Itawamba Community College will not tolerate sexual misconduct of any kind. They are criminal offenses and are subject to criminal charges in the State of Mississippi. These violations of the State Law are also violations of the Student Code of Conduct and may be decided upon by the College’s judicial system.
SEXUAL MISCONDUCT
Definition of Sexual Misconduct
As used in this policy, the term “sexual misconduct” refers to unwelcome behavior of a sexual nature committed without effective consent. For purposes of this policy, sexual misconduct includes sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual exploitation, stalking, and dating or domestic violence.
a. Sexual Harrassment
Sexual harassment is unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that is sufficiently severe, pervasive, or persistent and objectively offensive that it denies or limits or is likely to deny or limit a reasonable person’s ability to participate in or benefit from College programs, services, opportunities, or activities.1
Sexual Harassment can include verbal or nonverbal communication or physical conduct. Examples of prohibited sexual harassment include, but are not limited to, (a) repeated sexual solicitations toward a person who has indicated they are unwelcome; (b) conditioning favorable treatment in connection with any College program upon sexual favors; (c) threats of a sexual nature that do not rise to the level of sexual assault or domestic violence; and (d) insults or derisive comments related to sex, gender, or sexual orientation directed at a specific individual that are sufficiently severe, pervasive, or persistent and objectively offensive that they deny or limit a reasonable person’s ability to participate in or benefit from College programs.
1This policy uses the term “sexual harassment” to refer to the specific type of sexual misconduct defined above in this subsection. By contrast, some federal regulations use the term “sexual harassment” to refer collectively to different forms of sexual misconduct, including both harassment and various forms of sexual violence. These regulatory definitions represent the minimum scope of offenses that institutions must prohibit. This policy prohibits all conduct defined by applicable regulations, but in some cases, includes definitions that are more extensive than those regulations. Thus, for the sake of clarity, this policy uses the term “sexual harassment” to refer to unwelcome words or actions as defined herein, while using the term “sexual misconduct” to refer more broadly to all forms of unwelcome behavior of a sexual nature.
b. Sexual Assault
Sexual Assault refers to rape or other intentional physical sexual acts perpetrated against a person without their consent. Sexual assault includes sexual penetration or intercourse or other physical contact of a sexual nature that occurs without consent. This includes, but is not limited to, deliberate physical touching as well as contact of a sexual nature with an object. Sexual assault also includes attempts to induce sexual activity via direct threats of physical violence, even where no physical contact ultimately occurs.
c. Sexual Exploitation
Sexual Exploitation is taking sexual advantage of another person in a way that deliberately infringes on his or her reasonable expectation of privacy and/or security, but does not involve actual or attempted physical contact.
Examples of sexual exploitation include, but are not limited to, (a) recording images, video, or audio depicting another person engaged in sexual activity or in a state of undress without that person’s consent, even if the sexual activity itself is consensual; (b) distributing images, video, or audio depicting another person engaged in sexual activity or in a state of undress – or threatening to distribute the same – if the person distributing knew or reasonably should have known that the person depicted did not consent to the recording or the distribution; (c) intentionally viewing another
person engaged in sexual activity or in a state of undress in a place where they person would have a reasonable expectation of privacy, without that person’s consent and for the purpose of gratifying sexual desire; (d) intentionally failing to notify a person with whom one is engaged in a sexual activity that another person is observing.
d. Stalking
Stalking means engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to fear for their safety or suffer substantial emotional distress. Examples of stalking include, but are not limited to, physically pursuing a person against their wishes or sending repeated unwanted messages by electronic or other means. Stalking violates this policy when it is undertaken, at least in part, for a sexual purpose.
e. Domestic and Dating Violence
Domestic/Dating Violence refers to acts of physical violence, or threats of physical violence, committed by a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim, by any person with whom the victim shares a child in common, or by any person against whom the victim is protected from under applicable domestic or family violence laws.
CONSENT
Definition of Consent
Consent refers to words or actions that clearly show an active, knowing, and voluntary agreement to engage in a particular sexual activity. Consent is determined objectively. This means that an individual is deemed to have given consent when a reasonable person, under the particular circumstances of the encounter, would understand the individual’s words and/or actions as indicating the required agreement.
Consent may be withdrawn at any time by words and/or actions that clearly show the individual no longer wishes to participate. Silence and/or the absence of resistance by themselves are not consent. Consent to engage in sexual activity in the past by itself is not consent to future sexual activity. Consent to engage in sexual activity with one person is not consent to engage in sexual activity with another person.
a. Physical Force or Coercion
There is no consent when a person submits to sexual activity due to physical force or the threat of physical force. Likewise, there is no consent when a person intentionally uses coercion to cause another person to participate in sexual activity.
Physical force refers to physical contact with any person by means of one’s own body or an object, for the purpose of causing bodily harm or injury, or if forcibly constraining movement. Coercion is threatening an adverse consequence that is sufficiently severe as to prevent a reasonable person from exercising free will in the decision whether to consent. Examples of coercion may include, but are not limited to, threatening self-harm if a person does not agree to sexual activity, threatening to “out” another person’s sexual orientation, or threatening an adverse employment action. Coercion is not merely words of persuasion one might reasonably use to seek voluntary consent to sexual activity.
b. Incapacity or impairment
There is no consent if a person is mentally or physically incapacitated or impaired such as they cannot understand the fact, nature, or extent of the sexual situation. This includes impairment or incapacitation due to alcohol or drug consumption if it prevents the person from having such an understanding, as well as being asleep or unconscious. It also includes instances in which a person lacks the required understanding due to medical conditions, or cognitive or other disabilities.
In some instances, a person may give what appears to be consent, despite being incapacitated. For example, a person may speak despite having “blacked out.” In such cases, the objective standard for consent applies, meaning that a policy violation occurs unless a reasonable individual under the particular circumstances would have believed that the incapacitated person’s actions signaled active, knowing, and voluntary agreement to sexual activity. Even if this objective standard is satisfied, if the other individual was actually aware of the person’s incapacity, there is no consent.
c. Age
There is no consent for purposes of this policy where a person is too young to give effective consent under applicable law. Under Mississippi law, persons under fourteen cannot give effective consent to sexual activity with any older person, where the age difference is greater than twenty-four months. Persons between the ages of fourteen and sixteen cannot give consent to sexual activity with any older person where the age difference is greater than thirty-six months.
EDUCATION
The College’s policy is to provide training and education to all students and employees on the provisions of this policy and their duties under it. Training opportunities include, but are not limited to:
Additionally, the College will provide appropriate training to all persons serving as coordinators, investigators, adjudicators, appointed advisers, or facilitators of informal resolution under this policy, along with Campus Police personnel. For additional information or to request training or information on ICC’s policies concerning sexual misconduct, contact the Title IX Coordinator.
More information on the Sexual Misconduct Policy can be obtained at the following offices: