Because I take it for granted that readers consider sexual harassment to be offensive and harmful, I am writing little on the subject. It remains, however a serious problem. A recent survey of Harvard students and faculty revealed:
Thirty-two percent of the tenured female professors, 49 percent of those without tenure, 41 percent of the female graduate students, and 34 percent of the undergraduate women reported having been sexually harassed by a person in authority at least once during their time at Harvard. Fifteen percent of the graduate students and twelve percent of the undergraduates reporting harassment consequently changed their academic plans because of it. Most did not report the incidents [Simeone 1987, page 115--116,].Other studies, such as [Baker 1990] find even higher percentages of women sexually harassed. See also [Gross 1991], an account of the hostile environment for women at Stanford Medical School, which was recently called to attention by the resignation of a female neurosurgeon.