Female lecturer speaks out about alleged sexual harassment

A female assistant lecturer from a prominent private university in Rwanda has alleged that a member of the institution’s top management sexually harassed her and violated her employee’s rights for more than a year.

This included a reduction in her salary and infringements on her maternity benefits.

The manager, who was appointed in 2020, resigned on 19 January, the day the 13-page letter, in which the lecturer documented the harassment, was submitted to the university’s disciplinary committee. University World News has a copy of the letter.

The lecturer, who has been employed at the university for at least five years, used the letter to defend herself against charges the disciplinary committee was considering. These included her alleged failure to submit students’ grades, failure to report for duty and for problems with keeping an attendance register of students.

Although the manager confirmed his resignation “for personal reasons” to University World News, he said the allegations against him were false and suggested the lecturer was a “poor performer” and that she used the accusations to escape sanctions.

But, in the letter, the woman states that the charges against her were concocted and that she has evidence to substantiate her claims.

“I have taken a very hard but needed decision of disclosing all private conversations that I had with Professor … and some include his audio records,” she wrote.

Sex for pay?

According to the letter, the lecturer refused to have sex with the manager and a conflict followed.

She said she went to see him around the middle of 2021 to enquire about underpayment.

“I was shocked and surprised to hear him stating that, for him to adjust my salary, I must have sex with him …” she wrote.

She stated that he advised her to write a letter with a request and stated that he had the power to rectify the matter speedily (if she slept with him).

“I strongly rejected this proposal, stating that I am a saved Christian and a respected married woman with moral values, ethics and dignity. I told him that I cannot cheat my lovely husband. He kept insisting that, once the action was done, he would cover it up and that no one would know it and there[after] he would proceed with adjusting my salary.

“I challenged him that being a [senior leader] at the university does not give him the right to exploit his staff sexually, especially if they are at a junior level. Unfortunately, my advice to him on this matter was taken lightly … as he told me to go home and think about it and get back to him,” she added.

She said that, after she refused, she was targeted in several ways. She was overloaded with additional teaching modules which had many students enrolled, and was given extra assignments to mark.

This had a substantial impact on her as some of the tasks followed shortly after her baby was born and she was still entitled to maternity leave.

The lecturer alleges that there were other victims.

“This has affected me psychologically,” she said, adding that it was regrettable that the university had employees in leadership positions who were “immoral” and, she said, “undermined the university’s reputation, education and the nation”.

Why did the manager resign?

According to sources inside the university, the senior manager tendered his resignation letter the same day the accuser submitted her letter to the disciplinary committee.

“I resigned because of personal reasons. You can get the right comment from the chairman of the board. He knows I resigned for personal reasons,” the manager told University World News.

The chairperson said: “Yes, we have received the resignation letter … and it says it was for personal reasons, and I think it has nothing to do with the allegations from the accuser.

“We also acknowledge that our internal disciplinary committee has received the letter from the alleged victim and we assume it is an internal case that is going to be handled internally,” he added.

Inside sources say that the issue of sexual harassment and internal wrangles have been known for months and the manager was, in all likelihood, advised to resign.

Sexual harassment or other forms of harassment are punishable by penal code law and are against the values of universities.

University World News could not get confirmation on whether the accuser is planning to pursue any further legal action.