Workplace Harassment

Do not be quiet!

Victims of sexual harassment have two option speak up or keep quiet. Studies reveal that when victims of sexual harassment do nothing, the problem often persists or even get worse. The accuser takes advantage of the vulnerability of the victim impacting negatively her self-esteem and emotions.  Many people will tell you there is nothing to do about harassment. So you should be quiet and tolerate it. But, It is not truth.

Martha Langelan in his book Back Off! How To Confront and Stop Sexual Harassment and Harassers, suggest taking these steps:.

• Do not be afraid to talk. Be specific with the behavior the harasser just done.
• Understand that all women have the right to be free from sexual harassment. Being victim is a serious problem.
• Open your eyes and do not pretend it did not happen. Talk to people around you about what is happening and do not think his behavior is normal or he does not mean to behave in negatively. “Privacy protects harassers, but visibility undermines them.”
• Be straightforward, use direct statements and avoid insults. Use a self-respected body language otherwise your message will be undermine.

The article “Sexual Harassment Actions you Can Take” explains the steps a victim of sexual harassment can take to stop the problem. First Speak Up and let the harasser know that his behavior is offensive. Second, if verbal requests are not effective and the behavior does not stop then follow your employer’s procedure and talk to your immediate supervisor. Third, file an administrative charge with the appropriate governmental agency. In the case that the previous options did not work for you then the fourth option is opt for litigation.

http://employment.findlaw.com/employment-discrimination/sexual-harassment-actions-you-can-take.html

New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault. “The mission of the New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault is to prevent sexual violence and reduce the harm it causes through education, research and advocacy”

http://www.svfreenyc.org/about.html

Stop Street Harassment (SSH) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to documenting and ending gender-based street harassment worldwide. It started as a blog in 2008 and became incorporated as a 501(c)3 in 2012.

http://www.stopstreetharassment.org/resources/online/

Misconceptions and statistics

When it comes to sexual harassment there are many Misconceptions as to what consitutes sexual harassment, who the perpetrators are, and even what their motives are. It’s not entirely the public’s fault that they remain ignorant about the issue Sexual harassment is always portrayed in one very specific and generic way in the media. It is traditionally between a man and a woman. The man is the harasser and the woman is the one being harassed. He is usually very aggressive and unapologetically forward with his harassment, and is motivated by the desire for sex. Stanford university has a very quick and concise article in their sexual harassment policy which talks about and dispels a majority of these myths. We have taken a few of the important examples and listed them below the link for the full list is as follows

https://harass.stanford.edu/be-informed/sexual-harassment-myths

• Only women are harassed and only men are sexual harassers.
  • Anyone, regardless of gender, can be the victim of harassment or a harasser.

• Harassment always occurs between a man and a woman.
  • Sexual harassment can be between people of the same gender or different genders.

• Harassment requires touching.
  • Sexual harassment does not need to have a physical component.
• It was a compliment, so it’s not harassment.
• Even if a person intends their conduct to be flattering,  it may still be offensive to others.
• It can’t be harassment–he was only joking.
  • Even though a person intends their conduct to be funny,  it may still be offensive to others.
• Harassment is motivated by a desire for sex.
  • Actually, sexual harassment is often motivated by dominance, power, and/or bullying.
• If I ignore harassment, it will go away.
  • Unfortunately, ignoring harassment usually does not make it go away. In fact, the problem may get worse.
• Sexual harassment occurs only when there is a power difference between the parties.
  • Sexual harassment can occur between peers, as well as between individuals in a hierarchical relationship.
• The behavior must be repeated to be sexual harassment.
  • Sexual harassment could consist of repeated actions, or may arise from a single incident, if it is sufficiently egregious.

There have been a number of studies done both academic and non academic that have dispelled a lot of these myths these studies survey both men and women from all different kinds of fields and backgrounds and some of the statistics that have resulted from these studies are quite shocking and definitely give cause for alarm.

The first study is one of the non academic kind. It was conducted by Cosmo magazine and they surveyed 2,235 full time and part time female employees.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/19/1-in-3-women-sexually-harassed-work-cosmopolitan_n_6713814.html

The second study is an academic study conducted by aware association of women for action and research.  Their study on 500 respondents and 92 companies reported these findings.

http://www.aware.org.sg/training/wsh-site/14-statistics/

link to full 50 page research study:

http://d2t1lspzrjtif2.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/AWARE_Research_Study_on_Workplace_Sexual_Harassment.pdf

Just what exactly is sexual harassment?

To most of America it’s one of those old American practices that used to exist back in the 50s and 60s that new progressive and inclusive America has gotten rid of. In the similar way in which we have gotten rid of racism. Most people believe that Sexual harassment is simply that scenario they see on Mad Men wear the men are calling their secretaries sugar tits and managers imply to women subordinates that upward mobility in the company will require a private meeting in his office to examine in detail the assets in which she will be bringing to the firm. Most also believe that what sexual harassment does still take place in this day in age are simply rare and isolated incidents and do not indicate a that there is still a culture of sexual harassment that exists in today’s workforce. As you might have guessed these people and their beliefs are very gravely mistaken, not only does sexual harassment still exist in 2016 it is also not limited to just simple acts of overtly aggressive sexual advances. In this blog our goal will be to inform the public about the many different forms of sexual harassment, to show to what degree it is still happening in today’s work force, give specific examples of some heartbreaking instances of sexual harassment that people have undergone in the workplace, and provide people with information regarding actions and steps that they can take to combat sexual harassment.

As stated in the National Women’s Law Center sexual harassment in the workplace fact sheet Sexual harassment is unwelcome behavior that happens to workers because of their sex. But for her or his sex, a worker would not have been targeted. It includes:

• Unwelcome sexual advances
• Requests for sexual favors
• Hostile verbal or physical conduct that targets based on gender, whether or not sexual overtures are involved.

As you can see from this definition sexual harassment can take many forms and doesn’t always have to be fueled by desire or even need to consist of physical harassment. It can be a sexual comment during a meeting, an insinuating Facebook message, it can even occur in a situation where advances between individuals are mutual but then they change their mind. If the advances continue beyond that point it doesn’t matter what took place in the past it’s still harassment something that this video does a very effective job of explaining.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHrI-vIeqhA