Sex-based harassment can take multiple forms. Harassers can be students, college staff, or even someone visiting the college or district, such as a student or employee from another college or district. Sexual harassment (including sexual violence) is a form of sex-based harassment.

Sexual harassment is behavior that happens because of a person's sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or parenting or pregnancy status. There are three types of harassment as defined in law:

• Quid pro quo – "this for that" sexual harassment – happens when someone offers something to someone else in exchange for sexual conduct. For example, a professor may offer a good grade if a student agrees to have sex with the professor.
• Unwelcome behavior, that a reasonable person would consider severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive, that effectively results in a person being denied equal access to an education program or activity. For example, an employee or student is harassed by a supervisor or professor to the point that the employee or student can no longer participate in work or school. The behavior is so severe and on-going that others who are not subject to the harassment see the behavior as clearly offensive.
• Sexual assault (as defined in the Clery Act) and dating violence, domestic violence, or stalking (as defined in the Violence Against Women Act).

Each of these categories of misconduct is a serious violation that endangers a victim's access to education or to a job.

Source: US Department of Education Sexual Harassment Resources, 2021.