sexual harassment – praag.org

Wits fires two black sex pests and now white prof

The University of the Witwatersrand has been rocked by a scandal involving predatory sexual behaviour towards young students.

A white political studies professor was fired this week for alleged sexual harassment after accusations of making sexual advances to students via SMS and on Facebook.

While the university declined to reveal the identity of the academic, citing legal reasons, The Star was reliably informed that it was Rupert Taylor.

The university’s decision on Taylor brings to three the number of academics fired since the university launched its investigation to root out sex pests at the institution.

A recommendation to ban on relationships between lecturers and undergraduates has been made in a report compiled by a legal committee after Wits commissioned an independent inquiry into the matter.

”There is indeed a problem of sexual harassment at the university,” the report said.

The committee also proposed the establishment of a sexual harassment and safety office, and recommended that all such relationships be disclosed in writing.

“The student will be contacted to ensure that the relationship is consensual . and all information will be absolutely confidential.”

The Sunday Times revealed in March that drama lecturer Tsepo wa Mamatu was facing accusations of molesting 10 female students. An investigation was launched into four more lecturers after students came forward.

Wa Mamatu and media studies lecturer Dr Last Moyo were sacked on July 31 after being found guilty of sexual harassment. Both denied the allegations. – timeslive.co.za/IOL

Top human rights barrister wants age of consent to be lowered to 13

Barrister Barbara Hewson was criticised by her own chambers after causing a furore by suggesting that the age of consent should be lowered to 13.

In an article for online publication Spiked, Ms Hewson, a specialist in reproductive rights, said it was time to “end the persecution of old men” such broadcaster Stuart Hall, describing the indecent assault of 13 girls, which he admitted, as “low-level misdemeanours”.

She called for the end of anonymity for complainants, a strict statute of limitations for cases, and a lowering of the age of consent.

Her chambers in London, Hardwicke said: “We are shocked by the views expressed in Barbara Hewson’s article in Spiked.

“We did not see or approve the article pre-publication and we completely dissociate ourselves from its content and any related views she may have expressed via social media or any other media outlets.”

Her comments come as Scotland Yard runs Operation Yewtree, an investigation looking into allegations involving the late presenter Jimmy Savile as well as a host of high profile figures such as singer Gary Glitter and PR guru Max Clifford. All deny any wrongdoing.

The prominent figures in question were advisors to the British throne.

Ms Hewson argued that “the post-Savile witch-hunting of ageing celebrities echoes the Soviet Union” and said it is not difficult to see why some elderly defendants “conclude that resistance is useless”.

Ms Hewson complained on her twitter feed of a vitriolic backlash to her comments: “So now someone wants me raped and another wants me ‘hunted into obscurity’ – Visceral, very nasty stuff,” she wrote.

However, she did receive some support from the legal profession. Dr Samantha Pegg, an expert in sexual offences against children at Nottingham Law School, pointed out that the Crown Prosecution Service recognises the fact that the age of consent does not deter consensual sex between young teenagers.

Some Victorians parliamentarians, who raised the age of consent from 13 to 16, feared it would make criminals of honest men, maliciously accused of sexual assault, added Dr Pegg.

“As historic sexual abuse claims continue to come to light this is undoubtedly a climate in which a call for a reduction in the age of consent will not be welcomed. However, Hewson has started a valuable discussion about the rights and wrongs of pursuing historic sexual abuse cases and it is perhaps this wider issue that deserves attention.”

A Unicef report said the UK took bottom place “by a considerable distance” for the number of young people who engaged in risky sex and became pregnant at too early an age.

For 16 out of 17 of the wealthiest countries with the data, between 15 per cent and 28 per cent of young people had had sex by the age of 15. For the UK, the figure was 40 per cent.

Theresa Reel sexually harassed by black, Hispanic boys

A white high school teacher who said she was sexually tormented by her students and then punished for complaining has scored a $450,000 settlement from the city, reports the New York Daily News.

Theresa Reel, 52, who quit her job when she signed the deal, said the knowledge that she never has to set foot in the High School for Legal Studies again is just as sweet.

“I wasted six years of my life being treated like dirt — less than dirt,” Reel told the Daily News on Thursday. “I can’t put into words how happy I am.”

The Mississippi native started working at the Williamsburg, Brooklyn, school in 2005 and within a month, her job was a nightmare. The High School for Legal Studies is 62% black and 35% Latino.

In a lawsuit she filed three years later, she described how students called her filthy names, flung condoms at each other and even touched her breast.

Her pleas to school bosses were met with accusations that she showed too much cleavage, she charged.

When she told then-Principal Denise Morgan that she made a student leave the class for sexual comments, the official’s response was: “And how does that threaten you?”

Morgan defended her handling of Reel’s complaints.

“I am very comfortable with the professional manner in which I responded to this teacher’s concerns,” she told The New York Daily News.

After Morgan was replaced at the troubled school, the new principal, Monica Ortiz, gave Reel unsatisfactory ratings.

And a 2008 letter from the Department of Education chastised the social studies educator for “inappropriate attire,” described as a “low-cut, V-neck lace top.”

“It made me feel like I was worthless, like my own supervisors believed that I deserved to be treated like this,” Reel said at the Woodside, Queens, home she shares with her cat.

Reel’s court papers detail the barrage of X-rated insults she faced in the classroom and corridors.

One boy allegedly told her: “I’ve got rubbers — want to party?” Another student accused a classmate of performing a sex act on Reel for good grades, she said.

She recalled one male student crossing a hallway so he could graze her breast with his elbow and then “smirk” at her.

“I was screaming,” Reel said.

She said the harassment made it impossible to function some days.

“Sometimes I’d break down on the subway,” she said. “I would go home, sit in front of the TV and cry.”

At one point, she said, she was suicidal.

“I had a plan in mind,” she said, without elaborating. “It got so black and bleak I couldn’t see it getting any better.”

The city tried to get the federal discrimination suit tossed out, arguing Reel did not prove the school was a hostile environment, that she was singled out for her gender, or that she faced retaliation.

On each count, the judge ruled there was enough evidence to let a jury decide and set a trial date for Sept. 10.

On Aug. 31, the city agreed to pay Reel $450,000 and remove the poor ratings from her record if she resigned.

“We think she had a very strong case,” said lawyer Joshua Parkhurst of Cary Kane LLP. “We ultimately agreed to settle because it allows our client to get on with her life.”

Reel has been on an unpaid leave of absence for a year, spending down her pensions savings. She’s been looking for a new job, but was even turned down for a cleaning gig.

DOE had no comment on the case.

Morgan, the former principal, is now an assistant principal at the High School for Violin and Dance in the Bronx. Ortiz is still the head of Legal Studies, a D-rated school which had less than 60% of its students graduate in 2009.

Legal Studies made headlines in 2010 when teachers were caught taking a lavish, taxpayer-funded junket and students were busted for using cell phones to film brawls and sex acts.

Reel wasn’t the only person at the school who thought pupils were out of line. In a 2010 city survey, only 49% of the students said learners treated teachers with respect.