Higher Education Sexual Misconduct and Awareness Survey (HESMA)

Confidential Resources

• SHARE Counselors SHARE (Sexual Harassment/Assault Resources & Education) Counselors – Confidential & Privileged Resource
  • Address: Smith Campus Center, 6^th Floor, Suite 624
  • Phone: 617-496-5636 (main office); 617-495-9100 (24/7 hotline)
  • Email: oge_share@harvard.edu
  • Website: https://oge.harvard.edu/share

• Counseling and Mental Health Services (CAMHS) – Confidential
  • Smith Campus Center, 4^th Floor: 617-495-2042
  • Harvard Law School, Pound Hall: 617-495-4414
  • Longwood area, Vanderbilt Hall: 617-432-1370
  • CAMHS Cares 24/7 Mental Health Support Line for Students: 617-495-2042

• Harvard Chaplains – Confidential
  • Phone: (617) 879-8365
  • Email: chaplains@harvard.edu  
  • Note: To reach a specific chaplain, please refer to the profile page for contact information.

Private Resources

• Title IX Resource Coordinators
  • Find your local Title IX Resource Coordinator at https://oge.harvard.edu/specialized-local-supports.

• Harvard University Police Department (HUPD)
  • Urgent phone line: 617-495-1212

• Global Support Services – International SOS
  • Contact at +1-617-998-0000 or via the International SOS Assistance App

Additional resources

• Additional Harvard resources
• Community resources

These services are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Callers can connect free of charge to the phone hotlines and will be directed to local agencies in their area. Individuals can also connect with trained hotline staff online through a secure chat messaging system.

Phone Hotlines

• National Sexual Assault Phone Hotline (RAINN)
  • Phone: 1-800-656-HOPE(4673)
• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
  • Phone: 1-800-273-TALK(8255)
    • Press 2 for Spanish
• New York City Anti-Violence Project Hotline (LGBTQ community)
  • Phone: 212-714-1141
    • Hotline will assist LGBTQ community nationwide; not limited to New York City

Websites, Text Lines, and Online Hotlines

• Crisis Text Line
  • Text 741741
• National Sexual Assault Online Hotline (RAINN)
  • Access hotline at: http://www.rainn.org/get-help/national-sexual-assault-online-hotline
    • Website: http://www.rainn.org/

The HESMA Survey is a survey asking all Harvard degree students to confidentially share information related to the prevalence of, direct experiences with, and perceptions surrounding sexual assault, sexual harassment, and other forms of sexual misconduct on our campus.

• The HESMA Survey builds on Harvard’s history of participation in the 2015 and 2019 Association of American Universities (AAU) Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Misconduct.
• Harvard is one of ten universities participating in the HESMA Survey this spring. The information students contribute to the HESMA Survey will add to a decade-long effort to understand and reduce student experiences related to sexual assault, sexual harassment, and other forms of sexual misconduct at Harvard, as well as in higher education across the United States. The information gathered will be used to shape related policies, support services, and interventions.
• To ensure confidentiality and protect response information, an independent research firm—Westat—will administer this Survey and will not collect or share any identifiable data with Harvard, any of the other participating Universities, or any other party provided access to the anonymized data.

The HESMA Survey builds on the Association of American Universities (AAU) Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Misconduct, which was designed in collaboration with members of three Survey Design Teams, drawing membership from the participating universities, including Harvard. Westat, a third-party research firm serves as the coordinator of the Survey, under the leadership of David Cantor, Ph.D., Vice President and Senior Statistical Fellow, and Bonnie Fisher, Ph.D., Distinguished Research Professor, University of Cincinnati.

Harvard’s Principal Investigator for the HESMA Survey is Kathleen McGinn, Ph.D., Cahners-Rabb Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. Additional support for the Survey is provided by Harvard’s Office for Gender Equity and Harvard’s Office for Institutional Research and Analytics.

Dozens of students and staff from across Harvard have contributed time, input, and feedback toward the formation of this initiative. The University is especially grateful for the extensive efforts of Harvard students, who historically advocated for the Massachusetts Campus Climate legislation that necessitates this survey effort, and who most recently assisted in raising awareness, crafting messaging, and promoting this survey.

This is a uniquely challenging time for the Harvard community, and especially for Harvard students. There are understandable reasons why students may be reluctant to participate in this type of initiative at this time, and it is critical to emphasize that participation in the HESMA Survey is entirely voluntary.

For students who are considering completing the Survey, it may be helpful to consider the following:

• A chance to be counted – confidentially. The Survey invites students to confidentially share information about their experiences while at Harvard, and to offer ideas related to Harvard’s approach to preventing and responding to sexual assault, sexual harassment, and other forms of sexual misconduct on campus. Because the Survey is overseen by an independent research firm (Westat), Harvard will have no way of knowing which individual students participate or what their individual responses are.
• Receive $20. Students who complete the Survey will receive a $20 incentive. Students can opt to:
  • Receive a VISA e-gift card ($20) for their own personal use,
  • Allocate the equivalent funds ($20) to a selection of charities, or
  • Combine the two above options (e.g., a student may choose to select $10 in VISA e-gift card funds and allocate the remaining $10 to charity).
• This Survey is connected to a history of Harvard student activism. Harvard students have long advocated for greater transparency surrounding sexual assault, sexual harassment, and other forms of sexual misconduct on campus. Most recently, in 2021, Massachusetts’ passed a law requiring climate survey efforts by all Massachusetts colleges and universities. Harvard students and alumni played an important and significant role in the success of this legislative effort, and this Survey fulfills Harvard’s state requirements under that law.
• Survey participation promotes transparency and drives change. While many changes have occurred since 2015, there is much work left to do to create a safer, more inclusive campus at Harvard and at other colleges and universities nationally. Information from this Survey tells Harvard where that work is needed most. You may access the full results from the 2015 and 2019 surveys at this link.
• Student participation matters. Whether you take the Survey is your choice. If you do choose to take the Survey, you will be participating in an important movement dedicated to creating a safer Harvard community for all. If you choose not to take the Survey, we are grateful that you’ve given the decision thoughtful consideration.

No. You do not have to participate in this Survey, and if you do participate, you may skip any question you are not comfortable answering; you may also exit the Survey at any time.

Yes. Survey responses will be completely confidential. The Survey is conducted by an independent research firm (Westat), who is contractually committed to anonymize all responses and will not generate or maintain any internal connection logs with IP addresses. No information linking your identity to your survey responses will be available to Harvard University. Westat, the independent research firm administering the survey, severs all identifying information from response data upon completion and/or closing of the survey. If you start the Survey but do not complete it, the connection with your name, email, and IP address will be permanently severed at the end of the Survey period.

This Survey should take approximately 20 minutes to complete, but it could take more or less time depending on the number of applicable questions for each individual who takes the Survey. If you do not complete the Survey in one sitting, you will be able to save your progress and return to it at another time.

First and foremost, any student who has experienced sexual assault, sexual harassment, and/or other forms of sexual misconduct deserves support.  Students may access supportive resources at any time, regardless of whether you take the Survey.

• If you are looking to connect with your local Title IX Resource Coordinator you can find out who that is here: https://oge.harvard.edu/specialized-local-supports
• If you are looking to connect with a Confidential SHARE Counselor, you can reach them at: oge_SHARE@harvard.edu
• If you are looking for resources outside of Harvard, you can find out more here: https://oge.harvard.edu/community-supports
• You can explore these options and more at https://oge.harvard.edu/.

Additionally, no personally identifiable information is collected as part of the Survey, and person-level responses cannot be linked to student identities. Information provided by students in the Survey will not constitute a disclosure, report, or formal complaint to the University.

Yes, absolutely. This Survey is for all students. To fully understand student experiences around sexual assault, sexual harassment, and/or other forms of sexual misconduct on campus, it is important to hear from as many students as possible, whether or not you have personal experiences around sexual assault, sexual harassment, and/or other forms of sexual misconduct.

Students can find digital posters, flyers, and promotional events across the University from April 2 – May 2, 2024. These materials will contain a QR code leading to hesma.harvard.edu, which provides access to the survey, as well as additional information, resources.

Additionally, every active degree-seeking Harvard student over 18 years of age who is a degree candidate will receive an email with the subject line “The Higher Education Sexual Misconduct and Awareness (HESMA) Survey,” which will be sent by Westat, the independent research firm administering the Survey.

Your email from Westat contains the link to the survey. For your convenience, we have also set up a service that takes you to your individual link through HarvardKey. This can be accessed from the HESMA webpage.

Westat will send all students five emails (on April 2 (invitation), April 9, April 17, April 30, and May 2 (close of the survey)) that again will contain the individualized link needed to access the Survey (these reminders will be sent even if you have already completed the Survey). Note, you may also receive emails from members of the Harvard community that link to Harvard’s HESMA website, which allows you to access your individualized link to the Survey via HarvardKey.

Yes, the Survey is compatible with all browsers and handheld devices. You do not have to complete the Survey from a Harvard computer or Harvard network.

Yes. Students from several of Harvard’s schools provided input on possible incentives. As a result of this process, all students at Harvard who complete the Survey may select one of the following incentives:

• $20 Visa Gift Card
• $20 donation to GLAAD
• $20 donation to Equal Justice Initiative
• $20 donation to UNICEF USA
• $20 donation to World Food Program USA

Students may elect to allocate a portion of the incentive towards more than one item. For example, a student might select to allocate $10 to a Visa Gift card and $10 to one of the listed nonprofits.

The 2015 survey provided the community with baseline data, resulted in increased community engagement, and led to improvements in resources to address sexual assault, sexual harassment, and/or other forms of sexual misconduct in our community. Issuing the survey in 2019 and again in 2024 enables our community to understand trends, identify opportunities, and adapt approaches to reducing and ending sexual assault, sexual harassment, and/or other forms of sexual misconduct.

Findings from the 2019 survey were crucial in guiding many of the changes that have occurred since 2019. Harvard has expanded confidential services to students, including through direct support and educational groups. Additionally, Harvard set aside resources dedicated to restorative practices.

Harvard has increased prevention training and education aimed at faculty and student-facing staff, as well as outreach efforts through University’s Office for Gender Equity and local Title IX Resource Coordinators. Expansion of training has focused on active bystander intervention, trauma-informed responses to harm, and the responsibilities of faculty and staff in response to student disclosures of sexual assault, sexual harassment, and/or other forms of sexual misconduct.  

To ensure Harvard’s approaches to sexual violence prevention and response meet current standards and best practices nationally, Harvard has emerged as a leading member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Action Collaborative on Sexual Harassment in Higher Education.

Regardless of these changes, Harvard recognizes there is much work to be done across the University and in higher education to end sexual violence and foster safer, more equitable campus communities for all.

Yes, aggregated findings will be made available to all students and online. You may view the findings from the 2015 and 2019 surveys here. Harvard’s 2024 Survey results will be released this fall, alongside Westat’s report on the national aggregate data.

Harvard will share aggregated results in a way that protects the privacy of students and will use the results to understand how our community can better prevent and address sexual assault, sexual harassment, and other forms of sexual misconduct within the Harvard community.

Harvard will share aggregated results with our community in the fall of 2024. Harvard will report data that permits comparability with other institutions administering the HESMA Survey. In addition, Westat will provide a report that aggregates data across all participating institutions.

These results will be used to understand the current climate at Harvard regarding sexual assault, sexual harassment, and other forms of sexual misconduct, and to shape related policies. In addition, Westat will conduct a thorough statistical disclosure analysis of the data from all participating institutions and create an anonymized dataset.

The anonymized dataset will be deposited in a restricted use research repository at ICPSR. Researchers and other scholars studying sexual assault and harassment may apply for access to the anonymized data; however, no research projects will be able to identify individuals or institutions, and all access will be subject to institutional oversight.

If you would like talk to someone, one resource you may contact is the confidential SHARE team via this link at https://oge.harvard.edu/share or at: oge_share@harvard.edu.

If you would like support off campus, some additional resources include:

• The Boston Area Rape Crisis Center (BARCC)
• The Network/La Red
•  National Sexual Assault Hotline
•  National Domestic Violence Hotline

You can explore these options and more at: https://oge.harvard.edu/.

Please send an e-mail to CampusClimateHelp@westat.com or call 1-855-497-4787.

Please send an e-mail to MisconductAndAwarenessHelp@westat.com or call 1-855-497-4787.

Send an email to hesmasurvey@harvard.edu. During the four weeks that the Survey is open (April 2 through May 2), this Harvard-specific email account will be regularly monitored, and someone will respond to your questions within one business day.