Sexual Misconduct in Academia: The Role of Power Dynamics

Harvard University. Source: CNBC

TW: Sexual Assault and Misconduct

As of February 9th, 2022, a case at Harvard involving sexual misconduct continues to develop as one of their professors, Dr. Comaroff, made inappropriate remarks to Lilian Kilburn, a graduate student, about how her sexuality could end in violent consequences, such as murder and rape, if she was in certain parts of Africa. Kilburn has expressed that the remarks were made even more uncomfortable because of the tone of voice that was one of “enjoyment.” Additionally, he made an unwanted sexual advance of a kiss prior to this. Kilburn alongside two other graduate students have filed a lawsuit against Harvard for the neglect and enabling of Dr. Comaroff’s actions. Harvard has found that the professor has broken the university’s policies for sexual and gender-based harassment, but not for unwanted sexual harassment. The New York Times comments that the consequences dealt to Dr. Comaroff included being placed on “administrative leave for at least the spring semester and barred from teaching required courses through at least the next academic year.” The controversy increases based on the conduct of other faculty in lieu of the scandal. Ninety of his colleagues and peers from other universities wrote and signed letters that defended him and his character.

In another camp, fifty academics criticized those who quickly went to Comaroff’s defense. This controversy unfolds to an even greater extent as many notable academics withdrew their previous statements once the suit was filed. Outside of the controversy of the accused and their peers, the women in the lawsuit endure great pressures as they attempt to continue their work and education while dealing with the stress of both the lawsuit and their experiences. 

The situation taking place at Harvard currently is just one example of how sexual harassment and assault is pervasive within academia. Recently, the president of the University of Michigan was fired for engaging in an inappropriate sexual relationship with a subordinate. This inappropriate relationship embodies how power dynamics, as seen in academia especially, can create harmful and non-consensual interactions. The influence of power can form the two main types of sexual misconduct: quid-pro-quo (an exchange of sexual favors/acts for some form of payment whether it be social or monetary), and the hostile work environment where the prevalence of sexual behavior makes the environment one is in extremely stressful to point that it affects the victim’s performance. The hostile work environment can be seen in the context of two other women in the lawsuit against Harvard, Margaret Czerwienski and Amulya Mandava, who are struggling to complete their graduate work from the stress of the case. 

Power dynamics within sexual relationships, especially those non-consensual and inappropriate, highlight that these interactions are based more on power than the gratification of sex. Domination over victims often feeds the motivation of assault cases. Sexual violence, which is any form of unwelcomed and forced sexual contact, becomes even more difficult to bring to justice whenever the assaulter is a person in a position of power — such as the power that being a tenured professor can provide. 

The cases at Harvard and the University of Michigan are just a few examples of events that have transpired recently, but this form of sexual violence and unbalanced power dynamics has been occurring for a very long time. The #MeToo movement that was popularized in 2017 highlighted the pervasiveness of sexual violence and misconduct in our society. Statistics on the prevalence of sexual violence display the commonality and wide extent of these issues in our society. For example, one in five women in the U.S will have experienced an attempted or completed rape, and eighty-four percent of women will have experienced sexual harassment and/or assault in the U.S. The abuses of power that occur from tenured professors are one facet of the systemic injustices and rape culture: the justification and dismissal of sexual aggression that exists within our society. Instances like the one that has taken place at Harvard recently display the perpetuation of rape culture as academics rushed to the dismissal of the women and protection of the accused. Rape culture furthers the oppression of victims of sexual violence and grants more power to the abusers, reinforcing the existing power dynamics. 

Sexual aggression and violence can appear in many forms, and as some are dismissed or considered trivial, there is nothing trivial about the effects that sexual violence can have on its survivors. All people are affected by this culture of sexual violence. The #MeToo movement did bring a reckoning of sorts, but the work needs to continue as people are still harmed every day. 

For resources to help with experiences of sexual violence see: http://online.rainn.org/.