Getty
A female university student in New Zealand has been suspended for sexual harassment in a case that has prompted debate over the ditch.
The 30-year-old Auckland University physics student reportedly sent her lecturer an email asking: Would you like to have sex in Bali?
The Herald On Sunday reports that on March 6 the woman sent an email to her lecturer which read:
“It’s rather forward of me but I wondered if you and your wife are the open experimental type?
“I met an interesting person I respected of this lifestyle she had several honest concurrent relationships of varying degrees of intimacy and a couple who are my close friends have shared with me they invite a third person in for a short time when it feels right.
“Bali Indonesia rendevous [sic] in July if you are interested I’ve made a booking for a week here before I go diving in the komodo islands 🙂 I’d like to spend the week getting to know you intimately.”
“I hope [the attraction is] mutual, but I’ll be fine if it’s just my overactive imagination too, distracting me pleasurably from math, so please continue relaxed and happy!”
The woman added that if the attention was unwanted, her lecturer should ignore her email: “No need to compute a rejection letter! And I would never expect you to be unfair, I’m happy to wait until after the exam.”
The lecturer forwarded the email to his boss, who conducted an investigation and found the student guilty of sexual harassment.
The decision has caused controversy, with the student appealing it and one leading New Zealand employment lawyer describing the suspension as “extreme”.
Thousands of people have debated the case on social media, where many are grappling with the idea of sexual harassment directed at a man.
It has subsequently emerged that the student also propositioned a second staff member. Although the woman rejects the claim. “The student says the other incident referred to by the university happened at the start of 2015,” she told The New Zealand Herald.
“He wasn’t my lecturer, he was a full-time student and a part-time tutor. I feel like they’re dragging out my past.
