Sexual Misconduct on Study Away

Policies

Familiarize yourself with Duke’s sexual misconduct policies and the options for reporting, both confidential and non-confidential.

Duke University is committed to encouraging and sustaining a living and learning community that is free from harassment, violence, and discrimination. Consistent with this commitment and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex/gender in any of its programs or activities, Duke has developed:

  1. A comprehensive Student Sexual Misconduct Policy, administered by the Office of Student Conduct and applicable to sexual misconduct committed by any student (studentaffairs.duke.edu/conduct/z-policies/student-sexual-misconduct-policy-dukes-commitment-title-ix); and

  2. A Duke Policy Prohibiting Discrimination, Harassment, and Related Misconduct, administered by the Office for Institutional Equity and applicable to sexual misconduct committed by faculty, staff, and third parties (https://oie.duke.edu/introduction-policies).

Together, these policies prohibit all forms of sexual misconduct, including:

  • Sex/gender-based harassment
  • Sexual/gender violence
  • Sexual exploitation
  • Relationship violence
  • Stalking
  • Non-physical forms of sexual harassment, including threats, intimidation, spying, and peeping.

Reporting Options

Students studying away from Duke’s campus who experience sexual harassment or misconduct involving other students, faculty, staff, administrators, or third parties can report such prohibited conduct in a number of ways:

OPTION 1: Report to your on-site program director and/or the Duke Global Education Office

If you experience sexual misconduct on a study away program, you are encouraged to reach out to your on-site program director to let them know about the incident. Working with offices back at Duke, your program director will attempt to assist you in accessing follow-up care and other resources—such as local counselors—where available and institute interim support measures as needed. Please note, however, that some study away locations may have limited on-the-ground resources available to students. In such instances, Duke will attempt to locate alternative forms of support for you. 

Alternatively, if you would like to report an incident directly to Duke’s Office of Student Conduct, you can do so online by filing a report on the following website:

https://studentaffairs.duke.edu/conduct/report-incident - or email details to conduct@duke.edu. 

If you don’t have access to the internet, but would still like to report an incident directly to Duke, you should call the Duke Police at 1-919-684-2444 and let them know about the situation. The Duke Police will then alert the relevant parties back at Duke who will reach out to you.

OPTION 2: Confidential reporting resource

Students have an option to confidentially discuss an alleged violation of Duke’s harassment policies—that is, without the information being reported to Duke’s Office of Student Conduct or Office for Institutional Equity. Confidential Duke resources that are not mandated to report include:

Students should be aware that, with the exception of these confidential resources, all employees, including faculty, who become aware of possible sexual misconduct committed by students are expected to notify Duke’s Office of Student Conduct. Students who serve in an ongoing peer-advising role (such as Resident Assistants) are also expected to notify the Duke Office of Student Conduct of an alleged violation of Duke's harassment policies.

Resources: When You’re Back at Duke

Counseling may or may not be available while abroad, but it will be available to you when you return home:

Resources: General

For more general information on Duke’s commitment to Title IX, please consult the following resources:

For more general information on sexual assault, please consult the following resources: