Amid accusations that it failed to seriously address a postgraduate student’s account of sexual harassment at the hands of an instructor, the head of Hong Kong’s top university yesterday announced the school had launched an investigation into the claims and that the administration would take a “zero tolerance” approach such incidents.
In an email to students, alumni, and staff on Sunday evening, Professor Zhang Xiang — the president and vice chancellor of the University of Hong Kong — said that the allegations of sustained harassment leveled by a Malaysian dental student were “disturbing.”
“Building a safe, respectful campus environment and eradicating sexual harassment and discrimination require an on-going commitment from all members of the University community,” Zhang’s statement reads.
“My management team and I would like to take this opportunity to stress that the University provides education and training in matters related to sexual harassment. It also takes preventive measures and issues sanctions on parties that are found to have engaged in such activities. Most importantly, staff members who hold supervisory positions must take all necessary steps in order to prevent discrimination and harassment, and supervisors who fail to act will be held accountable. Members of the University community can also do their part to help ensure a safe campus by responding promptly to instances of sexual harassment, which includes encouraging victims to come forward and supporting them.”
However, the source of the allegations, L, said it was the school’s reluctance to take her complaint seriously, or to offer her adequate support after she came forward, that influenced her decision to take her account public in the first place.
L, who was pursuing a postgraduate program in dentistry at HKU from 2015 to 2018, first posted her detailed account of the harassment on May 5.
In a 2,000-word blow-by-blow of the alleged long-running inappropriate behavior, she wrote that her harasser — referred to only as “Dr. R” — is a part-time tutor at the university’s dental teaching hospital, the Prince Philip Dental Hospital in Sai Ying Pun, and said that most of the instances of harassment took place at the hospital in either an open staff area or in separate cubicles.
She wrote that R was among the “first batch of dentists produced by HKU,” was once the acting head of department, and had taught many in the faculty.
The litany of allegations include R repeatedly touching her arm, shoulders, and back, even after being asked to stop; “leering” at her chest; making comments about her body language, and how it indicated she was “submissive;” “poking [her] chest” with a red lai see envelope; and remarking on her clothing, including asking why she didn’t wear a skirt more often, “as he really like[d] it on” her.
On one occasion, R tried to add L on Snapchat. When L said she had no intention of confirming his request, he took her phone and approved the request himself while she was tending to a patient.
On another occasion, R asked L why she was pursuing dentistry when she could just “find a rich guy to marry.” When she replied that was unrealistic, he said, “Who told you to look for single men? You could always find married men.”
The subtext wasn’t lost on L, who said R made the remark “while raising both his eyebrows repeatedly. He is a married man.”
L said that while peers and nurses supported her in filing a report, she was also warned by others that R had the power to make her life “a living hell” if she reported him.
Her efforts to report the behavior were initially brushed off by administrators, she added.
“When I reported this to my course director and told him of the inappropriate comments the perpetrator made, he giggled. When I told him of my experience, he said that it didn’t amount to harassment,” L said.
R was eventually removed as L’s tutor, but the faculty never followed up with her to see how she was coping, she said, and R was later rehired after she left the university.
“After much deliberation, I am putting this on social media, hoping to create awareness about sexual harassment be it at workplace or teaching institutions. It is not an enjoyable feeling reliving this, but I am seeking redress,” she wrote.
“I am not taking revenge (this is NOT a witchhunt) for what happened to me, but to let him back into the faculty after I have left, to jeopardize the safety of other female students, shows how lightly HKU has taken this matter.”
L updated the Facebook post on Thursday to say that the university’s Equal Opportunity Unit — an office on campus that handles harassment-related complaints — had responded to her, but she did not describe their reply.
She added that she has yet to hear back from the university’s faculty of dentistry, and in an emailed response to Coconuts HK regarding the EOU’s response, she said she’s unable to disclose any information as the case is currently under investigation.
In his statement on Sunday, meanwhile, Zhang said that the university can’t provide any further comment on the allegations due to privacy concerns.
NOTE: This article has been updated to include a response from the alleged victim, whose name has been removed at her request due to the sensitivity of the case.
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