National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies Harassment Prevention

 

1. Definition of Harassment

　　“Harassment” means inappropriate verbal and other behavior pertaining to race, nationality, gender, hometown, religion, political beliefs, age, occupation, physical characteristics, and a broad range of other matters related to a person’s individuality that undermines the dignity of the person and makes them feel uncomfortable.

　　Harassment takes various forms, but typical examples of harassment that becomes problematic in a university setting are sexual harassment and academic harassment. Furthermore, these various forms of harassment do not occur independently of one other but can overlap in some cases.

 

(1) Sexual Harassment

　　“Sexual harassment” means verbal and other behavior or abuse of a sexual nature that makes the person subjected to the harassment feel uncomfortable and can take the following two forms.

(i) Compensation-type sexual harassment

　In disregard for the person subjected to the harassment’s wishes, the perpetrator exhibits verbal and 　　other behavior of a sexual nature to the person subjected to the harassment and due to either their 　　

　submission to or refusal of this behavior, the person subjected to the harassment is affected either 　

　advantageously or disadvantageously in their studies or their work.

(ii) Hostile environment-type sexual harassment

　In disregard for the person subjected to the harassment’s wishes, the perpetrator exhibits verbal and 　

　other behavior of a sexual nature to or demands a sexually favorable attitude from the person subjected

　to the harassment and these actions cause a deterioration of the study or work environment of the

　person subjected to the harassment.

 

　　　Furthermore, in the case of sexual harassment, the behavior of the perpetrator is deemed to be sexual 　harassment if the person subjected to the harassment perceives the behavior in question to be 　

　harassment, regardless of the intentions of the perpetrator.

 

(2) Academic Harassment

　　“Academic harassment” means inappropriate and unjustified verbal and other behavior by Institute constituent members using educational or research power relationships and that causes disadvantages or damage, either psychological or physical, to the person subjected to the harassment in relation to their studies, education, research, or work performance.

　　For case examples of sexual and academic harassment, please refer to Case Examples, Etc., of Harassment.

 

2. Responsibilities of Constituent Members and the Institute

(1) Responsibilities of the Institute

　　The President of the Institute bears overall responsibility for policies and measures, etc. regarding the prevention of or responses to harassment. Furthermore, those in the position of supervising constitute members of the Institute shall bear responsibility for deepening the awareness of harassment amongst constituent members in the course of their day-to-day supervisory activities as well as for taking appropriate measures to address any problems arising from harassment in order to secure a good environment free from harassment.

 

(2) Responsibilities of Constituent Members

　　In addition to respecting the individuality of other people, all constituent members of the Institute are responsible for ensuring that they do not cause harassment that damages the human dignity of another person as well as for making efforts to prevent harassment, and must pay careful attention to the following items in order to prevent damage to the study or work environment due to harassment.

(i) Students, employees, or other relevant parties who raise harassment-related issues shall not be 　　　

　regarded as so-called “trouble-makers”, and the harassment-related issues shall not be dismissed out-

　of-hand as personal issues between the concerned parties.

(ii) In order not to produce “victimizers” and “victims” in issues related to harassment, constituent 　　

　members need to be sensitive to those around them and take the necessary action.

 

　　Specifically, constituent members need to pay careful attention to the following points and take the necessary actions.

・In the case that a constituent member witnesses harassment, he/she must take the opportunity to draw 　attention to the harassment or other measures taken before serious damage is caused to the study or 　

　work environment.

・Victims of harassment may avoid consulting other people regarding harassment due to thoughts and 　

　feelings such as “embarrassment”, “not wanting to be labeled a troublemaker”, or “fear of retribution”.

　To prevent the damage from harassment from becoming deeply serious, it is important that constituent

　members seek counseling if they notice any harassment.