential for causing death, disability, injury, or harm. Physical violence includes, but is not limited to, scratching, pushing, shoving, throwing, grabbing, biting, choking, shaking, slapping, punching, burning, use of a weapon and/or use of restraints or one's body size or strength.

Intimate Partner Violence II: Threat of Physical Harm. The act(s) of threatening or using words, gestures, or weapons to communicate an intent or strong desire to cause death, disability, injury, or physical harm upon a current or former intimate partner.

Intimate Partner Violence III: Psychological/Emotional Harm. Any acts, threats of acts, or coercive tactics used to degrade or control an intimate partner. This can include, but is not limited to, humiliation, controlling what another can and cannot do, withholding information, deliberately doing something to make an individual feel diminished or embarrassed, isolating someone from friends and family, and denying an individual access to money or other basic resources.

Stalking: Any course of harassing, threatening, or intimidating conduct that an individual has willfully and repeatedly (more than once) engaged in that reasonably and seriously alarms, torments, or terrorizes another individual or group of individuals. Stalking behaviors may include, but are not limited to repeated: abusive and excessive contact and/or monitoring using telephone calls, voice mails, emails, instant messaging, text messages, and/or social media to one’s home or work; installing spyware on a person’s computer or phone without consent; trespassing; following and/or threatening an individual or a person’s friends and relatives; driving/walking by a person’s home, school, and/or work; or vandalizing property.

Sexual Harassment: For the purpose of this policy, the College adapts the sexual harassment definition promul¬gated by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to the academic setting. Unwelcome sexual advances, unwelcome requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical behavior of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when:

1. Submission to or rejection of such conduct or communication is a term or condition of education benefits, academic evaluations, or opportunities 
2. Submission to or rejection of such conduct or communication has the effect of substantially interfering with a student’s education  
3. Such conduct is sufficiently severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive as to have the effect of creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive environment sufficient to deny an individual education benefit of participant in activities

Sexual Misconduct: National/State Policies and Law

The Clery Act

The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (“Clery Act”) is the landmark federal law, originally known as the Campus Security Act, which requires colleges and universities across the United States to disclose information about crime on and around their campuses. Go to the U.S. Department of Education’s Higher Education website (http://www.higheredcenter.org/policy/clery-act) for more information.

As part of the Clery Act, St. Mary’s College is required to:

• Provide students and employees with Timely Warnings of crimes that represent an immediate threat to their safety. 
• Provide a yearly submission of the number of crimes, including sexual misconduct, which have been committed on the SMCM campus. This report does not include any identifiable information about the persons involved. All confidential reports are included in this data. 
• SMCM’s annual crime and fire safety report can be obtained at: http://www.smcm.edu/publicsafety/annualreport.html

According to the SMCM College attorney and the Clery Act, all professional staff that act as campus security authorities (including RAs, RHCs, OCPs, Student Activities, Judicial Affairs, SGA club advisors (faculty/staff), Orientation, Athletics and Recreation (including coaches), International Education, faculty study abroad coordinators, Academic Services, and administrators) (excluding Counseling and Health staff, clerical, maintenance, and food service staff) are required to assess if sexual misconduct has been reported to Public Safety. If it has not been previously reported, they are required to report the incident to Public Safety and/or the Dean of Students in a timely fashion.

Campus Sex Crimes Prevention Act

The federal Campus Sex Crimes Prevention Act requires institutions of higher education to issue a statement advising the campus community where information concerning registered sex offenders may be obtained. In Maryland, this information is accessible at the following website: http://dpscs.md.gov/onlineservs/socem/default.shtml.

Title IX

Title IX (1972) prohibits discrimination based on sex/gender in federally funded educational activities. Title IX is intended to protect students’ rights to an education. When a student experiences sexual assault or sexual harassment, they are deprived of equal and free access to an education. It is the College’s responsibility to amend the situation, including providing alternative housing if reasonably available and doing a Title IX investigation promptly following an allegation of sexual misconduct or sexual harassment. If a college or university is aware of, but ignores sexual harassment or assault in its programs or activities, it may be held liable by law through the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR). Report any individual member of the campus who is discriminating in their response to a sexual response to the campus Title IX coordinator. Our Title IX coordinator’s information can be found here:

Melvin McClintock
Assistant Director of Human Resources/AA/EEO Officer
Glendening Hall 170, 18952 E. Fisher Road, Saint Mary’s City, MD 20686
240-895-4309
mamclintock@smcm.edu

If you feel that the College did not protect your right to an equal education, please contact the Office for Civil Rights at 800-421-3481.

Annotated Code of Maryland Criminal Law

To assess if a violation of law has occurred, a comprehensive list of Maryland Law pertaining to sexual assault can be obtained at:
Located under Code: “gcr” under Criminal law: http://www.dsd.state.md.us/comar/AnnotIndex.aspx
Or: http://www.mcasa.org/law-public-policy/maryland-laws/

Sexual Misconduct:

On and Off Campus Community Resources

Campus:

1. Office of Public Safety (240-895-4911, or ext. 4911) 
   • Open 24/7 
   • Confidential reporting 
   • Silent witness form at: www.smcm.edu/publicsafety/silentwitness.html  
2. Counseling and Health Services (240-895-4289, or ext. 4289) 
   • Open Monday-Friday, 8a.m.-5p.m. 
   • Non-reporting, anonymous reporting, confidential reporting 
3. SMCM First Responders Network (301-904-2015) 
   • Reachable 24/7 via phone or text message while students are on campus 
   • Anonymous reporting 
4. Sexual Assault/Wellness Advocate (240-895-4289) 
   • Responsible for First Responder Network, Peer Health Educators, and Sexual Assault Prevention Education efforts  
   • Non-reporting, anonymous reporting, confidential reporting 
5. Office of Residence Life (240-895-4207, or ext. 4207) 
   • Office open Monday-Friday, 8a.m.-5p.m. 
   • After hours in emergencies reachable through RAs or Public Safety 
   • Confidential reporting, housing accommodations for safety 
   • All Residence Life staff are mandated to report Sexual Misconduct to Public Safety 
6. Dean of Students (240-895-4208, or ext. 4208) 
   • Office open Monday-Friday, 8a.m.-5p.m. 
   • Confidential reporting 
7. Office of Judicial Affairs (240-895-3181, 240-895-4208, or ext 3181 or 4208) 
   • Office open Monday-Friday, 8a.m.-5p.m. 
   • Confidential reporting

Community:

St. Mary’s Hospital* 234 Jefferson Street Leonardtown, MD 20650 301-475-8981	Maryland State Police Barrack T – Leonardtown 23200 Leonard Hall Drive Leonardtown, MD 20650 301-475-8955
Calvert Memorial Hospital* 100 Hospital Road Prince Frederick, MD 20678 410-535-4000	St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office 23150 Leonard Hall Drive Leonardtown, MD 301-475-4200 x1900
MCASA (Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault) (410) 974-4507 www.mcasa.org -Resources for Survivors -Legal Services (SALI)	Walden-Sierra, Inc. 44871 St. Andrews Church Road California, MD 20619 301-863-6670 Crisis Hotline: 301-863-6661 -Confidential Advocacy & Trauma Counseling
* Sexual Assault Forensic Exams are provided at the hospitals

Sexual Misconduct Responding

Person responding to a student:

-If you are speaking with an individual and they inform you that they have been sexual assaulted, harassed, or have experienced violence, reassure them that it is not their fault. Listen, but do not press for details.

-Assess if there is a still a danger to the campus community (weapon or force used). If a danger to the community exists, or they need immediate medical attention contact Public Safety immediately.

-Ask the person if they have already reported or are willing to report the incident to Public Safety, the First Responder Network, Counseling and Health Services, the local police, and/or Walden Sierra.

Student Willing to File a Report

1. Advise the student that he/she may contact the First Responders Network for peer support on campus (301-904-2015).The First Responder can contact the Sexual Assault/Wellness Advocate, provide resources, accompany the student to the hospital, and be a peer advocate.  
2. When the student is ready, contact Residential Life Staff or Public Safety at ext. 4911 or 240-895-4911 and inform them that you are with a student who has been sexually assaulted and that they are willing to file a report.  
3. Reassure the survivor that contacting Public Safety and/or the police does not commit her/him to continue legal or judicial action. It means that evidence can be collected which can be used later if the survivor decides to pursue either criminal charges or judicial action through the College. 
4. Encourage the survivor to seek medical attention if there is a possibility of injuries and a Sexual Assault Forensic Exam at a local hospital if the assault occurred within the past 72 hours. Advise her/him that evidence of sexually transmitted infections or pregnancy may not be apparent for several weeks or months and follow-up appointments may be necessary. 
5. Advise the survivor that she/he may contact the Walden-Sierra 24-hour Crisis Hotline (301-863-6661) to arrange for a volunteer to meet and accompany the survivor or be an advocate.

Student Unwilling to File a Report

1. Do not notify Public Safety staff or other Campus Security Authorities.  
2. Advise the student that he/she may contact the First Responders Network for peer support on campus (301-904-2015). The First Responder can contact the Sexual Assault/Wellness Advocate, provide resources, accompany the student to the hospital and be a peer advocate without filing a report with public safety if that is the wish of the survivor. First Responders will complete an anonymous report that is shared only with the Sexual Assault/Wellness Advocate (and the Director of Counseling if appropriate). 3. Advise the student that he/she may contact Counseling and Health Services (240-895-4289) for advocacy, support, or therapy. Counseling Services and Health Services staff are not required to report incidents of sexual misconduct.  
3. Encourage the survivor to seek medical attention and/or a SAFE exam at a hospital if the assault occurred within the past 72 hours of if there is a possibility of injuries. Advise her/him that evidence of sexually transmitted diseases or pregnancy may not be apparent for several weeks or months and follow-up appointments may be necessary. The First Responder Network, Counseling Services staff, or Walden Sierra can assist with accompanying the survivor to the hospital. 
4. If the survivor is unwilling to contact on-campus resources, with the consent of the survivor, contact the Walden-Sierra 24-hour Crisis Hotline (301-863-6661) to arrange for a volunteer to meet, speak with, and/or accompany the survivor to the hospital.

Reporting Sexual Misconduct

Note that Campus Offices have different legal requirements regarding reporting.

Students should contact one of the following offices if they are the victim of a sexual misconduct offense:

1. The Sexual Assault/Wellness Advocate and Counseling Services provides professionally trained clinicians to offer advocacy, support, therapy and guidance. Health Services provides medical attention and referral to campus and community resources. To reach Counseling Services and Health Services during regular business hours please call 240-895-4289. During academic terms and after regular business hours a member of the Counseling or Health Center staff can be reached by contacting either Public Safety 240-895-4911 or a member of the Residence Life Staff and asking to have the counselor contacted. The Sexual Assault/Wellness Advocate can also be contacted by calling the First Responder Network.  
   • Non-reporting on campus. No requirement that the information result in a Timely Warning. No report is generated nor is the incident included in the campus crime statistics or Clery report unless the survivor desires to.  
2. First Responder Network (FRN) is a group of students specially trained in sexual misconduct crisis response protocols who provide on-call services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week when school is in session. FRN can be reached at 301-904-2015 by calling or text message. The FRNs can assist with reporting options, advocacy, on and off campus resources, and accompaniment to the hospital.  
   • Anonymous reporting on campus. A Timely Warning may go out if needed and the incident will be reported to the Sexual Assault/Wellness Advocate.  
3. Residence Life Staff (240-895-4207 or the staff member on duty or on call) and the Dean of Students Office (240-895-4208) are trained to respond to all kinds of student emergencies, and can quickly connect you to other resources on- and off-campus. All Residence Life and Dean of Students Office staff are required to report any incidents of sexual misconduct to Public Safety. Residence Life and Dean of Students Office Staff can also assist with contacting the FRN, the Sexual Assault/Wellness Advocate, or Counseling and Health Center staff.  
   • Confidential reporting on campus. A Timely Warning may go out and the incident will be included in the Clery statistics. The names of the students involved will be kept in the strictest of confidence, sharing only with those who need to know to be able to provide support and guidance. 
4. Public Safety (240-895-4911) is a place to file an on-campus report and start an on-campus investigation. Public Safety will contact the First Responder Network or the Sexual Assault/Wellness Advocate when an incident of sexual misconduct is reported. Public safety can assist with contacting the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office if the survivor requests a criminal investigation to be initiated. If the survivor does not wish for the Sheriff’s Office to investigate, Public Safety Officers will notify the Sheriff’s office of the incident and the fact the victim requests to remain anonymous (in accord with the Memorandum of Understand between St. Mary’s College of Maryland and Office of Public Safety and the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office of March, 2011).  
   • Confidential reporting on campus. A Timely Warning may go out and the incident will be included in the Clery statistics. The names of the students involved will be kept in the strictest of confidence, sharing only with those who need to know to be able to provide support and guidance. 
5. Campus Security Authorities (CSAs) are campus officials who have significant responsibility for student and campus activities. In addition to Residence Life, the Dean of Students Office, and Public Safety, Campus Security Authorities include: Student Activities, Judicial Affairs, SGA club advisors (faculty/staff), Orientation, Athletics and Recreation (including coaches), International Education, faculty study abroad coordinators, Academic Services, and administrators. CSAs are trained to respond to all kinds of student emergencies, and can quickly connect you to other resources on- and off-campus. CSAs are required to report any incidents of sexual assault to Public Safety. CSAs can also assist with contacting the FRN, the Sexual Assault/Wellness Advocate, or Counseling and Health Center Staff 
   • Confidential reporting on campus. A Timely Warning may go out and the incident will be included in the Clery statistics. The names of the students involved will be kept in the strictest of confidence, sharing only with those who need to know to be able to provide support and guidance. 
6. The Walden Sierra 24-hour Crisis Hotline (301-863-6661) can be contacted day or night. Walden Sierra can provide advocacy, accompaniment to the hospital, crisis counseling, or on-going therapeutic support.  
   • Anonymous reporting off campus. No requirement that the information results in a Timely Warning or is included in the campus statistics. Walden Sierra is not required to report the incident to the Sheriff’s Office or State Police.  
7. St. Mary’s Hospital (301-475-8981) and Calvert Memorial Hospital (410-535-4000) provide Sexual Assault Forensic Exams. All costs of these exams are free to the survivor and are provided by trained Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners. Neither the Police nor the Sheriff’s Office will be contacted by the hospital unless the survivor desires to have them involved. If the survivor desires to obtain an SAFE exam, which is the best method of evidence collection, it is ideal if the survivor does not shower, use the bathroom, clean their body in anyway, and preserves any clothing including undergarments in a paper bag to bring with them to the hospital. The First Responder Network, the Sexual Assault/Wellness Advocate, and Walden Sierra can all provide accompaniment to the hospital. The student should notify the person to whom they are reporting the incident if she or he needs a ride to the hospital. 
   • Anonymous reporting off campus. No requirement that the information results in a Timely Warning or is included in the campus statistics. The hospital is not required to report the incident to the Sheriff’s Office or State Police. SAFE exams are anonymous and are kept for the minimum of 90 days as required by law.  
8. A report can be filed with the Maryland State Police (301-475-8955) or St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office (301-475-8008). These law enforcement agencies will work in conjunction with the College, so the Clery requirements are present. Remember, in filing a criminal report, it is important to preserve criminal evidence and obtain a Sexual Assault Forensic examination at a hospital within 72 hours of the incident. At any time after a report is made, it may be withdrawn from further action at the discretion of the survivor. 
   • Confidential reporting off campus. A Timely Warning may go out and the incident will be included in the Clery statistics. The names of the students involved will be kept in the strictest of confidence, sharing only with those who need to know to be able to provide support and guidance.