While this document provides a summary of the different prohibited conducts, please review the U-M Sexual and Gender-Based Misconduct Policy for comprehensive definitions and examples.
Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment is any unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature, whether verbal, graphic (e.g., pictures and videos), physical, or otherwise.
Sexual harassment includes:
- Quid Pro Quo: When the conduct is implicitly or explicitly made in exchange of a favor or advantage related to a person’s employment, education, living environment, or participation to any U-M program/activity.
- Conduct that creates a Hostile Environment. Hostile Environment is when behaviors are sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive that they interfere with a person’s participation in any U-M program/activity.
Sexual harassment includes unwanted intentional touching (hugging, kissing), unwanted sexual advances, unwanted written, verbal or electronic statements of a sexual nature (jokes or comments).
Sexual Assault
Sexual assault is sexual contact or abuse that occurs without consent.
Sexual assault includes intentional sexual touching of someone, pressuring someone to sexually touch another individual(s), and/or penetration
Gender-Based Harassment
Gender-based harassment is harassment that is based upon an individual’s sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or pregnancy that:
- affects someone employment, education, living environment, or participation in any UM program/activity,
- is used to decide on someone’s employment, education, living environment, or participation in any UM program/activity.
Gender-Based harassment includes threats of violence or written, verbal, or electronic statements that disparage a person’s sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, or pregnancy status.
Sex and Gender-Based Discrimination
Sex and gender-based discrimination is conduct that is based upon an individual’s sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or pregnancy that:
- affects someone employment, education, living environment, or participation in any UM program/activity,
- is used to decide on someone’s employment, education, living environment, or participation in any UM program/activity.
Sex and gender-based discrimination includes denying access, raises, benefits, promotions, or preventing individuals to use facilities because of their specific identity.
Sexual Exploitation
Sexual exploitation is an intentional conduct by which an individual takes or attempts to take non-consensual sexual advantage of another person. Sexual exploitation includes intentionally or knowingly causing the incapacitation of another person; recording, photographing, and disseminating photos/videos of someone without their consent; exposing someone to a sexually transmitted infection, etc.
Sex and/or Gender-Based Stalking
Stalking occurs when an individual intentionally engages in a course of conduct (directly or indirectly) that makes someone fear for their safety (or the safety of
others), or brings them emotional distress.
Sex and/or gender-based stalking is when someone follows, monitors, surveils, threatens, contacts or attempts to contact another person through third party or any actions, methods, devices, or means.
Intimate Partner Violence
Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is any violence committed by a person: who is or has been in a social/romantic/intimate relationship with someone, who is a current or former spouse of the victim, who shares a child in common with the victim, who is cohabiting or has cohabited with the victim. IPV includes dating violence and domestic violence.
Violation of Supportive Measures
Violation of supportive measures is a failure to comply with the supportive measures offered to an individual(s).
Supportive measures are individualized services, accommodations, and other assistance provided to individuals.
It includes academic support services and accommodations, work schedule modification, mutual restrictions on contact/communication, and others.
Retaliation
Retaliation is when a behavior is taken against a person:
- who made a report or formal complaint of a prohibited conduct,
- who assisted, participated, or refused to participate in any proceedings.
Retaliation includes coercion, intimidation, and threats related to the person’s employment or education.