Poster series to expose harrassment

By Hanh Quach

Arizona Daily Wildcat

The different stages of sexual harassment will be mimicked in a series of posters to be unveiled throughout the year on campus to expose the realities and myths of sexual harassment.

The UA's Affirmative Action Office introduced the first of the four-part poster series at an informal luncheon yesterday.

"It hurts everyone," reads the first message, printed in black ink on cherry-red poster paper.

The university initiated the campaign in response to a spring 1994 poll taken by the Commission on the Status of Women, which revealed 43 percent of UA faculty and staff had been sexually harassed in the previous five years.

"We hope to raise the issue of sexual harassment so that everyone will understand what it is and where to go for help," said Helen Mautner, affirmative action coordinator who helped plan the series.

"(Provost Paul) Sypherd thought a set of posters, simple and full of vitality, would be effective in bringing the issue front and center to people's attention," said Martha Gilliland, vice provost of Academic Affairs and Human Resources.

The committee plans to frame 10 sets of the series and hang them in conspicuous places on campus, said Jennifer Aviles, administrative associate for the Commission on the Status of Women.

Posters depicting different stages of harassment will be introduced during the year to illustrate the progression of the effects of sexual harassment, Mautner said.

Mautner said she hopes the series will create visibility of the problem and the effects it has on its victims.

Toward the end of the year, Mautner, who investigates sexual harassment complaints and coordinates sessions about sexual harassment in the Affirmative Action Office, will conduct another survey similar to the one conducted in spring 1994 that will include students.

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