EXAMINER ARTICLES
EDUCATION
Scandal rocks Hebrew University 11 professors accused of sexual harassment rape
By Bonnie K. Goodman
Examiner.com, June 19, 2015, 4:01 PM MST
The problem of sexual harassment and rape so rampant on North American campuses is not exclusive to the continent. Israel‘s top university Hebrew University of Jerusalem is facing a huge scandal where 11 of their faculty, professors, and lecturers are excused of sexual harassing and raping their female students. The nonprofit organization One of One accused Hebrew University in a letter on Sunday, May 31, 2015, of stifling complaints against 11 of their professors for sexual harassment, assault, and even one case of rape.
The university, however, claims they were unaware of the occurrences even after they dismissed political science professor Mario Schneider in April after a student revealed to be his victim on in a Facebook post. The situation comes as North American universities, state, and federal government are trying to crack down on the “epidemic” culture of sexual violence, assault, rape and harassment that is exploding on university and college campuses, and the policies were university specifically deter student victims from filing complaints.
Nonprofit group, One of One, sent Hebrew University President Menachem Ben-Sasson a letter accusing the University of knowing about the incidents; harassment and abuse, but stifled complaints. The letter began by declaring, “We know of five lecturers that sexually assaulted students, including cases of rape.” One of One recounted that six of the professors accused are considered “serial harassers” and some of the assaults happened on campus. The organization indicated, “on account of the multiple, severe testimonies that have been brought to our attention regarding specific incidents as well as on account of the inadequate attention the university has given the phenomenon.”
The organization claims the university deters its students from filing complaints, writing in the letter, “According to testimony, the system for handling sexual harassment at Hebrew University deters victims from filing complaints on account of some conflicts of interest, plus inadequate conduct where cases are closed without public knowledge.” The organization One of One argued it is impossible for Hebrew University to deny knowing about the prevalent misconduct, because they had set up three ad hoc committees, but did not do anything to resolve the issue.
One of One indicated, “Three ad hoc committees have been created to fix the current system, to little avail. This serves to point to the university’s determination to deal with the issue. Thus it is important that the managing council take it upon itself to solve the ongoing problem, which is the reasoning behind our demand to hold an emergency session of the council, with a representative from our group on hand.”
Gal Shargil, the director One of One spoke to the Israeli press and continued to emphasis that Hebrew University knew about the sexual violence, and harassment, and pointed out that five of the cases just happened in the last couple of months.Shargil told YNet News, “They know about [at least] five lecturers who have sexually assaulted students, including one incidence of rape. Some of the incidents happened over the course of the current academic year.”
One of One is “an initiative that lives on Facebook that encourages young women to come together and to tell their stories of sexual harassment and sexual assault that they have experienced over the course of their lives in order to show all of us that we are not alone and that sexual assault can happen to anyone.”
The university responded to One of One’s revelations with feigned surprise, pretending they did not know about the harassment and assault, and saying only now know and will they notify the police about the complaints. In their statement they said, “The complaints referred to in the letter were not brought to the attention of the university; nor did the university receive any inquiries or complaints on the matter…. The university calls on One of One to please send us the information that they have so that it can check into and investigate the matter. At this point, the university has not gotten a response. In the meantime, the university has submitted a complaint to the police asking that they investigate the matter.”
The university did not comply with One of One’s request but did file a complaint with the police. The Jerusalem police confirmed this, “A report was received today from the security chief of the university regarding the report by ‘One of One,’ which claims several cases of sexual harassment against female students. An investigation into the matter has been opened.”
It seems ridiculous for Hebrew University to insist they did not know anything about the sexual harassment and abuse that is running rampant among the faculty and terrorizing their students. Just in April, the university was forced to dismiss political science professor Mario Schneider, 67 after one of the two students he acted inappropriately to revealed on Facebook the sexual harassment she experienced and the professor’s “identity.” Among Schneider’s inappropriate comments he said, “I heard that all Yemenite woman are hot,” and he also “molested” a student. One of the students, Efrat Jacob, endured six months of abuse, filed and complaint. With the embarrassment, the university was forced to dismiss Schneider, who was near retirement anyway, and he was required to pay Jacob $24,000 in compensation.
Hebrew University is considered the preeminent university in Israel; it is always the top ranked university in the region in most international, world university rankings. In 2014, the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) ranked it “first in Israel, third in Asia, and 70th globally.” The Center for World University Rankings in 2014 ranked it in 22nd place of all universities, and it ranked as the top Israeli university.
In the US News and World Report 2015 Best Global Universities Rankings, Israel ranked at 152 of all universities and ranked 20th in of all of Asia. In the Times Higher Education 2014/15 World University Rankings Hebrew University ranked in the 201-225 range. Hebrew University is not only Israel’s most preeminent university but also their oldest established in 1925. They have 22,000 students, 12,000 undergraduates, and 10,000 graduate students, many of which are international students.
Surprisingly in a university of the caliber and size of Hebrew University, the majority of the students are not aware the venues to make formal complaints against their aggressors and abusers. Israeli university students in general are less aware of sexual harassment, assault and rape on their campus and the methods to prevent or complain about harassment.
The National Union of Israeli Students conducted a survey in 2014 found that 83 percent of students had no idea that there is an official at each university to deal with sexual harassment. The harassment, however, at Israeli universities is less rampant as North American universities with only 10 percent of female students saying they experienced sexually harassment but were five times more likely to experience it. Only 15 percent of all victims reported the harassment, it was split how the students felt about the response and process with 38 percent saying “their complaint was dealt with properly” and 41 percent who were dissatisfied. Considering the lopsided situation at Hebrew University, the students might not be as forthright in the responses to the survey, and the numbers might be greater.
The problems Hebrew University has with the faculty sexually harassing and assaulting their students are not as well known as the sexual violence on North American campuses. North American universities are rampant with a culture of rape and sexual harassment; the problems are widespread among the students. One in five female students will be assaulted during their college experience, or about 22 million. Nearly 20 percent of college freshman have experience rape or attempted rape, and nearly 40 percent have had been assaulted by the end of their sophomore year. With 98 percent of the perpetrators are male.
The American Association of University Women (AAUW) determined in 2006 that 62 percent of female students are harassed, while 61 percent of victims are male. Only 10 percent ever report the harassment, with 35 percent not ever telling anyone about the harassment. An overwhelming majority of the sexual harassment is in the hands of another student with 80 percent, 20 percent of the sexual harassment incidents are from faculty, university college staff.
Colleges and universities in North America have not done enough for students who experience, sexual harassment, assault or rape. In the US, President Barack Obama has been pushing for universities to better deal with sexual assault on campus. President Obama established on January 22, 2014, The White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault and its collaborative Not Alone initiative to combat sexual assault in schools at all levels. At the time, President Obama signed the executive order for the initiative. Obama said, “Perhaps most important, we need to keep saying to anyone out there who has ever been assaulted: you are not alone. We have your back. I’ve got your back.”
One of the issues the heart of the debate is consent, it is one of the reasons that deter students from filing complaints especially in situations involving other students. The majority of cases involved someone the victim had to be involved with at 61.9 percent or an acquaintance at 21.3 percent, complicating the matter further alcohol is often involved or even drugs many are incapacitated by them during the assault, not even remembering what happened and clearly unable to constant. The illegal acts make victims scared to report even the attacks.
In general, 60 percent of rape victims do not report the violence to police, and only 25 percent of complaints ever results in an arrest. College women are afraid of the stigma, social ramifications, scared of the police and them not believing them, concerned they will be blamed and their sexual history overanalyzed, and afraid of a possible trial, all factors that deter them from making a formal complaint.
The ACLU determined that 95 percent of campus sexual assaults are not reported. Some of the first instances of abuse in relationships are more subtle, emotional abuse; aggressive language, tone, jealousy, controlling behavior, and threats, physical abuse, and then descend to the violent physical abuse, “violence, threatening body language, damaging property, and violence during sex.” The majority of women 31 percent experience controlling behavior, 22 percent physical, sexual abuse and threats, 22 percent experience verbal abuse, abuse through technology, while 11 percent are “pressured into drinking and using drugs,” which can lead to the sexual assaults and rapes in campus social situations.
Universities and colleges want to prevent students from filing complaints mostly because of the damage it does to the institution’s reputation. Part of the plan revolves around dissuading students from involving the police, which most are scared to do, to begin with. Then the process is entirely left in the college’s control. Complaints involve a lot of red tapes; the lives of the victims are more disrupted than the accused. In the end, those that do file complaints drop them; many even leave the schools, because they cannot deal with the attacker or aggressor on an everyday basis, and the institutions do nothing to help them.
Victims often experience and have to deal with the physical, emotional and psychological aftereffects of the sexual assault, rape or harassment. Third wave feminist writer and journalist Naomi Wolf, whose journalistic credibility has been questioned was still right when she wrote, “Not one of the women I have heard from had an outcome that was not worse for her than silence.” Suffering in silence is the worse experience all victims of sexual assault, rape or harassment go through.
The problem is even worse if the student wants to file a complaint against a member of the faculty. The excuse of a mutual consent is even more difficult, Billie Dziech, a professor of English at the University of Cincinnati who researches gender and sexual harassment and higher education, “Physical intimacy with students is not now and never has been acceptable behavior for academicians. It cannot be defended or explained away by evoking fantasies of devoted professors and sophisticated students being denied the right to ‘true love.’ Where power differentials exist, there can be no ‘mutual consent.'”
Between faculty and students is impossible to have any equal footing, relationships or interactions, and can be described in the same dynamic as the parent-child relationship. Canadian lawyer specializing in equality issues Cynthia Petersen writing in Academic Matters indicates the “university classroom ‘is not a community of equals.'” Professors are in a “position of authority” where they “influence” their students, students, in turn, are “dependent” and therefore vulnerable. Petersen explains, “This gives rise to fiduciary obligations. Faculty must not abuse their authority or exploit students’ vulnerability in such a way as to jeopardize the institution’s educational goals.” Doing so is a breach of trust.
The power dynamic and question if true consent is even possible had led to universities increasingly to ban professor-student relationships, especially at the undergraduate level. The most high-profile university to adopt the ban of such relationships was Harvard University, who at the same time revised their sexual harassment policies. The “power dynamic,” is ever-present puts the professor in control at all times in any relationship that remotely crosses the strict professor-student professional conduct.
The bar is very low when it comes to sexual harassments from a faculty member to a student because of the power dynamic that exists. Petersen points out, “Courts have made it clear that, where a significant power imbalance exists between parties, harassment can involve very subtle behavior.” The British Columbia Supreme Court determined that “sexual harassment may be found based on conduct that would otherwise constitute normal social interaction between equals.” Some of those behaviors that can be considered sexual harassment constitute, “invitations by a faculty member for dinner or drinks, compliments on a student’s appearance, and the offering of gifts.”
For sexual harassment cases where the faculty is the aggressor against the student, the student does not even have to be vocalized any objection. Petersen explains, a “complainant may be too vulnerable or intimidated to confront a harasser, particularly where there is a power imbalance between them.” Meaning that acquiescence is far from implying consent, however unlike Diezech who says consent is impossible at all times. Petersen notes that is only impossible based on specific circumstances, if the first meeting was in the university, the student having been in the professor’s class, situations where the power dynamic is in full play. There is a conflict of interest with regarding fair grading and “any judgments made by the faculty member can legitimately be called into question.”
If it were difficult to get colleges and universities to take seriously complaints arising between students, when the complaint is against a faculty member, a student would be stonewalled. Even if there are the rare cases where the university would take a harassment complaint seriously, professors believing tenure and rank make them above reproach do everything in their power to ensure a student does not make that complaint or follow through to the end. Students fear the academic repercussions from filing complaints. In the most part, universities find it more beneficial to side with the professors, no matter their guilt because it is in the best interest of the university’s reputation.
That is the situation at Hebrew University, Israel’s top university. The university thought to dissuade students from filing complaints, thinking it could all be ignored, push under the rug the students well being were being sacrificed for the university reputation. In the end as is always the case, the truth comes out, it explodes, causing more damage than if the problem would have been dealt with appropriately in the beginning.
Unlike Hebrew University, some North Americans intuitions are trying to do more to prevent sexual assault, harassment, and rape from happening. Universities are creating task forces to determine how to make the complaints process easier for victims and creating new and also revising policies to deal with sexual assault rape and harassment on campus. Some universities are providing more education and information to their students in an attempt at prevention. The White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault has been at the forefront of that push in the United States, but in Canada, universities are also revising their policies after some high profile cases.
Some states are going even further, the California state legislature passed first the“yes means yes” law, which Gov. Jerry Brown in September 2014, the first state to define consent on campuses. The law made it easier for sexual assault victims in colleges and universities to come forward and file a complaint. The law clearly defined consent, as “affirmative, conscious, and voluntary agreement” whereas “silence or lack of resistance” does not mean consent, and a person is who is “drunk, drugged, unconscious or asleep” cannot consent. Besides “affirmative consent language,” the law provides “immunity from drug or alcohol violations for students reporting an assault, a bill of rights for the victim, and policy training for all school officials.”
This year California wants to go further by creating another bill that imposes a mandatory punishment two-year suspension for perpetrators when a disciplinary board finds them culpable. Meanwhile, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo also wants to follow suit and introduced a similar bill in February 2015. The ‘Enough Is Enough’ Bill that would extend beyond to private colleges and universities the one in place for public ones, the bill would be the “strongest” fighting against campus sexual assault in the United States. The New York state legislature has until June 17 to pass the bill. In an attempt to gain widespread support Gov. Cuomo joined with recording artist Lady Gaga, who was a victim of rape at age 19 writing an editorial in Billboard magazine, which was published on Monday, June 8.
In Israel, Likud Party Cabinet Minister Gila Gamliel, who portfolio covers “gender equality and the advancement of young people” promised in a statement to do more to the end the harassment and assault that prevents female students from getting the most from their education. Gamliel promised “Regarding the law, I passed on teacher-student relationships in academia, we are witnessing that female student still cannot study with peace of mind. This situation, in which the Israeli education system has turned into a place that fosters cases of sexual harassment and assault, requires an immediate debate in the Council for Higher Education. I plan on turning to the minister of education so that such a debate will occur at the earliest opportunity.”
Despite the solutions universities and state and federal government are trying to come up with when the sexual assault, rape, and harassment is on a student to student basis, no widespread solutions are being introduced to stop this predatory behavior of professors to their students. Aside from some universities and especially Harvard’s decision to ban professor student romantic and sexual relationship very little is being done to stop what constitute as 20 percent of campus of sexual harassment instances.
The widespread scandal at Hebrew University shows the problem is there, silenced and hidden, but needs to be dealt with in a similar harsh manner California wants to do to student offenders. Tenure or not, concern about the university’s reputation or not, these professors should be fired as Hebrew University did with one offender Mario Schneider, these professors should never be allowed to teach at any university ever again. Repercussions that end the invincibility professors feel in their position of authority with tenure would go far in ending professor’s sexually assaulting, raping and harassing students in the future.
Bonnie K. Goodman is the Editor of the Academic Buzz Network, a series of political, academic & education blogs which includes History Musings: History, News & Politics. She has a BA in History & Art History & a Masters in Library and Information Studies, both from McGill University and has done graduate work in Jewish history at Concordia University as part of the MA in Judaic Studies program. Her specializations are academic & universities news, particularly history & library news.
History Musings... Bonnie K. Goodman 
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