The sexual harassment and assault awareness, response and education office (SHARE) has proposed three new statements clarifying the University's sexual harassment and stalking policies.
The Council of the Princeton University Community is reviewing the proposals before including them in next year's "Rights, Rules and Responsibilities" book.
The three proposed changes were drafted by Dr. Thema Bryant-Davis, director of the SHARE office.
"We aren't promising anything that is not already provided in the current handbook," Bryant-Davis said. "We are just strengthening the policy."
The proposed additions are currently covered but "not clearly articulated," she added.
The statements suggest new explicit University policies on stalking, required counseling and education for sex offenders and harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The first policy explicitly states for the first time that "stalking," already a crime around the country, is a violation of University policy.
Right now stalking is considered a violation of the policy requiring members of the University to show "respect for others."
The Department of Justice has recommended that colleges adopt explicit policies against stalking, and Bryant-Davis said stalking on campus has compounded the need for the new policy.
The policy specifically states that a person who is stalked will have the opportunity to obtain counseling from SHARE, obtain advice and intervention from Public Safety, press criminal charges and file a civil suit. If the stalker is a University student, the victim may request both mediation and a formal disciplinary hearing.
"These things are covered in the current RRR but not clearly articulated. The words don't appear. This is a clarification," Bryant-Davis said.
According to the proposed change, SHARE considers campus stalking incidents to include "repeatedly following a person, leaving threatening messages on cars, sending intimidating and frightening emails and making verbal threats."
The second policy change would require students found guilty of sexual harassment to undergo counseling and education sessions.
"Under the current protocol, when a student is charged with sexual assault, he is suspended for a period of time," Bryant-Davis said. "However, in many cases, during this suspension, the student does not receive psychological assistance."
SHARE suggests it should be mandatory that students charged with sexual harassment be educated and counseled. Bryant-Davis said studies show education and counseling reduce the chance of repeat offenses. This would not be a substitute for the University's disciplinary system.
The proposed change says group and individual counseling would be used to address responsibility taking, emotional wellbeing, victim apathy, anger management, sex education and relapse prevention.
The third and final suggestion is to add a section explicitly banning harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The proposed document states "sexual orientation harassment in our schools can lead to the inability of the victim to enjoy an educational environment free of intimidation."
Currently, RRR covers harassment based on sexual orientation as part of the University's general sexual harassment policy.
The change would provide a clear and precise definition of harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity, Bryant-Davis said.
A sophomore peer sex educator supported the new rules.
"Stalking is hard to prosecute, but is a serious crime," peer sex educator Galen Laserson '06 said.
"It is important that all the rules are spelled out in the Rights, Rules and Responsibilities so that there are no questions."
She said clarifying rules not only gives the victim a solid ground to prosecute the offender, but also lets students understand what is expected.
The Justice Department says that even though stalking is illegal in every state, offenses go underreported.
In a recent national survey of more than 4,000 college women sponsored by the Justice Department, 13 percent said they had been stalked at school.
Bryant-Davis said CPUC will probably support the new policies, which have been endorsed by the Women's Center, LGBT Student Services, Sexual Health Adviser Peer Educators, Organization of Women Leaders, Dialogue at Princeton and the Pride Alliance.
"The best way to prevent serious situations," Bryant-Davis said, "is to have an effective policy, make sure everyone if aware of it and then correctly enforce it."
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