Editorial response to TBS Sexual Harassment case
Sexual harassment is not an issue to be trifled with. From all angles, it is a horrible transgression that society – or at least, our AUC community – should combat with tireless vigor and determination. It is a plague that if allowed to fester reduces us to animals and affects the way we conduct ourselves on and off campus.
This year in particular, issues of sexual harassment have come to the fore. It is critical that this issue be raised again and again and that raising awareness becomes a national responsibility.
The Caravan stands against all forms of sexual harassment, intimidation and violence; in previous semesters, we have tried to raise awareness by reporting on sexual harassment on and off campus, and through our own and guest columns. We even reported on a sexual harassment case that happened during classes last summer.
Members of our staff have been sexually harassed while reporting their assigned stories so we know how vile and debilitating a crime it is.
We have always kept the best interests of victims and alleged victims at the top of our priorities.
But at the same time, because an accusation of sexual harassment has potentially grave consequences, we must be careful not to appear to hold court through the media and immediately jump to judgment.
As a result, contextualizing the story by looking at previous sexual harassment incidents or writing an in-depth report on the issue of sexual harassment within the framework of the said articles does not provide balance to the article, as Kim Fox claims. On the contrary, by providing such background, the article would be creating automatic linkage between the alleged TBS incident and previously proven cases of sexual harassment.
Any article that takes such an approach is already predicating that the incident at the bakery was indeed one of sexual harassment.
This would be dishonest as the committee has not yet reached a verdict on whether sexual harassment actually happened and therefore it remains an alleged case. The Caravan is neither judge nor jury and does not make presumptions of innocence or guilt. We weren’t witnesses to the event itself and neither were the authors of the letter to the editor.
The AUC community is reminded that an allegation was made against a member of the TBS staff by a faculty member. Those are the facts. A committee is investigating the issue. That is the fact. The AUC community is also reminded that in the justice system, one is innocent till proven guilty. Nothing should shake that preamble, not even knowing who the professor in question is.
The Caravan also holds that posting an account based on hearsay of what happened at TBS on Facebook is ethically reprehensible and morally deficient. Trial by Facebook is not the way to go about investigating the incident. Nor does it further raising awareness of sexual harassment on and off campus.
Tweets and Facebook postings are not evidence.
The Caravan reporter sought to hear from the community and interview several voices for his article. He was turned down at every junction. The Caravan emailed Kim Fox in a bid to have her persuade the psychology professor to speak to us, to get her story across to the community. We were told that she refused.
In a bid to show that The Caravan understood the importance of the professor’s side of the story, we were compelled to print that The Caravan tried to get the professor’s version of events but that she declined. How is that shaming “the victim”?
Had we not printed that, the first reaction we would have gotten would have been “you didn’t even try to interview the victim; why didn’t you interview her, etc.”
The Caravan reporter tried even beyond his deadline to get other voices; no one wanted to talk, not even the committee – which is understandable as they are still reportedly investigating the case.
Furthermore, the TBS manager made quite a strong statement when he threatened to shut down TBS if the committee ruling does not go his way. While we reserve our commentary on whether the statement itself was bullying or not, leaving it out of the article would be disingenuous on our part, gate-keeping, and a disservice to the audience. At the end, the reader decides whether this was bullying or not; our job is to report what he said.
In the past week, we have heard angry voices blaming the TBS staff member for sexual harassment and we have heard angry voices blaming the professor in question for ‘cultural misunderstanding’. We call on the AUC community to leave their biases and wait for the judgment of the committee.
Earlier this week, after another alleged sexual harassment case in Cilantro, the committee issued an email, which said: “As a result of the investigation and recommendations, the Cilantro staff member who was involved in the incident has been terminated from employment, and is facing additional legal action from Cilantro.”
The same due diligence must be paid to the alleged TBS case.
The Caravan calls on the AUC administration to take a strong position against sexual harassment in general, and to commit to the safety of all on campus.
We acknowledge that this wasn’t the easiest story to write, nor was it the best report that it could be, and it is a very sensitive issue. However, there was no malice or intent on the part of The Caravan.
The Caravan
