Definitions

Actual Knowledge: Notice of sexual misconduct or allegations of sexual misconduct to the Title IX Coordinator or any official of the College who has authority to institute corrective measures on behalf of the College.

Complainant: The individual who alleges to be the victim of conduct in violation of this policy

Consent: An affirmative, unambiguous, voluntary and conscious decision by each involved participant engaging in a specific agreed-upon sexual activity. Consent can never be implied.

The consent has to be “ongoing” throughout the sexual contact and can be revoked at any time and for any reason. Consent to one form of sexual activity does not imply consent to other forms of sexual activity. Previous relationships or consent does not imply consent to future sexual acts. Consent is active, not passive and silence or the absence of resistance alone is not sufficient to be interpreted as consent. Consent can be given by words or actions, as long as those words or actions generate mutually understandable permission regarding the conditions of the sexual activity. Instances involving intoxication, lack of consciousness, or drug use of any of the involved participants renders consent null and void. Incapacity to provide effective consent may also result from mental disability, intellectual disability, unconsciousness or sleep. A person giving consent must be of legal age (17 in the state of Texas), sound mind, and fully cognizant of their surroundings and the situation.

Examples of indicators that a person is incapacitated and does not have the ability to give proper consent include, but are not limited to:

under the legal age limit;
consumption of alcohol, medication or drugs;
imbalanced or stumbling;
slurred speech;
lack of consciousness or inability to control bodily functions movements, or vomiting;
low intellectual capacity.

Dating Violence: Violence (including but not limited to emotional, physical, sexual, and financial abuse or threat of abuse) between two people who are or have been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature. The existence of such a relationship will depend on the length and type of the relationship and the frequency of interactions between the persons involved.

Domestic Violence: Violence between two people who are or have been in an intimate or romantic relationship, who share a child in common, or who live or have lived together as spouses or intimate partners. Violence against any person by that person’s caretaker or guardian (such as abuse against an elderly, young, or disabled person) may also be considered domestic violence. Examples of domestic violence include but are not limited to physical, emotional, sexual, and financial abuse or threat of abuse.

Formal Complaint: A document filed by the complainant or signed by the Title IX Coordinator alleging sexual misconduct against a respondent and requesting that CTCD investigate the allegation of sexual misconduct under this policy.

Respondent: The individual who has been reported as the perpetrator of conduct that could constitute a violation of this policy.

Sex Assault: Any physical sex acts perpetrated against an individual without consent, to include when a person is incapable of giving consent due to alcohol, drugs or disability. A number of acts fall into the category of sexual violence, including rape, sexual assault, sexual battery, and sexual coercion. The following are general descriptions and legal definitions and violations may differ by jurisdiction:

Forcible Rape – Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim. and includes rape and sexual assault, sexual misconduct, and sexual violence.
Fondling – Intentional touching, no matter how slight, whether clothed or unclothed, of another person’s private body parts (primarily genital area, groin, inner thigh, buttock or breast) with any object or body part of the perpetrator, without consent and/or by force. It also includes forcing the victim to touch the intimate areas of the perpetrator or any contact in a sexual manner even if not involving contact of or by breasts, buttocks, groin, genitals, mouth or other orifice. The victim may also be incapable of giving consent due to age or temporary or permanent mental incapacity and includes sexual battery and sexual misconduct.
Incest (Non-Forcible) – Unlawful sexual intercourse between persons who are related to each other within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by law.
Statutory Rape – Unlawful sexual intercourse with a person who is under the statutory age of consent. Seventeen is the legal age in the state of Texas. Campuses outside of Texas are to adhere to local jurisdiction requirements for age of consent.

Sexual Coercion: The use of manipulation, intimidation or threat to engage in sex with another person. Coercion transpires when sexual activity occurs devoid of legal and appropriate consent. Coercion may include behaviors that intimidate, isolate, manipulate, humiliate, coerce, frighten, blame or hurt someone.

Sexual Exploitation: A situation in which a person takes non-consensual or abusive sexual advantage of another person or violates the sexual privacy of another when consent is not present. This includes, but is not limited to, the following actions (including then they are done via electronic means, methods or devices):

Sexual voyeurism or permitting others to witness or observe a person undressing, using the bathroom, or engaged in sexual or intimate activity without that person’s consent;
Taking pictures or video or audio recording of another person engaged in sexual or intimate activity, or in any private activity without the consent of all involved in the activity, or exceeding the boundaries of consent (such as allowing another person to hide in a closet and observe sexual activity, or disseminating sexual pictures without the photographed person’s consent);
Prostitution or trafficking, to include recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or obtaining another person for the purpose of sexual exploitation;
Administering alcohol or drugs (such as “date rape” drugs) to another person without his or her knowledge or consent regardless of whether prohibited sexual conduct actually occurs;
Exposing one’s genitals in non-consensual circumstances.

Sexual Harassment: Includes unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, quid pro quo harassment, hostile environment based on gender, and other physical or verbal conduct of a sexual nature and is defined as:

any instance of sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence or stalking as defined in the Violence Against Women Act; and
that is so severe and pervasive and objectively offensive to a reasonable person to effectively deny a person equal educational access.

Sexual Misconduct: Sexual misconduct as defined in this policy encompasses a range of behavior used to obtain sexual gratification against another’s will or at the expense of another, and any other conduct of a sexual nature that is unprofessional and/or inappropriate for the educational and/or working environment, or has the effect of threatening or intimidating the person against whom such conduct is directed.

Stalking: Engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to (1) fear for his/her own safety or the safety of others and/or (2) suffer substantial emotional distress. A course of conduct means two or more acts, including, but not limited to, acts in which the stalker directly, indirectly, or through third parties, by any action, method, device, or means, follows, monitors, observes, surveils, threatens, or communicates to or about a person, or interferes with a person’s property.