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Discrimination

Sex and Sexual Harassment

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from treating any applicant, employee, or faculty member unfavorably with respect to the terms, conditions and privileges of employment because of such individual's sex.  Title VII also prohibits unwelcome conduct, based on sex, that is so severe and pervasive that it substantially interferes with a person's ability to perform their duties or that creates an intimidating or hostile work environment.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs and activities.  Under Title IX, sex discrimination includes sexual harassment, sexual violence and sexual coercion.

The Campus Sexual Violence Elimination (SaVE) Act of 2013, which amended the Jeanne Clery Act, expands the requirement of reporting sexual violence to include incidents of domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking. 

Hostile Environment Sexual Harassment:  “Hostile Environment Sexual Harassment” is unwelcome conduct (including physical, visual, audible, and electronic conduct) determined by a reasonable person to be so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person access to the University’s education programs and activities.   

Hostile Environment Sexual harassment may include, but is not limited to,:

  • unwelcome efforts to develop a romantic or sexual relationship;
  • unwelcome commentary about an individual's body or sexual activities;
  • threatening to engage in the commission of an unwelcome sexual act with another person;
  • engaging in indecent exposure, voyeurism, or other invasions of personal privacy;
  • unwelcome physical touching or closeness;
  • unwelcome jokes or teasing of a sexual nature based upon sex stereotypes, including sex stereotypes based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.

Sexual Violence: "Sexual Violence" refers to physical sexual acts perpetrated against a person's will or where a person is incapable of giving consent (e.g. due to the person's age or use of drugs or alcohol, or because an intellectual or other disability prevents the individual from having the capacity to consent).  Sexual violence includes rape, sexual assault, sexual battery, sexual abuse, domestic violence, dating violence, stalking and sexual coercion. 

The University Sexual Harassment Policy, as well as the University Non-discrimination Policy, prohibit gender-based harassment, which may include acts of verbal, nonverbal, or physical aggression, intimidation, or hostility based on sex or sex-stereotyping, even if those acts do not involve conduct of a sexual nature. For further information regarding the University's process for reporting and investigating Sexual Harassment or Sexual Violence, click on the Title IX or Complaint Resolution Process tabs at the top.

If you believe you have been subjected to sex discrimination or sexual harassment or have witnessed sex discrimination or harassment, please contact the Office of Equal Opportunity & Academic Compliance, Title IX Coordinator at (913) 588-8011, or click here to file a complaint online.

Relevant Policy links:

Office of Integrity and Compliance

University of Kansas Medical Center
Equal Opportunity & Academic Compliance
Mailstop 7004
3901 Rainbow Blvd
Kansas City, KS 66160
Phone: 913-588-8011
Fax: 913-588-1224
nholick@kumc.edu