The University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) has unveiled a document dealing with sexual harassment on campus, which defines the rules of engagement between lecturers, administrators, and students.
The policy document, which is the first of its kind in any Nigerian university, also includes rules for visitors in the institution and comes after various cases of sexual harassment recently rocked the nation.
The university’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ndowa Lale, stated that the school frowned at sexual misconduct and was taking steps to fight the menace.
The document unambiguously defines what constitutes sexual harassment and the sanctions to be taken against those who wittingly and unwittingly infringe on its provisions in the line of duty. Henceforth, lecturers and administrators who do not remember to sew zippers in front of their trousers should be ready to bear the consequences of their amorous liaison with female students.
Also, students who harass lecturers to award them undeserved grades should equally be ready to face the music if and when they are caught in the act of self-advertisement to their lecturers. Similarly, any randy Juliet (female student) who blackmails vulnerable male students or colleagues, and any visitor who believes that UNIPORT is hunting ground for cheap sex would be prosecuted.Ndowa Lale – pmnewsnigeria.com
Professor Nwadiuto Akani of the Department of Paediatrics, UNIPORT, said that sexual misconduct often started when lecturers and students began addressing themselves by such names as ‘baby’, ‘honey’, and ‘darling’. She also said that blowing kisses, body contact, hugging, and unsolicited messages constituted sexual harassment.
Female students in the university welcomed the development with wild jubilation across the campus.
