University of Port Harcourt(UNIPORT) has unveiled a
policy document on sexual harassment on campus, clearly defining the rules of
engagement between lecturers, administrators and students, including visitors
to the university.
Its the first effort
by any Nigerian university, after the scandal of teachers demanding sex for
grades from female students. The Vice-Chancellor of UNIPORT, Prof. Ndowa Lale,
said the university frowned at sexual misconduct and was taking actionable
steps to tackle the menace.
“The document unambiguously defines what constitutes
sexual harassment and the sanctions to be taken against those who wittingly and
unwittingly infringe on its provisions in the line of duty.
Henceforth, lecturers and administrators who do not remember
to sow zippers in front of their trousers should be ready to bear the
consequences of their amorous liaison with female students.
“Also, students who harass lecturers to award them
undeserved grades should equally be ready to face the music if and when they
are caught in the act of self-advertisement to their lecturers.
“Similarly, any randy Juliet (female student) who
blackmails vulnerable male students or colleagues, and any visitor who believes
that UNIPORT is hunting ground for cheap sex would be prosecuted,” he warned.
Lale said that any person accused of sexual misconduct
would be presumed guilty until such allegation was proved otherwise, under the
established rules of fair hearing. Prof.
Nwadiuto Akani of the Department of Paediatrics, UNIPORT, said that sexual
misconduct started with a lecturer or student addressing themselves by names,
such as, baby, honey and darling.
She said that gestures, such as hugging; blowing kissing
sound, touching of the body and sending unsolicited messages, constituted
sexual harassment. Female students went into wild jubilation following the
unveiling of the document on campus
Minister of
Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, who sent a representative to the unveiling of
the document said the Federal Government is embarrassed by increased
allegations of sexual misconduct in the country’s tertiary institutions, the Adamu, represented by Mrs Ijeoma Duru, an
Assistant Director, Tertiary Education Department in the Ministry, urged
students to take their studies serious to avoid undue exposure to sexual
predators.
“The Federal Ministry of Education is embarrassed with
the allegations of sex-for-grades in Nigeria’s higher institutions. Girls
should read their books and be able to defend their certificates and as such,
make them less vulnerable to sexual predators.
“They (female students) should stop going to lecturers
unnecessarily and also should not harass their lecturers,” he said.
The minister said that UNIPORT was the first university
in the country to unveil a policy document against sexual harassment on campus.
According to him, the policy will go a long way in addressing the danger of
sexual harassment in institutions of learning.
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