1.Purpose and Function of the Guidelines

Sexual harassment is behavior that not only violates people’s human dignity and personal rights, but also infringes on their right to enjoy a good environment in which to learn, teach, research, and work.

All people who learn, teach, research, and work at Hitotsubashi University are given equal respect as human beings and have the right to pursue their activities in an environment that is free from sexual harassment. The University and all people associated with it have a duty to protect that right.

To fulfill that responsibility and duty, and to help ensure that everyone in the University community can fully exercise their abilities, the University has formulated guidelines that include measures to prevent and eliminate sexual harassment, as well as appropriate measures that apply when problems arise as a result of sexual harassment. The necessary rules and regulations pertaining to sexual harassment have been formulated separately.

2.Responsibilities of the University and Duties of the University Community

Hitotsubashi University maintains a strict stand against sexual harassment and works to create an environment in which all members of the University community are respected as human beings and can concentrate on learning, teaching, researching, and working in a harassment-free environment. The University also has a responsibility to deal appropriately with problems that arise as a result of sexual harassment.

Therefore, the University president has established the Sexual Harassment Committee (called “Committee” below) that is responsible for University-wide policy concerning the prevention of sexual harassment. Working with the Committee, the heads of all University departments are responsible for implementing specific policies and measures.

All members of the University community must be free to study, work, and conduct research without their rights being violated as a result of sexual harassment. Therefore, all members of the University community must assume a relationship of equality with all others and respect the human dignity of all they encounter. They also have a duty to develop a correct understanding of sexual harassment and to apply that understanding in their daily activities, being careful that they themselves do not commit acts of sexual harassment while working to prevent it from arising among others.

3.Scope of the Guidelines

The Guidelines apply to all members of the University community, including students (graduate and undergraduate students, exchange students, researchers, non-degree students (auditors), and all others who receive education at the University (collectively called “students” below); all faculty and other personnel employed by the University, whether full or part time, including people dispatched to the University or commissioned by the University as independent contractors (collectively called “personnel” below).

Students who are no longer enrolled in the University because of graduation, discontinuation, or other reason, and personnel who are no longer employed by the University, can still bring complaints before the Committee concerning harassment they experienced while they were members of the University community.

The Guidelines apply whenever sexual harassment becomes a problem between two members of the University community, regardless of the time and place that it occurs.

Sexual harassment can also become a problem between a member of the University community and someone outside the community, such as someone working in the University as a member of an outside organization or someone participating in extracurricular activities, etc. Among such cases, if the victim is the outsider and brings charges of misconduct against a member of the University community, the Guidelines apply to the latter. Conversely, if the person bringing the charges is the member of the University community, the Guidelines apply to that person. In such cases, if sexual harassment is found to have occurred, every effort will be made to redress the wrong in accordance with the victim’s wishes. The Guidelines also apply in cases where the outsider is someone other than those specified above.

4.Ensuring That Sexual Harassment Does Not Occur

The most fundamental rule of social life consists in the recognition that men and women are equal as human beings, and that people must respect each other’s personal rights and regulate their behavior by giving consideration to how it affects others. Under no circumstances is it acceptable to treat people as sexual objects, dominate them by force, coerce them psychologically, or hurt them physically.

Certain behavior can be experienced as sexual harassment by others even if the person in question isn’t aware of it. If someone perceives one’s words or actions as “unwanted sexual speech or behavior,” it constitutes sexual harassment. Care should be taken to keep this special characteristic of sexual harassment in mind.

It is also possible for your behavior to be perceived as sexual harassment by some people, even if others don’t perceive it that way. Care should be taken to recognize that such discrepancies can arise not only from social, cultural, and religious differences, but also from differences in childhood environment, sexual orientation, gender, and age.

To ensure that sexual harassment does not occur, the most important thing is to avoid self-centered judgment and to take the other person’s point of view.

Hitotsubashi sponsors training sessions, educational campaigns, and various other programs focused on preventing sexual harassment from occurring. Students and personnel are all strongly encouraged to participate in these programs.