Help! My lecturer wants sex for a grade

Medas Dilemma

I am a Fourth Year student at a local university and I read your article on campus girls having sex with lecturers to attain good grades.

I didn’t believe such things happened until I fell victim. The lecturer told me I had failed a unit and that I had to re-sit. That meant I could not graduate this year.

The course was very hard and I had really put in my best. The lecturer, in indirect language, has asked me to have sex with him and everything will be sorted. I am desperate and don’t know what to do. My life depends on it.

Your Say

Your life doesn’t depend on him and it is not a must that you graduate this year. You can wait until next year. However, he is in a position to destroy your academic future because even when you re-sit, he will make sure you fail.

I advise you to completely stay away from him and wait for the results. If you fail as he alleges, spill the beans to the administration and demand a re-mark of your script.

Don’t make a mistake of losing your dignity to an injustice. You never know the outcome. Just to remind you Meda, HIV is real. Take control of your life. (?Zachary Githaiga, Maseno University)

Relax! Just redo the paper. Revise thoroughly and you will excel. You could end up either pregnant or infected and he can still fail you. You will be the loser and your dignity will be gone.(Roseline and Ilah, Kenyatta University)

Please, please, don’t give in to the lecturer’s demands. If I were you, I would gather evidence and hand it to the dean or any member of the disciplinary committee. It is possible that you excelled in that unit, but the lecturer failed you intentionally. (Fintanne, Mt Kenya University)

The counsellor's say

Dear Meda
First of all, your life does not depend on you sleeping with a lecturer; let alone one who is coercing you into it.I understand, all too well, the need to graduate as soon as possible, but nothing — especially sex with a sleazy lecturer — is worth compromising your dignity and integrity.

You have several options. Speak to your lecturer (this will take some courage) and make it clear that he has overstepped his boundary. Take a friend for backup if need be.

Secondly, talk to your academic advisor or a senior member of staff you can trust. They may not believe you, so anything you can provide as proof will be important. This needs to be done so that your complaint is on record, lest any other cases occur.

Third, stay away from this guy. He is obviously a slimy coward who is tugging on your vulnerability. Finally, no one sorts anything with sex; often, it compounds the problem. You do not want to stain your degree and reputation so close to completion. Stand your guard, re-do the course and earn your degree alone! Edith