Sexual harassment of Chinese college students

Abstract

Sexual harassment of Chinese college students with a focus on their awareness, experiences, responses, and expectations of institutional intervention to the problem was examined. 358 male and 491 female Chinese college students in Hong Kong participated. There were no gender differences in students' awareness of the phenomenon. Students' own experiences were less frequent than what they had heard about sexual harassment. Peer harassment occurred twice as frequently as faculty harassment. Compared to men, twice as many women said they had been sexually harassed. About one in four women students experienced various forms of sexual harassment and 1% were coerced into sexual activities during their college years by either teachers or peers. Students typically avoided and ignored the harassers and felt that the university should take up active roles in combating the problem. Comparisons with U.S. studies suggested that Chinese college students had a lower awareness and experience level in sexual harassment than U.S. students.