Providence College is committed to maintaining an environment in which all students, staff and faculty are treated with dignity and respect, as created in the image and likeness of God. Sexual misconduct in all forms violates the sanctity of the human body, mind, and spirit and will not be tolerated in our community. Indeed, sexual misconduct is one of the most serious violations of the standards of conduct for Providence College, and some forms of sexual misconduct can violate both civil and criminal law. Students at Providence College are responsible for being familiar with, and abiding by, the standards of conduct.
What is sexual misconduct?
Providence College prohibits sexual misconduct in all forms. Sexual misconduct includes the following:
Sexual Misconduct I:
Sexual misconduct I includes any sexual penetration (anal, oral, or vaginal), however slight, with any object or sexual intercourse by a man or woman upon a man or woman without effective consent. Sexual penetration includes vaginal or anal penetration by a penis, object, tongue, or finger or oral copulation by mouth to genital contact or genital to mouth contact.
Sexual Misconduct II:
Sexual misconduct II is any intentional sexual touching, however slight, with any object by a man or woman upon a man or woman without effective consent. Sexual touching includes any bodily contact with the breasts, groin, genitals, mouth, or other bodily orifice of another or any other bodily contact in a sexual manner. Sexual misconduct II also includes disrobing of another or exposure to another by a man or woman without effective consent.
Sexual Exploitation:
Sexual exploitation includes any conduct in which a student takes advantage of another without his/her consent for his/her own advantage or benefit, or to benefit or advantage anyone other than the one being exploited, and that behavior does not constitute Sexual Misconduct I or II or Sexual Harassment.
Sexual Harassment:
Sexual harassment is any type of behavior of a sexual nature that is severe or pervasive, and that creates a hostile or abusive learning, working, or living environment, thereby, unreasonably interfering with a person's ability to learn or work.
What is effective consent?
Effective consent is informed, freely and actively given mutually understandable words or actions that indicate a willingness to participate in mutually agreed upon sexual activity. Consent may never be given by minors (in Rhode Island, those not yet sixteen (16) years of age), mentally disabled persons, and those who are incapacitated as a result of alcohol or other drug consumption (voluntary or involuntary). It cannot be given by those who are unconscious, unaware, or otherwise physically helpless. Consent obtained through the use of fraud, force (actual or implied), whether that force be physical force, threats, intimidation or coercion, is not effective consent.
Consent is mutually understandable when a reasonable person would consider the words and/or actions of the parties to have expressed a mutually understandable agreement between them to do the same thing, in the same way, at the same time, with one another.
In the absence of mutually understandable words or actions, it is the responsibility of the initiator, or the person who wants to engage in specific sexual activity, to make sure that he/she has the consent from his/her partner(s). Consent to some form of sexual activity does not necessarily imply consent to other forms of sexual activity. Mutually understandable consent must be obtained by the initiator at every stage of sexual interaction.