Title 42, The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-102

§19191 Findings

Title 42 › CHAPTER 163 — RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, COMPETITION, AND INNOVATION › SUBCHAPTER V — BROADENING PARTICIPATION IN SCIENCE › Part D — Combating Sexual Harassment in Science › § 19191

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

Congress finds that sexual harassment is common in colleges and universities. A 2018 National Academies report says the most common kind is gender harassment and that 58% of people in academic jobs experience sexual harassment — the second-highest rate compared with the military, business, and government. Women from racial or ethnic minority groups face more harassment and feel less safe. Training one person to earn a STEM PhD costs about $500,000, and losing those people wastes talent and money. A 2017 University of Illinois study found that among astronomers and planetary scientists, 18% of minority women and 12% of White women skipped professional events because they did not feel safe. Congress also finds that federal research agencies handle harassment reports differently and that they do not share information well with each other or with the institutions they fund. That lack of communication has allowed harassers to receive federal funding after moving to new institutions.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §19191

The Public Health and Welfare, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

Congress makes the following findings:

(1)According to the report issued by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in 2018 entitled “Sexual Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Academic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine”—

(A)sexual harassment is pervasive in institutions of higher education;

(B)the most common type of sexual harassment is gender harassment;

(C)58 percent of individuals in the academic workplace experience sexual harassment, the second highest rate when compared to the military, the private sector, and Federal, State, and local government;

(D)women who are members of racial or ethnic minority groups are more likely to experience sexual harassment and to feel unsafe at work than White women, White men, or men who are members of such groups;

(E)the training for each individual who has a Doctor of Philosophy in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields is estimated to cost approximately $500,000; and

(F)attrition of an individual so trained results in a loss of talent and money.

(2)According to a 2017 University of Illinois study, among astronomers and planetary scientists, 18 percent of women who are members of racial or ethnic minority groups and 12 percent of White women skipped professional events because they did not feel safe attending.

(3)Reporting procedures with respect to sexual harassment are inconsistent among Federal research agencies and have varying degrees of accessibility.

(4)There is not adequate communication among Federal research agencies and between such agencies and recipients regarding reports of sexual harassment, which has resulted in harassers receiving Federal funding after moving to a different institution.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 19191

Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102