With respect to any disclosures of sexual misconduct, the University cannot guarantee confidentiality, but will make all reasonable efforts to protect the privacy of all involved.  The University does offer several fully confidential resources, listed below.   

If the reported conduct may constitute a serious risk of further harm to the victim or to other members of the campus community.  In these cases, the University may conduct further investigation and follow up.   The University will keep the victim informed of the progress of any investigation, unless the information would interfere with or jeopardize a criminal investigation.

UVM Confidential Resources

The following resources provide fully confidential support services. 

UVM Counseling (CAPS)
146 S. Williams St., Burlington, VT 05401
Call for Appointment
802-656-3340

HOPE Works
24-hour crisis counseling and advocacy for individuals affected by sexual violence. 
(802) 863-1236 or 1-800-489-7273

Student Health Services
802-656-3350

Under UVM's Sexual Harassment and Misconduct Policy, consent is defined (in part) as an "understandable exchange of affirmative words or actions, which indicate a willingness to participate in mutually agreed upon sexual activity..."  UVM has an affirmative consent policy.  The full policy definition is below: 

• Consent: A person’s willingness to engage in a specific sexual act or form of sexual contact. 
  • Consent is an understandable exchange of affirmative words or actions, which indicate a willingness to participate in mutually agreed upon sexual activity, in the context of all the circumstances.  Consent may be revoked or withdrawn any time.
  • Consent is specific to particular sexual activity and is absent when the activity in question exceeds the scope of consent given.  It is the responsibility of the person who wants to engage in the sexual activity to ensure that they have consent from any other person engaging in sexual activity or contact. The existence of a dating relationship or a past sexual relationship between the persons engaging in sexual activity or contact is not a sufficient basis to assume consent.
  • Consent cannot be gained by threat, force, coercion, or intimidation, or by ignoring words or actions that indicate a lack of consent or objection to the activity.  Consent cannot be gained by taking advantage of the incapacitation of another where the Respondent knows or reasonably should have known of such incapacitation.  
  • An essential element of consent is that it be freely given.  Freely given consent may not be present or possible in relationships of a sexual or intimate nature between individuals where one individual has power, supervision, or authority over another.  
  • Individuals under the age of 16 are incapable of providing consent to sexual activity under this Policy.

Please note that an Equal Opportunity Support Coordinator is available to speak with you about policy terms and definitions.  Contact us at EqualOpportunity@uvm.edu to schedule a meeting or phone call.  

 Sex-Based Stalking: Engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specific person based on their sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or gender expression that would cause a reasonable person to (1) fear for their safety or the safety of others; or (2) suffer substantial emotional distress.^[3]  A course of conduct means two or more acts, including but not limited to acts in which a person directly, indirectly, or through third parties, by any action, method, device, or means, follows, monitors, observes, surveils, threatens, or communicates to or about another person, or interferes with another person’s property.  Substantial emotional distress means significant mental suffering or anguish.

Please note that an Equal Opportunity Support Coordinator is available to speak with you about policy terms and definitions.  Contact us at EqualOpportunity@uvm.edu to schedule a meeting or phone call.  

Intimate Partner Violence: Any act of violence or threatened act of violence that occurs between individuals who are or have been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature^[4].  Intimate Partner Violence may include any form of prohibited conduct under this policy, including Sexual Assault, Stalking, and Sexual Exploitation, as well as acts of physical assault^[5].  For purposes of this Policy, Intimate Partner Violence does not include acts that meet the definition of domestic violence under Vermont law [15 V.S.A. § 1101(2)] that are based solely on cohabitation (e.g. roommates). 

Please note that an Equal Opportunity Support Coordinator is available to speak with you about policy terms and definitions.  Contact us at EqualOpportunity@uvm.edu to schedule a meeting or phone call. 

Sexual Assault:  A sexual act that occurs (1) without consent of the other person, or (2) by threatening or coercing the other person, or (3) by placing the other person in fear that any person will suffer imminent bodily injury.

• Sexual Act:  Conduct between persons consisting of contact between the penis and the vulva, the penis and the anus, the mouth and the penis, the mouth and the vulva, or any intrusion, however slight, by any part of a person's body or any object into the genital or anal opening of another.

Please note that an Equal Opportunity Support Coordinator is available to speak with you about policy terms and definitions.  Contact us at EqualOpportunity@uvm.edu to schedule a meeting or phone call. 

Harassment: A form of discrimination that encompasses an incident or incidents of verbal, written, visual, or physical communications and/or conduct based on or motivated by an individual’s membership in a legally protected category.  Harassment may include the use of epithets, stereotypes, slurs, comments, insults, derogatory remarks, gestures, threats, graffiti, display or circulation of written or visual material, taunts, and negative references related to any of these protected categories.  There are two types of Harassment:

• Hostile Environment: A hostile environment exists when, evaluated from both a subjective and objective perspective, the conduct is sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive^[1] that it unreasonably interferes with, limits, or deprives an individual from participating in or benefitting from the University’s educational or employment programs and/or activities^[2]. In evaluating whether a hostile environment exists, the University will consider the totality of known circumstances, including, but not limited to:
  • The frequency, nature and severity of the conduct;
  • The parties’ ages, roles within the University’s education program or activity, previous interactions, and other factors about each party that may be relevant to evaluating the effects of the conduct;
    • The location of the conduct and the context in which the conduct occurred;
    • Other sex-based harassment in the University’s education program or activity; or
  • The effect of the conduct on the Complainant’s mental or emotional state;
  • Whether the conduct was directed at more than one person;
  • Whether the conduct arose in the context of other discriminatory conduct;
  • Whether the conduct unreasonably interfered with the Complainant’s educational or work performance and/or University programs or activities; and
  • Whether the conduct implicates concerns related to academic freedom or protected speech. 
• Quid Pro Quo: a Latin phrase meaning “This for That”, where  submission to or rejection of unwelcome treatment based on a protected category is made, either explicitly or implicitly, a term or condition of their employment, academic standing, or participation in any University programs or activities, or is used as the basis for University decisions affecting the individual.

Please note that an Equal Opportunity Support Coordinator is available to speak with you about policy terms and definitions.  Contact us at EqualOpportunity@uvm.edu to schedule a meeting or phone call. 

Sexual Exploitation: Non-consensual use of another individual’s nudity or sexuality, other than Sexual Harassment, Sexual Assault, Intimate Partner Violence, and Sex-Based Stalking. Examples of Sexual Exploitation include, but are not limited to, purposely or knowingly:

• Touching the sexual or other intimate parts of a person, or causing such person to touch your sexual or other intimate parts, including intentional touching of the breasts, buttocks, groin, or genitals, whether clothed or unclothed, or intentionally touching another with any of these body parts, and making another touch you or themselves with or on any of these body parts.
• Exposing one’s genitals to another person without consent.
• Causing the incapacitation of another person (through alcohol, drugs, or any other means) for the purpose of compromising that person’s ability to give consent to sexual activity.
• Engaging in voyeurism (e.g. watching or taking pictures, videos, or audio recordings of another person engaging in a sexual act, in a state of undress, or in a place and time where such person has a reasonable expectation of privacy, such as a changing room, toilet, bathroom, or shower, without the consent of all parties).
• Disseminating, streaming, or posting images or video of private sexual activity and/or a person’s intimate parts (including breasts, buttocks, groin, or genitals) without consent.
• Compelling a person through force, fraud, or coercion to engage in a commercial sexual act (e.g. prostitution).
• Possession of sexual materials that are illegal under federal or state law.
• Knowingly exposing another person to a sexually transmitted infection or virus without the other individual’s knowledge.
• Luring a child under 16, or a person believed to be under 16, by any means, including in person, over the phone, or through electronic communication, to engage in a sexual act or touch the intimate part of the person or child whether clothed or unclothed. This does NOT apply if an actor is younger than 19 and the child is at least 15 and the contact is consensual.

Amnesty

The University seeks to remove any barriers to an individual or group in making a disclosure.  The University recognizes that individuals who experience incidents of discrimination or harassment, in some circumstances, may be reluctant to disclose such conduct to the University because they fear that they themselves may be accused of policy violations, such as underage drinking or drug use at the time of the incident.  Accordingly, if the University learns of personal consumption of alcohol or drugs or other ancillary policy violations via a disclosure or resolution process, the University will not use this information in a disciplinary process against the complainant, respondent or any witness unless the conduct placed the health or safety of any other person at risk.  For example, this provision will not protect from disciplinary action an individual who knowingly serves alcohol or administers drugs to another person in order to facilitate conduct prohibited by this Policy.

Incapacitation

Individuals who are incapacitated are unable to provide consent for sexual activity.  UVM policy defines incapacitation as follows:    

• Incapacitation:  A mental or physical state where a person is rendered temporarily or permanently incapable of making decisions for any reason or is otherwise unable to give clear consent.
  • Mental incapacitation means that a person is temporarily or permanently incapable of appreciating or controlling their conduct or understanding the nature or consequences of their conduct. Such incapacity may be the result of the influence of a controlled or intoxicating substance. 
  • Physical incapacitation means a person is unconscious, asleep, unaware, or otherwise physically unable to communicate consent and also includes physical incapacity or inability to resist unwanted sexual advances regardless of the cause for that inability.
  • Consumption of alcohol or drugs alone is insufficient to establish incapacitation. Alcohol-related incapacity results from a level of alcohol or drug ingestion that is more severe than mere impairment, being under the influence, drunkenness, or intoxication. 
  • The question of incapacitation is determined on a case-by-case basis using both objective and subjective standards and includes an analysis of the objective behaviors of the Complainant and whether the Respondent knew or reasonably should have known that they were incapacitated. Whether the Respondent knew or reasonably should have known the Complainant was incapacitated will be assessed by considering whether a sober, reasonable person in like circumstances would have believed them to be incapacitated.  Intoxication of the Respondent is not a defense.  
  • The following are some objective physical indications of incapacity: slurred speech, difficulty walking or standing, vomiting, unconsciousness and/or losing consciousness, and marked mood swings.