One's innermost concept of self as male, female, a blend of both or neither – how individuals perceive themselves and what they call themselves. One's gender identity can be the same or different from their sex assigned at birth.
External appearance of one's gender identity, usually expressed through behavior, clothing, haircut or voice, and which may or may not conform to socially defined behaviors and characteristics typically associated with being either masculine or feminine.
Unwelcome conduct of a nonsexual nature based on a student’s actual or perceived gender, including conduct based on gender identity, gender expression, or nonconformity with gender stereotypes.
One's innermost concept of self as male, female, a blend of both or neither – how individuals perceive themselves and what they call themselves. One's gender identity can be the same or different from their sex assigned at birth.
Gender conforming can be defined most simply as behavior and appearance that conforms to the social expectations for one’s gender, for example, gender-conforming women, means behaving and appearing in ways that are considered stereotypically feminine that is the socially accepted definition of being feminine.
Refers to people who do not follow other people's ideas or stereotypes about how they should look or act based on the female or male sex they were assigned at birth.
describes people whose gender identity does not fit with the traditional definitions of male or female. People who identify as neither male nor female.
The process by which some people strive to more closely align their internal knowledge of gender with its outward appearance. Some people socially transition, whereby they might begin dressing, using names and pronouns and/or be socially recognized as another gender. Others undergo physical transitions in which they modify their bodies through medical interventions
Hate violence as defined in the statute "means any act of physical intimidation or physical harassment, physical force or physical violence, or the threat of physical force or physical violence, that is directed against any person or group of persons because of the ethnicity, race, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, disability, or political/religious beliefs of that person or group".
This is the appeal panel students can request following the determination of an investigation that a Student is Responsible or not for alleged violations of Sexual Misconduct and issuing of sanctions/discipline through the Office of Student Judicial Affairs. The panel is formed by the Office of Student Judicial Affairs. For more information go to Student Disciplinary Process.
Exists when Unwelcome Conduct of a sexual or gender-based type is sufficiently serious and/or pervasive to deny or limit a person’s ability to fully participate in or benefit from the College’s programs or activities. A Hostile Environment can be created by anyone involved in a College’s program or activity (e.g., administrators, faculty members, staff, students, or campus visitors). In determining whether conduct has created a Hostile Environment, the District considers the conduct in question from both objective and subjective perspectives. The District will base findings on a variety of factors, including the severity, persistence, or pervasiveness of the conduct. The more severe the conduct, the less need there is to show a repetitive series of incidents to find a Hostile Environment. Likewise, a series of incidents may be sufficient even if the conduct is not particularly severe.
The inability to give consent because of age, physical condition, or disability that impairs the individual’s ability to provide consent. Reasons, why one could lack the capacity to give consent due to a physical condition, includes, but are not limited to, consumption of drugs or alcohol (voluntarily or involuntarily) or being in a state of unconsciousness, sleep, or other states in which the person is unaware that sexual activity is occurring.
For purposes of evaluating effective consent, an investigation considers two questions: (1) Did the person initiating sexual activity know that their partner was incapacitated? and if not, (2) Should a sober, reasonable person in the same situation have known that their partner was incapacitated? If the answer to either of these questions is “yes,” effective consent was absent.
Incapacitation is a state beyond drunkenness or intoxication. A person is not incapacitated merely because they have been drinking or using drugs. The standard for incapacitation does not turn on technical or medical definitions but instead focuses on whether a person has the physical and/or mental ability to make informed rational judgments and decisions. A person who initiates sexual activity must look for the common and obvious warning signs that show that a person may be incapacitated or approaching incapacitation. Although every individual may manifest signs of incapacitation differently, typical signs include slurred or incomprehensible speech, unsteady gait, combativeness, emotional volatility, vomiting, or incontinence. A person who is incapacitated may not be able to understand some or all of the following questions: “Do you know where you are?,” “Do you know how you got here?,” “Do you know what is happening?,” “Do you know whom you are with?”
Because of the impact of alcohol and other drugs varies from person to person, one should be cautious before engaging in sexual contact or intercourse when either party has been drinking alcohol or using other drugs. The introduction of alcohol or other drugs may create ambiguity for either party as to whether effective consent has been sought or given. If one has doubt about either party’s level of intoxication, the safe thing to do is to forgo all sexual activity.
Sexual intercourse between persons who are related to each other within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by the laws of the state in which the incident occurred.
Someone whose physical sex characteristics are not categorized as exclusively male or exclusively female.
Physical, sexual, or psychological harm by a current or former partner or spouse. This type of violence can occur among heterosexual or same-sex couples and does not require sexual intimacy.
The condition of having physical or mental control markedly diminished by the effects of alcohol or drugs.
If you identify as lesbian, it probably means that you’re a woman who is sexually attracted to other women.
Individuals who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, and Asexual
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Lesbian: If you identify as lesbian, it probably means that you’re a woman who is sexually attracted to other women.
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Gay: People who identify as gay are generally men who find themselves attracted to other men.
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Bisexual: People who identify as bisexual are attracted to both men and women.
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Transgender: If someone tells you that they identify as transgender, they are simply telling you that they have a relationship with the gender that is complex and nuanced. For some trans people, this means that their biological sex is different than the gender with which they identify (i.e. "born in the wrong body"). For other trans people, transgender simply suggests some sort of gender fluidity. That’s because the word "transgender" can function as an umbrella term or a specific identity.
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Queer/Questioning: Used as an umbrella term, queer is often used as a replacement for the acronym "LGBTQQIA" So instead of saying the "LGBTQQIA community" people simply say the "queer community."
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Intersex: Someone whose physical sex characteristics are not categorized as exclusively male or exclusively female.
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Asexual: Someone who does not experience sexual attraction
Individuals mandated to report violations that involve minors (All college employees).
Based on the applicable evidence collected during the investigation, from a preponderance of evidence standard, it is not more likely than not that the Student did not commit a violation.
Office for Civil Rights, whose mission is to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence throughout the nation through vigorous enforcement of civil rights.
Either the Complainant or the Respondent, involved in the alleged violation of Sexual Misconduct. The term Parties means both the Complainant and the Respondent collectively.
Used as an umbrella term, queer is often used as a replacement for the acronym "LGBTQQIA" So instead of saying the "LGBTQQIA community" people simply say the "queer community."
Unwanted, coerced and/or forced sexual penetration. The perpetrator may penetrate the victim's vagina, mouth, or anus, either with a body part or another object. The victim may also be forced to penetrate the perpetrator's vagina, mouth, or anus.
Any person(s), other than the Complainant, who reports a potential violation(s) of the District’s policy on Sexual Misconduct.
A person/s who are alleged to have violated the District’s policy on Sexual Misconduct.
Means, based on the applicable evidence collected during the investigation, from a preponderance of evidence standard, it is more likely than not the Respondent committed one or more violation(s) of the District’s Policy or Regulation on Sexual Misconduct.
College employees responsible (Mandated) for reporting Sexual Misconduct violations. These individuals include managers, club advisors, coaches, and law enforcement.
Any act of reprisal against a person who is involved in an allegation of Sexual Misconduct including but not limited to the Complainant, the Respondent, witnesses, investigators, and Hearing Panel, or Appeal Committee. Examples of actions that might be Retaliation against a Complainant, witness, or another participant in the complaint process include: a) Singling the person out for harsher treatment; b) lowering a grade or evaluation; c) failing to hire, failing to promote, withholding pay increase, demotion, or discharge; or d) providing negative information about the person in order to interfere with his or her prospects for employment, admission, or academic program.
Those disciplinary measures available to the College Disciplinary Officer or designee to impose upon a Student upon the finding of the Student’s responsibility for violation(s) of the Rules for Student Conduct, or of the Sexual Misconduct Policy.
Refers to a person's biological status and is typically categorized as male, female or intersex. There are a number of indicators of biological sex, including sex chromosomes, gonads, internal reproductive organs, and external genitalia.
Actual or attempted sexual contact with another person without that person’s Consent. Sexual Assault includes, but is not limited to 1) intentional touching of another person’s body in a sexual nature without that person’s consent; 2) other intentional sexual contacts with another person without that person’s consent; 3) coercing, forcing, or attempting to coerce or force a person to touch another person’s body in a sexual nature without that person’s consent; or 4) rape, which is penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina, or anus of a person by any body part of another person, or by an object, or the mouth of a person, or by a sex organ of another person, without the other person’s Consent.
Knowingly touching or fondling a person’s genitals, breasts, thighs, groin, or buttocks, or knowingly touching a person with one’s own genitals, breasts or buttocks, when consent is not present. This includes contact done directly or indirectly through clothing, bodily fluids, or with an object. It also includes causing or inducing a person, when consent is not present, to similarly touch, fondle, or contact oneself or someone else.
Occurs when a person takes sexual advantage of another person for the benefit of anyone other than that person without the other person’s consent. Examples of behavior that could rise to the level of Sexual Exploitation include:
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Prostituting another person
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Recording images (e.g. video, photograph) or audio of another person’s sexual activity, body when recorded for a sexual reason, or nakedness without that person’s consent
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Disturbing images (e.g. video, photograph) or audio of another person’s sexual activity, images of another’s body for sexual purposes, or nakedness, if the individual distributing the images or audio knows or should have known that the person depicted in the images or audio did not Consent to such disclosure and objects to such disclosure;
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Viewing or distributing images of an individual’s sexual activity, of another person's body parts, or nakedness in a place where that person would have a reasonable expectation of privacy, without that person’s consent, to have the image shared, or advance consent to viewing such an image, for the purposes of arousing or gratifying sexual desire.
Unwanted and unwelcome verbal sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other visual, verbal, or physical conduct of a sexual nature. Sexual harassment can also include stalking, voyeurism ("peeping toms"), exhibitionism/exposing, and obscene comments and texts.
Sexual harassment is conduct on the basis of sex that satisfies one or more of the following:
- Quid Pro Quo Sexual Harassment: When an employee of the District conditions the provision of an aid, benefit, or service of the District on an individual’s participation in unwelcome sexual conduct;
- Hostile Environment Sexual Harassment: Unwelcome conduct determined by a reasonable person in the shoes of the Complainant to be so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person equal access to the District’s program or activity;
- Sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, or stalking.
Comprises a broad range of unwelcome behaviors focused on Sex and/or gender that may or may not be sexual in nature. Any intercourse or other intentional sexual touching or activity without the other person’s Consent is Sexual Assault and is a form of Sexual Misconduct under this Policy. Sexual Misconduct encompasses Sexual Harassment, Sexual Assault, Sexual Exploitation, or Gender-based Harassment, which is a form of Harassment based on gender identity, gender expression, or non-conformity with gender stereotypes. Sexual Misconduct may also encompass acts of a sexual nature, including acts of Sexual Stalking, Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Intimidation, or Retaliation, following an incident where alleged Sexual Misconduct has occurred.
Sexual Misconduct can occur between strangers or acquaintances, or people who know each other well, including between people involved in an intimate or sexual relationship. It can be committed by anyone regardless of gender identity and can occur between people of the same or of different sex or gender.
Use of sexual contact behaviors that are unwanted by and/or harmful to another person, but do not involve penetration. This can include touching or rubbing against a non-consenting person in public ("frottage"), forced masturbation, and non-consensual touching of the breasts, buttocks, genitals, and other sexualized body parts by another person.
Course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear or suffer substantial emotional distress due to another’s sexual interest or gender interest. Sexual Stalking involves repeated and continued harassment of a sexual or gender-based nature, against the expressed Consent of another individual, which causes the targeted individual to feel emotional distress, including fear or apprehension. Such Sexual Stalking behaviors may include: pursuing or following; unwanted communication or contact— including face-to-face encounters, telephone calls, voice messages, electronic messages, web-based messages, text messages, unwanted gifts, etc.; trespassing; and surveillance or other types of observation.
A course of conduct directed at a specific person that is unwelcome and that makes a credible threat with the intent to cause a reasonable person to fear for their safety (or the safety of a third party such as a family member) or suffer substantial emotional distress. A stalker is someone who willfully, maliciously and repeatedly follows or harasses another person and who makes a credible threat with the intent to place that person or their immediate family in fear for their safety. Conduct that can amount to stalking may include two or more actions directed at another person, whether done directly, indirectly, through others such as immediate family, via devices, or via any other methods or means (specifically including electronic means), where the threat is reasonably determined by the College Disciplinary Officer to create substantial emotional distress, torment, create fear, or terrorize the person. According to California Penal Code 646.9, the victim does not have to prove that the stalker had the intent to carry out the threat.
Sexual intercourse with a person who is under the statutory age of consent under the laws of the state in which the incident occurred.
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) is a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in federally funded educational programs and activities. Under Title IX, sexual assault and sexual harassment are forms of discrimination on the basis of sex. The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, which enforces Title IX, has provided detailed guidance on how educational institutions like SMC must investigate and respond to complaints of sexual assault and sexual harassment.
The designated person(s) responsible for oversight and implementation of Title IX compliance and for the effective oversight of the District’s Sexual Misconduct Policy and Procedures. At SMC the title of the Title IX Coordinator is known as the Compliance Administrator/Title IX Coordinator
Person(s) responsible for assisting in the oversight and implementation of Title IX compliance for the effective oversight of the District’s Sexual Misconduct Policy and Procedures. Title IX Deputies are specific individuals located in Academic Affairs, Athletics, Human Resources, and Student Affairs.
The Title IX Coordinator’s designated person(s) responsible for the investigation of complaints of Sexual Assault/Misconduct.
An umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or expression is different from cultural expectations based on the sex they were assigned at birth. Being transgender does not imply any specific sexual orientation. Therefore, transgender people may identify as straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, etc.
Conduct of a sexual, gender-based, or harassing nature, which is not solicited, invited, or consented to. Such conduct would be deemed unwelcome if the person receiving it did not request or invite it, and considered the conduct to be undesired, or offensive. Such conduct may take various forms, including name-calling, graphic or written statements (including the use of cell phones or the Internet), hazing, bullying, offensive, or other conduct that may be physically or psychologically threatening, harmful, or humiliating. Unwelcome Conduct does not have to include intent to harm be directed at a specific target or involve repeated incidents. Unwelcome Conduct can involve persons of the same or opposite sex. Participation in the conduct or the other Party’s failure to complain does not mean that the conduct was welcome.