ROH §1-17.6
How to judge if conduct is sexual harassment
Read the official text at honolulu.gov ↗Investigators must use the 'reasonable person of the same gender' standard when deciding if sexual harassment happened. They look at the whole situation, including the type of behavior and its context, from the viewpoint of a reasonable person of the victim's gender.
employeesstate agencies
The ordinance, as written (Honolulu County) — Use of “reasonable person of the same gender standard.”
A copy, taken August 22, 2026. The version published by Honolulu is the one that governs, and it may have changed since. Check it before relying on anything here.
(a) In determining whether an alleged conduct constitutes sexual harassment, an officer, employee, or team investigating a complaint of sexual harassment pursuant to § 1-17.4 or 1-17.5 shall use the “reasonable person of the same gender standard.” Under the standard, sexual harassment shall be deemed to have occurred if the alleged offender’s conduct would be considered sexual harassment from the perspective of a reasonable person of the same gender as the alleged victim. If the alleged victim is a woman, the “reasonable person of the same gender standard” shall be equivalent to and may be called the “reasonable woman standard.”
(b) The investigating officer, employee, or team shall look at the record as a whole and at the totality of the circumstances, such as the nature of the sexual advance, sexual favor request, or visual display and the context in which the alleged conduct occurred.
Published by the City and County of Honolulu through American Legal Publishing.
LawTrove is not legal advice. The summary above is a computer-generated restatement — the authoritative text is the official version linked above.