Announcement

Revisions to the Sexual Harassment Policy and Procedures (2020)

The Sexual Harassment Policy and Procedures (Policy) was implemented in January 2012. The University reviewed the Policy two years after the initial implementation and a revised version of the Policy was effected from December 2015. Another review was conducted in 2020 and the latest version of the Policy is effective from 14 August 2020. The full English and Chinese versions of the revised Policy are available on the CASH website (https://www.cityu.edu.hk/cash).

The 2020 review aimed at enhancing the Sexual Harassment Policy and Procedures in the light of operational experiences and guidelines from the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC).

2020 Revisions:

To enhance reader-friendliness and improve the clarity of the Policy for the CityU community, major editing work was conducted including paragraph re-organisation, changes in numbering/bullets in paragraphs and language changes. For instance, to minimise repetition, details related to the recipient of complaints and the forming of an investigation panel in Articles 3.4-3.7 that were similar to/the same as those in the appendix of the 2015 version are now only presented in Appendix III (a) of the 2020 version. Also, guidelines for handling formal complaints that were listed in Article 4.2 and the appendix of the 2015 version are all grouped in the appendix on handling formal complaints in the 2020 version to enhance reader-friendliness.

Because of the mentioned editing work, references mentioned below refer to those in the revised Policy effective from 14 August 2020. There were various edits to improve reader-friendliness but the key revisions are:

1. 1. Preamble
   1. 1.1. To state clearly the University’s stance of adopting a zero-tolerance policy towards all forms of sexual harassment
   2. 1.4. To elaborate on the extent of disciplinary actions against sexual harassment, to improve the clarity of the Policy
2. 2. Definition of Sexual Harassment
   1. 2.2. To state that the Policy covers also acts of sexual harassment to persons of the same sex, following EOC guidelines
   2. 2.11. To elaborate that once an act, whether intentional or not, meets the definition of sexual harassment, it may amount to sexual harassment, to improve the clarity of the Policy
3. 3. Sexual Harassment Complaints
   1. 3.1. To state how anonymous complaints would be handled, following EOC guidelines
   2. 3.3., 3.4. To explain what will be involved when handling complaints informally and formally, to improve the clarity of the Policy
   3. 3.5. To state how delayed complaints would be handled, to improve the clarity of the Policy
4. 4. Principles for Handling Sexual Harassment Complaints
   1. 4.1.4. To expand the type of people who may accompany the complainant and the alleged harasser at meetings, following EOC guidelines
5. Appendix I Committee Against Sexual Harassment (CASH)
   1. 2. To increase the number of nominees of the Director of Human Resources to two, to reflect the load in cases handled based on past experiences
   2. 3. To limit the maximum number of members from the same unit/office to two, to ensure background diversity in the composition of CASH
   3. 3. To extend the term of office for members from two years to three years, for better continuity as training of CASH Members takes time
6. Appendix II (a) Procedures for Handling Informal Sexual Harassment Complaints
   1. 1., 2., 8., 9., 11., 12. To explain what will be involved when handling complaints informally, to improve the clarity of the Policy
7. Appendix II (b) Flow Chart on Handling Informal Sexual Harassment Complaints
   1. To reflect the revisions in Appendix II (a)
8. Appendix III (a) Procedures for Handling Formal Sexual Harassment Complaints
   1. 1., 2., 4. To explain what will be involved when handling complaints formally, to improve the clarity of the Policy
   2. 5., 23. To clarify that non-victim complainants would not be informed of the result of the investigation, to improve the clarity of the Policy
   3. 14. To specify that the total number of members of the Investigation Panel should be an odd number, following best practice
   4. 15.(a), 15.(b) To state that if the complainant/the alleged harasser is a minor, he/she is entitled to be accompanied by his/her parents/guardians to attend meetings, to improve the clarity of the Policy
   5. 15.(d) To state that the complainant and the alleged harasser may also call witness(es) to give evidence on their behalf, to align with provisions in other disciplinary regulations at CityU
   6. 21., 24., 32 To state clearly who the decision authority is, to improve the clarity of the Policy
9. Annex to Appendix III (a) CASH Standard Terms of References of Investigation Panel (IP)
   1. 3. To state clearly who the decision authority is, to improve the clarity of the Policy
10. Appendix III (b) Flow Chart on Handling Formal Sexual Harassment Complaints
    1. To reflect the revisions in Appendix III (a)

An updated Administrative Note No. G5.6/01/AUG20 on the revised 2020 version of the Policy superseding the 2015 version (No. G5.6/01/DEC15) is also placed in the Human Resources Office website.

If you have any enquiries on the above, please contact CASH (cash@cityu.edu.hk).

Sunny Lee
Chairperson, Committee Against Sexual Harassment (CASH)