CHARLOTTE — A Hawthorne Academy High School student claimed she was punished after reporting that she was sexually assaulted on campus, and as part of the punishment, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools instructed her to take a class called “Sexual Harassment is Preventable.”
Channel 9 obtained documents from the district to learn exactly what the class entails.
The roster shows 120 students were referred to the SHIP program during the 2019 to 2020 school year. The most referred from any school were 11 students at Quail Hollow Middle School.
[ PREVIOUS COVERAGE: ‘CMS failed us’: Hawthorne Academy student reports sex assault, gets suspended ]
Nikki Wombwell is a former CMS student and a sexual assault survivor. She sued the school district for not handling her sexual assault allegations properly.
“It rests on schools’ shoulders to prevent these incidents,” Wombwell said. “It doesn’t rest on the shoulders of the people who live through them.”
She decided to speak out after a current CMS student, a sophomore at Hawthorne Academy High School, reported her own sexual assault. The victim, who did not want to be identified, told Channel 9 she was being mandated to take a class called “Sexual Harassment is Preventable.”
“Every survivor stays up at night thinking about how they could have prevented it,” Wombwell said. “So to take a course called ‘Sexual Harassment is Preventable’ is basically a slap in the face to say, ‘no, it was your fault.’”
[ RELATED: Principal, assistant principal suspended after accusations of mishandled sex assault report ]
The Hawthorne Academy sophomore said the SHIP course was three hours long and held on a Saturday.
Channel 9 was able to get official CMS documents that show exactly what’s being taught in the class.
Part of the curriculum comes from a DVD entitled “Flirting or Hurting.” Assignments for the video include a test before watching the video and another after, as well as an activity sheet. The sheet says, “If you want to flirt, try this! Smile at the person and offer to be partners in art class. And whatever you do, don’t try this -- slap or pat the person on the butt, and text the person 20 times a day.”
The course work also includes a technical package to prevent sexual violence from the CDC called “Stop SV.”
“I think they’re making the wrong student take that course. I think the victim of the assault should never have to take that in the first place,” Wombwell said. “It’s horrifying and it’s retraumatizing.”
Channel 9 asked CMS how they decide which students take the course.
“The course is offered to students and families by referral, and that is on a case-by-case basis,” a district representative replied.
The sophomore at Hawthorne Academy said she came forward in September after a Title IX presentation in homeroom. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said they charged a 17-year-old with sexual battery.
But the family shared documents from CMS with Channel 9 that said the school could not find evidence of sexual harassment. The documents also said the sophomore who made the report would be suspended.
The sophomore said CMS has since reopened the investigation. She did not serve the suspension, but said she was told to attend the SHIP class.
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