The female student bringing charges against Student Association President Audai Shakour alleges that he sexually harassed and sexually assaulted her, The Hatchet has learned.
Shakour, under siege from senators mulling impeachment for alleged actions mostly unrelated to the allegations leveled against him by the female student, did not mention the sexual assault allegations to senators and other students at a Senate meeting Nov. 15. He also did not bring up the sexual assault allegations in an interview with The Hatchet last weekend. Four of Shakour’s advisers have resigned in the last two weeks, a move some SA members have partly attributed to the female’s allegations.
Shakour, who vehemently denied the sexual harassment allegations last weekend, would not comment on the sexual assault allegations. The female complainant, whom Shakour, a senior, described last weekend as an SA colleague, did not comment. The Hatchet is withholding her identity because she claims to be a victim.
A University employee said the female claimed in a report of the alleged incident that “forcible fondling” and “touching” were involved. The female also contacted the University’s Sexual Assault Crisis Consultation Team to discuss the situation, said the employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because University officials are not supposed to comment on cases pending with Student Judicial Services.
“There are serious confidentiality concerns and I can’t provide any more specific information in sexual assault cases, than the general information listed in the crime log,” University Police Chief Dolores Stafford wrote in an e-mail earlier this week. “I can’t jeopardize the confidentiality of any (alleged) sexual assault victim.”
The UPD crime log originally stated that the female complainant filed a report on Nov. 7, stemming from an alleged incident on Oct. 14. But on Thursday, UPD changed the date for the alleged incident on its crime log to Oct. 21. The alleged incident is listed under sexual assault in Ivory Tower, where Shakour resides. The crime log listing can be found at http://gwired.gwu.edu/upd/Statistics/CrimeLog/November2005copy.
SJS heard the case late Friday afternoon in Fulbright Hall. A verdict may not be returned until after Thanksgiving break. Penalties for sexual harassment and sexual assault range from probation to expulsion.
The Student Code of Conduct defines sexual assault as “inflicting any sexual invasion (including but not limited to sexual intercourse) upon any person without that person’s consent. ‘Consent’ requires actual words or conduct indicating a freely given agreement to have sexual intercourse, or to participate in sexual activities.”
It defines sexual harassment as “sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature” under conditions including when the perpetrator knows the conduct is unwelcome.
-Brandon Butler and Ryan Holeywell contributed to this report.
