Discussion List for campus-based and allied personnel working to end gender-based violence on campus.

["Juliette Grimmett" <>]

Feminist Daily News Wire
August 20, 2007

13-Year Old Boys Face Trial for Sexual Harassment

Two 13-year old Oregon boys face criminal sexual harassment charges for
allegedly spanking girls and touching their breasts. A teacher's aid
spotted Ryan Cornelison and Cory Mashburn running down a hallway and
slapping the bottoms of several girls, according to The Oregonian. The
two boys and five girls involved were then interrogated by a police
officer and the schools' vice principal, acknowledging that the boys had
also grabbed, touched, and poked girls' bottoms and breasts in the
past.

Originally, the boys faced felony sex abuse charges – charges that
could have landed them lifetime registration on the sex offender
registry, according to KATU, a Portland news station. After several
months, the charges were reduced to misdemeanor sex abuse, which were
eventually dropped completely. The boys still face harassment charges.
If found guilty, they could serve a maximum of one-year in juvenile
detention.

The case of Cornelison and Mashburn has sparked debate over whether
officials brought criminal charges too quickly, The Oregonian reports.
Christina McMahan, the director of the county's juvenile justice
program, responded, saying, "Our value is by handling these as a formal
court proceeding it sends the message to the youth and the public and to
the victim that we as a justice system takes this very seriously -- and
they need to, too."

Sexual harassment affects 89 percent of girls in grades 2 through 12,
Michele Paludi writes in the Handbook for Achieving Gender Equity
through Education, published by the Feminist Majority Foundation.
Thirty-nine percent of girls report experiencing sexual harassment every
day at school. Although sexual harassment has consistently been a major
problem in the US, many school officials still don’t know how to
recognize or deal with sexual harassment issues, according to an
American Association of University Women report.

Media Resources: The Oregonian 8/16/07; KATU 8/16/07; American
Association of University Women (2001); Handbook 2007

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"It's so liberating and important for men to understand that they can
actually be friendly to women instead of playing some gender-specific
role, and that women are in most ways the same as they are. I think that
lots of women already know that, but not so many guys do."  -my dad
8/3/07
 
Juliette Grimmett, MPH
Rape Prevention Education Coordinator
NC State University
Women's Center
3120 Talley Student Center
Campus BOX 7306
Raleigh, NC 27695-7306
Office: (919) 513-3232
24 Hour Sexual Violence Hotline: (919)618-RAPE (7273)
Fax: (919) 515-1066
email: 

website: http://www.ncsu.edu/womens_center