BY AMBER FAROOQI, CONTRIBUTOR

Sexual harassment on school campuses is not a thing of the past.

In 2011 the American Association of University Women surveyed nearly 2000 students and found that 48 percent of the students sampled experienced some form of sexual harassment.  Of these, 56 percent were female.

With sexual harassment still a topic of concern on campus, it is important thatEvergreenValleyCollegemaintain an adequate and accessible procedure to deal with this issue on campus.

The district’s policy on all forms of harassment, including sexual harassment, is on pages 158 and 159 of the EVC 2011-12 course catalog. It is followed by campus procedures regarding harassment under the title “Designated Campus Officers.”

The catalog lists the contact person as “Vice-President of Student Affairs,” and lists the room number, SC 205 and phone number 408-223-6749.

There is no information given on sexual harassment procedures.  Students are not told how to report an incident who the Vice-President of Student Affairs is.

There is no additional information listed on the schools website.

The limited information leaves students with little direction. It is the responsibility of EVC to revise these procedures to make them accessible and clear for all students.

Students must demand safety on campus.

If any student falls victim to sexual harassment, it is his or her right to submit a formal complaint; however, we are not given the information on how to do so.

Psychology instructor and Service-Learning Coordinator Marjorie Clark said that EVC used to have a campus official, an ombudsman, who was solely responsible for helping students deal with harassment issues and how to file a complaint.

Students lost that person through past budget cuts because EVC has not given the issue of sexual harassment the importance it deserves.

It is time to get back our protection.