Abstract:
Sexual harassment is identified as a widespread form of aggressive behavior with severe
consequences for victims, organizations and institutions. The objectives of this study were to
explore the perceptions of students on sexual harassment, to discover the common type of sexual
harassment among students, to find out locations where sexual harassment occurs in the
university, to explore contributory factors influencing sexual harassment among students, and to
explore the effects of sexual harassment on students. The methodology that was applied in this
study is was qualitative in nature. The researcher used open ended questions in interview to
assess sexual harassment among students in the university. Non-probability sampling was used
to select 16 respondents made up of 8 males and 8 females. Data was analyzed thematically by
identifying and expanding significant themes that emerged from the informants’ responses.
Ethical measures and trustworthiness were ensured. It appears common for sexual harassment
victims to experience negative physiological effects and treatment for the victims and harassers
is hindered because victims abscond reporting the incident. Sexual harassment occurs in and
outside university buildings as shown in the study. Perpetrators of sexual harassment have
evolved from males harassing females to female lesbians harassing other lesbians and male gays
harassing other gays however, men are the harassers of others to a greater extent. Alcohol and
drug use, dress code and age and level of study were major contributory factors of sexual
harassment. It seemed common that verbal, physical and visual sexual harassment occur among
students verbal sexual harassment being the most prevalent.
