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On April 2, 2007, Rebecca Greigo was shot at the University of Washington, her place of employment. Ms. Greigo was shot by her ex-boyfriend who was stalking her. Despite having a restraining order and telling her employer about the restraining order and the various threats against her, Greigo was killed. The death of Rebecca Greigo and the lack of the lack of University responsiveness[1] has inspired the Law Women's Caucus to do research on what exactly the University's policies are on violence against women related issues, including stalking, sexual harassment, and sexual assault.

This part of the LWC website has several parts to it. If you are here because you're disturbed by the behavior of one of your peers or a faculty or staff member, we recommend visiting the "Defining Sexual Harassment" section. This will give some general definitions of the nuisances of gendered violence including sexual harassment, domestic violence, rape, and stalking. The "Breaking It Down: What to do if you experience Sexual Assault or harassment at the UW" is also an excellent starting place.

We have also provided a page that describes the laws that address these issues. These behaviors are often illegal and there are also frequently civil remedies (being able to sue the perpetrator or the school, usually for money damages). In addition, we provide links to organizations that can help you as you navigate this process, there are various ways to respond to harassing behaviors and deciding how you want to respond is an individual decision to make, ideally after talking with someone about what is called "safety planning."

Most of the information on this website will be fairly constant, but remember, that it is possible that some of the information may be out of date. We will try to provide links, so that you can see if there have been any changes. For instance, at the time of writing this, we know that the University of Washington is in the process of revising their sexual harassment policy, thus the information we provide here may quickly out-date itself, but we will provide links, and even if the links expire, it is fairly easy to do a search on the UW webstie, so hopefully you will be able to find the policy. Nevertheless, we will provide some information, based on our review of other universities policies. The other policies we've provided describe the whole process from complaint, to investigation, to conclusion. The UW policy currently does not provide students with information as to how a claim will be handled. Our hope is that by providing some information about what other universities do, you will have a greater idea of what to expect. The UW Policies and Information page provides the information we could find about the UW policies and procedures regarding sexual harassment and sexual assault.

PLEASE NOTE NOTHING ON THIS SITE IS INTENDED TO BE LEGAL ADVICE, IT IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, BECAUSE WE BELIEVE THAT THE MORE INFORMED YOU ARE THE BETTER YOU WILL BE ABLE TO ADVOCATE FOR YOURSELF.

[1] Jeff Tripoli, State finds UW Culpable in Griego's Death, The Daily of the University of Washington, October 8, 2007. Available at: http://thedaily.washington.edu/2007/10/8/state-finds-uw-culpable-in-griegos-death/. The Daily reported that L&I fined the UW $2,100 because despite having a plan in place, several UW officials neglectful or ignorant of the proper procedures, including the dean of the College of Architecture and Engineering and his employees. L&I's investigations found that employees on all levels of the college did not have adequate knowledge of the policies.

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