sexual harassment essay 500 words

Essay on Sexual Harassment

500 words essay on sexual harassment.

Sexual harassment refers to any form of unwelcome sexual behaviour which is offensive, humiliating and intimidating. Further, it is against the law to sexually harass anyone. Over the years, sexual harassment has taken a lot of time to be recognized as a real issue. Nonetheless, it is a start that can protect people from this harassment. The essay on sexual harassment will take you through the details.

Sexual Harassment and Its Impacts

Sexual harassment comes in many forms and not just a single one. It includes when someone tries to touch, grab or make other physical contacts with you without your consent. Further, it also includes passing comments which have a sexual meaning.

After that, it is also when someone asks you for sexual favours. Leering and staring continuously also counts as one. You are being sexually harassed when the perpetrator displays rude and offensive material so that others can see it.

Another form is making sexual gestures towards you and cracking sexual jokes or comments towards you. It is also not acceptable for someone to question you about your sexual life or insult you with sexual comments.

Further, making an obscene phone call or indecently exposing oneself also counts as sexual harassment. Sexual harassment can impact a person severely. It may stress out the victim and they may suffer from anxiety or depression.

Moreover, it can also cause them to withdraw from social situations. After that, the victim also starts to lose confidence and self-esteem. There may also be physical symptoms like headaches, sleep problems and being not able to concentrate or be productive.

What Can We Do

No one in this world deserves to go through sexual harassment, whether man or woman. We all have the right to live freely without being harassed, bullied or discriminated against. It is the reason why sexual harassment is illegal.

To begin with, the person may try talking to the offender and convey their message regarding their unwanted behaviour. Further, it is also essential to stay informed about this issue. Make sure to learn about the policies and procedures regarding sexual harassment in your workplace, school or university.

Further, try to document everything to help you remember the name of the offenders and the incidents. Similarly, make sure to save any evidence you get which will help with your complaint. For instance, keeping the text messages, emails, photos or more.

Most importantly, always try to get external information and advice from people who will help you if you decide to file a lawsuit. Likewise, never deal with it on your own and share it with someone you trust to lighten your load.

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Conclusion of the Essay on Sexual Harassment

To conclude, sexual harassment is a very real issue that went unnoticed for a long period of time, but not anymore. It is essential for all of us to take measures to prevent it from happening as it damages the life of the victim severely. Thus, make sure you help out those who are suffering from sexual harassment and make the perpetrator accountable.

FAQ of Essay on Sexual Harassment

Question 1: What are the effects of sexual harassment?

Answer 1: Sexual harassment has major effects on the victim like suffering from significant psychological effects which include anxiety, depression , headaches, sleep disorders, lowered self-esteem, sexual dysfunction and more.

Question 2: How do you tell if someone is sexually harassing you?

Answer 2: It is essential to notice the signs if you feel someone is sexually harassing you. The most important sign is if you feel uncomfortable and experience any unwanted physical contact. If your ‘no’ does not have an impact and you’re being subjected to sexual jokes, you are being sexually harassed.

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Sexual Harassment in the Workplace, Essay Example

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Introduction

Sexual harassment has been a hot topic for years. Corporations all over the world have been forced to deal with sexual harassment legal challenges. Crain & Heischmidt (1995) mention that after the case of Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas, Supreme Court nominee, the number of women coming out to file a complaint about sexual harassment increased significantly. Indeed, in the next nine months, the number of cases increased by 150 percent (Crain & Heischmidt, 1995). Sexual harassment is defined by the Federal Register (1980) as any form of sexual advance, physical or verbal conduct of sexual nature. While sexual harassment is illegal in most countries, it also has ethical implications. Employers need to put effective measures in place that prevent sexual harassment from happening, and make reporting easy, anonymous, and safe. The below paper will focus on government and corporate guidelines for preventing and identifying sexual harrassment.

Sexual Harassment in Context

Significance of the Issue

According to Dromm (2012), “sexual harassment is a real issue with real consequences. What some people in the workplace think brings comfort, actually brings fear and problems with self-esteem” (Dromm, 2012). Sexual harassment in the workplace is a very critical issue and affects men and women alike.

A recent publication by Stop Violence Agaisnt Women (2010) states that “It is believed that at least one-third of women in the United States experience some form of sexual harassment”. This indicates that the prevalence of sexual harassment in the workplace is significantly greater than the number of reported cases would suggest.

Ramsarop & Parumasur (2007) stated that it is still not clear which behaviors and behavior patterns constitute towards sexual harassment. The existence of the gray area makes it harder for individuals to make a judgment, and prosecutors to rule in individual cases. The next section of the review will focus on the main problems that prevent the discovery and the reporting of sexual harassment cases worldwide.

Barriers of Reporting and Ethical/Legal Considerations

According to the Stop Violence Against Women (2007), in most cases sexual harassment is not reported for many reasons. First, women do not believe that authorities and supervisors within the company would take any steps. Secondly, many women are afraid of becoming stigmatized and being blamed for falling a victim of this act. Finally, in some cases, women simply do not want to hurt the person who harassed them. They might be good friends, and a corporate night out resulted in unwanted sexual advancements. In these cases, women believe that the prosecution of the person would be too great of a punishment.

It is also hard to provide a proof of injury at court, and in most cases it is one person’s word against the other person’s, as sexual harassment usually takes place without anyone witnessing it.

Preventive Actions

One of the actions that are taken to handle sexual harassment is that all sexual harassment problems is to create relevant company policies that focus on training related to ethics. Further, policies need to state that employees can report sexual harassment anonymously.

The culture of the organization should focus on openness information sharing. In an ethical company, unwanted sexual advancement should not be tolerated. It’s one thing to be on even ground with that person, as far as sexual advances or even making sexual jokes that they don’t mind. At the same time, when the person starts taking it personally then it should be reported because the person has to feel like what they say and feel matters. According to Sherwyn (2008), “Everyone entertains a different perception of sexual harassment in the workplace, but a coworker’s personal life combined with sexual teasing should never come into play because it can cause some real damage to them especially with people that they have to work around (Sherwyn, 55, 2008).

Recent Case Analysis

A recent sexual harassment case against Kroger (Arkansas Matters, 2015) shows that the company itself has certain responsibilities towards employees. Certain steps need to be taken after the issues are reported, or the preventive policies will not achieve their intended effect. A teenager employee was subjected to sexual harassment in the workplace, and repeatedly reported the issue to her supervisor. According to the ruling in the case, Keoger “failed to take effective action to prevent such abuse of the employee by a male co-worker” (Arkansas Matters, 2015, para. 2). The company did not take any action against the harasser, and is now made to pay a settlement of $42.500. As Faye A. Williams, regional attorney of EEOC’s  confirmed: “Employees – especially very young and vulnerable employees such as in this case — should be able to report to work without fear of sexual harassment,” (Quoted in:  Arkansas Matters, 2015, para. 5).

Bosses and supervisors are usually required to take action, but sometimes they fail to fulfill their obligations to victims, like in the above case.  In light of this, special or mandatory training on sexual harassment is another course of action that people as well as CEOs are forced to take and participate in. During the training people, people, coworkers as well as supervisors are taught about the importance of sexual harassment preventions. Also, these same people are walked through several different training scenarios that show and illustrate what is appropriate behavior in the workplace along with what is intolerable or where the line needs to be drawn.

Reflection and Recommendations

According to Blackstone (2012), “Men and women are made victims of sexual harassment, harmless sexual teasing can open the doors to workplace violence unless measures are put in place to prevent this from happening” (Blackstone, 2012). Therefore, policies should not only focus on women, but the entire population.

It can be argued that women are usually the common victims of sexual harassment and are immediately expected to tell the supervisor, but men are just as susceptible to it as women are. Back in the mid to late 90s, sexual harassment wasn’t as prevalent and in need of methodical prevention like it is today but what is clear is that both genders of people experience it at one point in time.

There have been instances in the past where people who file sexual harassment complaints aren’t dealt with accordingly because of the lack of evidence or because it’s her word against his. In these cases,  employers need to determine who is lying and who’s telling the truth; it can become a battle of moral and workplace. Education related to sexual harassment, prevention, and making it easy to report cases seems to be the most effective solution for reducing the number of cases.

According to Carter (2006), “taking preventative steps to eliminating sexual harassment in the workplace is the key to happy and productive workers not to mention happy supervisors” (Carter, 2006). It can be said that sexual harassment in the workplace is an issue that should be handled with care, because it can impact a lot of people.

In closing, sexual harassment in the workplace has caused quite a lot of damage to the people working in the workplace because of the inaction on both parties’ side but taking the time to prevent it shows courage and adaptability to change; a person’s job is not a place for sexual advances or sexual harassment of any kind. It’s everyone’s responsibility to stop it at the source.

Arkansas Matters. (2015) Kroger to Pay Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Settlement. Arkansas Matters News online. Retrieved from http://www.arkansasmatters.com/news/local-  news/kroger-to-pay-sexual-harrassment-lawsuit-settlement

Blackstone, A. (2012, May 1). Fighting Sexual Harassment in the Workplace. Retrieved November 9, 2015, from University of Maine http://www.scholarsstrategynetwork.org/content/fighting-sexual-harassment-workplace

Carter, S. (2006). Preventing sexual harassment in the workplace. Retrieved November 9, 2015, from http://www.roughnotes.com/rnmagazine/search/management/08_08P070.htm

Crain, K. A., & Heischmidt, K. A. (1995). Implementing business ethics: Sexual harassment. Journal of Business Ethics ,  14 (4), 299-308.

Dromm, K. (2012, May 31). Keith Dromm on Sexual Harassment . Retrieved November 9, 2015, from http://sites.broadviewpress.com/keith-dromm-on-sexual-harassment/

Ramsaroop, A., & Parumasur, S. B. (2007). The prevalence and nature of sexual harassment in the workplace: A model for early identification and effective management thereof. SA  Journal of Industrial Psychology ,  33 (2), 25-33.

Sherwyn, D. (2008). Roundtable Retrospective 2007: Dealing with Sexual Harassment. The Scholarly Commons , 2, 55-55. http://scholarship.sha.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1386&context=articles

Stop Violence Against Women. (2007) Barriers to Effective Enforcement of Sexual Harassment Law. Retrieved from http://www.stopvaw.org/barriers_to_effective_enforcement_of_sexual_harassment_law.html

Stop Violence Against Women. (2011) Prevalence of Sexual Harassmen t. Retrieved from http://www.stopvaw.org/prevalence_of_sexual_harassment

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Sexual Harassment in a Workplace

How it works

• 0.1 Introduction
• 1.1 Hostile Environment Sexual Harassment
• 1.2 Quid Pro Quo Sexual Harassment
• 1.3 Third-party Sexual Harassment
• 1.4 Causes of Sexual Harassment
• 1.5 Lack of Confidence
• 1.6 Fear and power
• 1.7 Socialization
• 1.8 Immaturity and Desire to Please
• 1.9 Lack of Company Policies
• 1.10 Poor of Complaints Channels
• 2 Impacts of Sexual Harassment
• 3.1 Physical and Emotional Health
• 3.2 Decreased Work Performance
• 4.1 Lost productivity
• 4.2 Higher Indirect Expenses and Turnover Rate
• 5.1 Loss of Trust
• 5.2 Reputation
• 6.1 Personal Responsibilities
• 6.2 Organizational Responsibilities
• 6.3 Conclusion
• 6.4 References

Introduction

According to human rights, sexual harassment is unexpected sexual behavior which could possibly make an individual feel intimidated, humiliated or offended. It can be written, verbal or physical. Workers across the world face this kind of an issue. Many argue that sexual harassment only happens but this perception is wrong, a survey that was conducted shows that 21% of the males were reported to have undergone sexual harassment in the workplace. The frequency of such occurrence ranges from 35 percent by available local studies (Cantor et al, 2015).

Sexual harassment is rapidly becoming a major issue in various institutions and organizations. If the proper mechanism to curb this harassment will not be put in place, it will eventually bring negative effects to the institution or the organization such as absent from work, decrease on job satisfaction and lower workers confidence to the organization (Armstrong & Jovanovich, 2015).

Types of Sexual Harassment

Hostile environment sexual harassment.

This type of sexual harassment happens in a workplace when a supervisor or co-worker makes comments or sexual advances to a worker, while not affecting the future of the worker’s job or not affecting promotions. It makes the employee working environment hostile and offensive. These comments tend to cause some effects to the employee’s ability to discharge her duties effectively.

Examples of this type of sexual harassment include personal questions that are sexual in nature, offensive languages, offensive pictures or any kind of sexually explicit, and that physical conduct that is sexual in nature. Both the offender and the employer can face disciplinary measures in a situation where the employer is aware of the harassment yet not taking any appropriate action to prevent it.

Quid Pro Quo Sexual Harassment

This type of harassment is characterized by harassers who tend to insist on sexual favors in exchange for various benefits or in exchange for certain benefits because of their seniority in an organization. These benefits include getting and keeping job promotions, projects as well as recommendations. These harassers will always pretend to be mentoring and helping but with sexual intentions. A very good example which is very common in an organization is seen when a senior employee harasses the junior.

Third-party Sexual Harassment

This type of sexual harassment happens or is committed by outsiders and not another employee. This normally happens in a hostile environment. In a situation where employee complaint about harassment from the client, immediate action should be taken by the organization to restore sanity. Another employee may replace the complainant as a way of ending the relationship with the outsider.

Causes of Sexual Harassment

There exist several causes of sexual harassment in an institution or the organization. These include having the same interest, a close relationship at work, employees depending on each other teamwork, and the personal problem which one of the employees might be undergoing through. Harassment again may occur mostly in a blue-collar environment where women work as manual laborers as well as a cellular environment where perform work is carried out in an office

Sexual harassment may affect the victim academically, professionally, socially and financially. Organizations or institutions may suffer from absenteeism, low productivity, the legal cost in a case where the matter becomes a court case. It can also result in a loss of staff. It is therefore important to understand the different causes of sexual harassment in a workplace set up.

Lack of Confidence

Sexual harassment in the workplace is comparatively a new concern mostly in Asian countries. Research shows that advocating against sexual harassment in Asia may not be easy, victims are reluctant to report the harassers to the authorities or make a complaint about them because they be possibly shy, fearful of retaliation, ashamed or may not know exactly what to do about it. Also, victims may not even understand what Is actually happening to them in sexual harassment due to the fact that, it is part of working life.

Fear and power

Fear and power have become the most cause of sexual harassment to the employees of an organization. For example, a boss or male senior employee requires to have sex with his junior employee. This act has contributed to creating fear among the victim due to fear of losing a job if she refuses to accept the demands of her boss. The victim might at the same time fear her reputation being affected if the incident spread to the public domain.

The fear of the possibility of losing employment or being treated unfairly can cause some people to agree and not handle the situation in a way that will suit own interest. The victim may not have any other alternative but to continue with the relationship out of fear of retaliation. Harassers may continue to take advantage of those individuals who are not used to speaking up for themselves since they have learned to put other peoples interested and needs over and more so above their personal interest and needs (Berrey & Nelson & Nielsen, 2017).

Socialization

Socialization is one of the major causes of sexual harassment. According to some claims, people brought up together will most likely to affect their behavior. From this claim, an example of women’s dress is given which will possibly cause sexual harassment. In addition, this kind of dressing up sexily may invite different impressions from other colleagues for sexual favors at the workplace

Immaturity and Desire to Please

Young individuals fall at this category and they are frequently targeted by mature individuals due their ability or desire to please and their immaturity. The root cause of this behavior is as a result of young individuals lacking a supportive network and lack of self-esteem. Such individuals will continue to draw their support through maintaining, supporting and nurturing a relationship with others.

Association of American Medical Colleges. (2016) many victims end up falling in love with their harasser as a result of void and loneliness they have experience in their life. For those involved, accepting the small amount of money and a simple dinner date from their seniors or bosses could possibly end up being a painful and messy situation. What normally makes sexual harassment destructive and unfair is Preying on those who are an insubordinate position or weak.

Lack of Company Policies

Many organizations and companies which lack policies to curb sexual harassment are a contributing factor to the continuous sexual harassment. A number of organizations and companies do not have disciplinary measure, clear policies and more importantly the procedure of dealing with the culprits or the harassers. Also, within the company, they may be lack of proper investigative measures to do a proper investigation, psychological and stress guidance, and counseling. In view of this, there exist many people who have no idea of the seriousness and penalty of sexual harassment (Banerjee & Pawley 2013).

Poor of Complaints Channels

In many organizations and companies, many victims face distressing constraints to make any formal report about sexual harassment because they may be no proper and established procedures and steps which may possibly guide them in reporting to the appropriate office or authorities. Some even have no idea of various practices which could help them. Very few employers at the project level, have ever given or provided grievances or complaints procedure for reporting such cases of sexual harassment (Buckner et al, 2014).

Many organizations or companies to set up an office and employ people who are in charge of sexual harassment. They event do not provide email or hotline to complain to. As long as there is no existence of such office or people concern, no one will eve take sexual harassment seriously. A policy is useless as long as people do not use it, and most research shows that a very small fraction or a number of employees ever act or say anything about sexual harassing behavior (Berrey, 2015).

Impacts of Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment within the workplace set up is a health problem and employment-related safety. In a situation where such harassment is not reported, the workplace becomes offensive, hostile and intimidating hence negatively affecting industrial relation climate. Those employers who condone or even ignore sexual harassment in a this given establishment may be subjected to a legal action angry worker who have suffered sexual harassment.

Impacts on Personnel

Physical and emotional health.

Sexual harassment has got a serious effect and negative impact on the victim’s emotional and physical health. The reaction may be severe if the harassment is severe as well. The reactions which victims frequently report include depression, anxiety, weight loss, sleep disturbance, headaches and loss of appetite. Such effects can happen to a victim either at work or before going to work. The victim with time will develop a problem such as sexual dysfunctions and problems related to intimacy (Dipboye & Colella, 2013).

Decreased Work Performance

Many victims who have been found to have engaged in this type of behavior have felt that they had no other options in that situation. The main driving force was the need to keep the job and they felt that had they decline the advances, they could have possibly lost the job or face rejections at work. These, therefore, explain the reason behind giving in to the unsolicited advances. At work, the victim may not be free enough to deliver appropriate services hence decrease work performance, showing up late in order to avoid the harasser and defamation of reputation and character.

Impacts on Organization

Lost productivity.

Individuals who fall victims of sexual harassment may not be able to discharge their duties and factions at the usual productivity level. If the harassers are successful in favoring certain individuals while blocking victims, the organization or company loses because the best candidate to fill technical positions may not get the opportunity to serve. Also, dealing with harassment cases may lead to time wastage and it can take away managers time which could have been used in completing the important task to the company. The principles of any workplace set up require positive interaction, cooperation, and teamwork which might not be possible in a hostile work environment. The company’s productivity will in turn suffer (Wood et al, 2017).

Higher Indirect Expenses and Turnover Rate

Company’s Employers may possibly incur various expenses as a result of health benefits, legal expenses and monetary damages awarded to the victim if the case is taken to the court, and finally sick leave. In some situations, female may choose to resign from work rather than fighting to endure hard and offensive working conditions. The company may be forced to advertise for the vacant positions left by those who resign and eventually incur training cost for the new employee. During all these processes, the company will continue to lose production.

Impacts on Social Community

Loss of trust.

Loss of trust in where the company is located and its surrounding environment as a result of sexual harassment. This may extend to the type of people occupying similar positions with harassers. Any disclosure of the victim and harassers may lead to extreme stress and can lead to loss of friends and colleagues. Friends, family, and colleagues may distance themselves from the said victim. These eventually lead to weakening and poor support network.

In a situation where a victim is sexualized publicly, the reputation will drop abruptly and may be subjected to public scrutiny. This leads to an accusation of a victim of her private life, lifestyle, and the dressing code. The victim may be subjected to humiliation by gossip and scrutiny and defamation of reputation and character.

Ways of Preventing Sexual Harassment

Personal responsibilities.

Everyone in an organization should be conscious of any possibility of engaging in sexual harassment. You should not accept any kind of jokes as well as simple dinner dates which may lead to unexpected sexual influence and that you should stay away from being too close to someone with intentions of sexual favors. Any form of harassment should be reported for appropriate actions to be taken (Banyard , 2015).

Organizational Responsibilities

It is the responsibility of the organization to prevent any sexual harassment that may occur and that workers should be made aware of strict measures for those found harassing others. An organization will benefit a lot of sexual harassment is prevented completely. The benefits include increased productivity, increase employee morale, elimination of potential lawsuit and positive image of the company or the organization in the public domain (Cheung et al, 2017).

Sexual harassment should not be taken lightly in any company. Rules and regulations should be set in order to prevent any potential occurrence of such harassment. Companies which fail to set rules may suffer a lot and eventually collapse because resourceful employees may resign due to hostile environment surrounded by harassers. It is therefore important to make awareness of harassment to anyone in an organization so that no one will resign or suffer due to fear of reporting the matter for solving.

• Association of American Medical Colleges., (2016).Physician Specialty Data Report. 2016a retrieved from .https://www?.aamc.org?/data/workforce/reports?/457712/2016-specialty- databook.html.
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• Banerjee D, Pawley AL., ( 2013). Gender and promotion: How do science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) faculty members survive a foggy climate? Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering.;19(4)
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Essay on Sexual Harassment (1196 Words)

June 6, 2018 by Study Mentor Leave a Comment

Sexual harassment is not just a term. It’s a whole phenomenon in itself. At times, it unfolds all at once or else it takes time. It is a much-debated topic in current times. What we need to realize is that mere discussions will not help alone.

We need to understand the depth of the topic and consider its complications; only then can we go ahead and place our respective views on it. Another angle that will be taken up in this essay is the society’s take on sexual harassment. We will discuss the views of Indian society as well as the western, so called ‘modern’ societies.

Sexual harassment is not a topic of this generation. It has existed and sadly, survived through the older generations. Earlier people considered it shameful to talk about it and would not bring it out in public spaces.

But now we have popular organisations, student groups and therapists discuss this motion out in open. It is not about the dimensions that you see in this issue. It is about the wholesome picture that it presents to you, whether you can grasp the concept as a whole or are you just clinging on to certain aspects of it.

Indian society often shuns the discussion on sexual harassment and embarrasses the victim. Well, the word ‘victim’ too puts the harassed in the weak position and brings out the idea of ‘damage has been done’. This further perpetrates a guilt feeling in the person who is harassed and makes them think that ‘they’ should have been more careful.

We need to understand that the words used by a society to describe the harassed person are often very harsh and crude. They are not at all sensitive towards the feelings of that person and do not even consider being gentle towards them. Harassed people are often treated as if they are offenders and have committed some crime.

The view that sexual harassment brings embarrassment to the harassed and that they should not voice it, needs to be done away with. We need to construct a more holistic approach towards this problem and bring out the fearful aspect of it.

The impacts of sexual harassment on the person who is harassed cannot be measured. The damage done, has not only been physical. It is mentally torturing for someone to have borne the pain and not been able to share with anyone. They cannot talk about it to people and this empowers the felon even more.

They lose their sense of dignity and look down upon their own selves. All this results in the willingness of the person to commit suicide, as they see no way out of it. All this because society shuns them and gives them no dignitary place.

This was the view on how Indian society treats its sexual harassment victims. Not just Indian actually but also Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and a few more Asian nations. Contrasting this with the modern developed western worlds, do we see a very different image then the one we have already discussed about.

The western societies are more open about the claims to sexual harassment and they deal with it in a much more mature manner. There is a whole system and procedures in place which are activated when such a case comes up.

The famous cases of sexual harassment on Senator Bob Packwood and Six-year-old v. Brockton, Massachusetts School District; were dealt with in an appropriate manner. As a result of their act, in the former case the senator faced resignation from his post.

Latter case resulted in the school revising its sexual harassment policy. These cases, if compared to the Indian cases will make us realise how India took so long to come up with ‘Vishaka Guidelines’. Even though we had complaints regarding sexual harassment where former Punjab Director General of Police, KPS Gill was accused of harassing a senior IPS Officer in 1988.

From then till now, where we have heard of Ashok Kumar Ganguly, a former Supreme Court judge and Tarun Tejpal , chief editor of Tehelka magazine; we have had several cases of sexual harassment.

It took 20 years for the Indian judiciary to come up with laws to protect women from sexual harassment. Vishakha guidelines were taken as a law in 2013 which stood against harassment of women in workplace. What is astounding about this law is that it raises more questions than it answers.

Does this law not consider harassment at home or in any public domain to be equivalent to harassment in place? Does it not believe that even men can be victims of sexual harassment? Is it compulsorily going to be a woman who will be assaulted in India? These are the questions which have arisen in response to the vishakha guidelines, which too could not deliver justice to Bhanwari Devi’s rape case .

Nowadays we have many NGOs and university cells which are spreading awareness on sexual harassment and encouraging people to fight and speak up against it.

The recent Facebook campaign of ‘#MeToo’ also focuses on the aspect of trying to make people come out in open about their hidden fears of being judged because they were assaulted. This campaign took wings in a few days and many tweets and Facebook posts started to talk explicitly of how and where people were harassed.

Incident of sexual harassment don’t contain themselves to any particular age group. There are cases of harassment filed on behalf of juvenile girls in India, by their parents. From the age of three to seventy-two, we have had cases of women being harassed and exploited.

Age is not a factor which provokes such incidents, as claimed by many. How sexually developed is a three-year-old girl to be raped? what pleasure will anyone get by sexually abusing a seventy-two-year-old woman?

Often in India it is claimed that women are raped cause of their eating habits and because they put on denims. Well these notions are the most ridiculous ones for anyone to believe. There are people who wear denims and skirts every day and have not been raped whereas women in saree have also faced assault in India.

What dressing culture are our political leaders then talking about? Do they fail to look beyond the chains of culture and religion? Seems like, yes. They will do whatever that helps their vote bank politics. They fail to analyse the case in a proper manner and come up with bizarre conclusions.

What really causes the harassment cases to increase is the thinking and the perspectives that Indians hold towards each other, specially towards women. They need to consider women as equals and not as a subordinate gender, who is born to serve them.

The objectification of women in Bollywood also gives a lead to criminals who commit such crimes. Our song lyrics portray women in a very helpless manner and as enjoyable objects.

This change can happen only if people are educated to realise that the offender should be guilty and not the victim. Knowledge alone, via schooling or by campaigns of various human rights activists, can help them to rise above their current perspectives and treat women in a more equivalent manner.

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Sexual Harassment by Any Other Name

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Sexual Harassment at Workplace Term Paper

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Introduction

Facts about the issue, applicable laws, analysis and conclusion, reference list.

According to United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), sexual harassment is categorized as one form of gender discrimination that occurs at workplaces. There were many case of sexual harassment at workplaces in U.S. This led to the government coming up with laws aimed at mitigating this problem. Employers were made more accountable to any case of sexual harassment reported within their organizations. In addition, Society for Human Resource Management came up with seminars that aimed at training employers and employees on ways to avoid sexual harassment cases within their working environments. Most of the sexual harassment cases in United States appear to be reported by women. This is the most vulnerable group to this problem at workplaces. Sexual harassment is not only perpetrated by employers on their employees, different employees are also at times accused of sexually harassing their colleagues (Martell & Sullivan 1994, pp.195-200). According to EEOC, the number of sexual harassment cases filled by men is gradually increasing with 2004 reporting 17% of all reported cases coming from men.

The main reason for sexual harassment at workplace is herd to be identified. However, people claim that the relationship at workplaces is very intense and intimate. Employees working in the same field depend on one another at attaining their objectives. For employees to be promoted, they depend on their managers. This leads to the managers taking this opportunity to exploit their employees. Sexual harassment at workplaces may also occur due to a person suffering from trauma experienced in the event of divorce or when one lost his or her spouse. The intimate relationship between employees at workplace leads o some closing their boundaries. Sexual harassment at workplaces appears to occur across all operation fields. Nevertheless, women are found to suffer from sexual harassment especially in fields that were once believed to be of men. These include firefighting areas, mining as well as technological and medicine fields (Martell & Sullivan 1994, pp. 201-207).

Availability of sexist or environments favoring presence of sexual related objects and tones are some of the factors that has led to organizations finding it difficult to eradicate sexual harassment at workplaces. Currently, there are a lot of explicit pornographic materials in the internet. With most organization being furnished with internet, employees are able to access these materials. Eventually, their attitude towards people of the opposite sex is changed. Most organizations also do not control the kind of jokes cracked at workplaces. This encourages people using sexual sentiments towards their colleagues. In the end, people end up falling victims of sexual harassment. Despite some employees having the courage to report sexual harassment issues meted on them by their employers, there are others who fail to report the issues in fear of losing their jobs (Monat & Gomez 1986, pp. 712-718). Such employees continue suffering at the hands of their cruel employers without knowing what to do. This paper aims at giving an example of a sexual harassment case that occurred within Kamuga Corporation but the victim failed to report the case in fear of being sacked.

Kamuga Corporation is a company that deals in manufacture of electronics. The company has employed different employees who work at various departments within it. It happens that the chief executive officer of the company is a lady by the name Ms. Musembi who is not married. John is one of the employees who work in the procurement department of the company. He had worked with the company for seven years and had been known by Ms. Musembi for his commitment to the company activities. Being a handsome man, Ms. Musembi started inviting John to her office occasionally. Initially, the invitation appeared to be business related where they could discuss on problems affecting the procurement department. However, the invitation gradually started changing where Musembi could invite him for tea outside the company. When he realized that Musembi had some hidden agenda and could spoil his marriage, he decided to ignore most of her invitations. However, Musembi did not stop there. He decided to organize for an international tour in the name of increase knowledge in procurement procedures. John had to travel with her to Dubai with Musembi to increase his knowledge in procurement processes with a bid to expand the business. In Dubai it happened that the to9ur was not about business but Musembi wanted to have an opportunity to spend time with John way from his fellow employees who had started suspecting her motives. His made John annoyed. Being unable to cater for his flight, he decided to give in to Musembi’s advances but later on returning home, he wrote a resignation letter and left the company.

John joined the company in 2008. Initially he worked as the production department. After working for seven months, Ms. Musembi claimed that he was a hard working employee and deserved to be promoted. This was not received well by other employees who had worked in the company for over ten years without being promoted. Eventually, John was elevated to manage the procurement department. He was responsible of liaising with suppliers, ordering and receiving materials used in electronic production. This gave John an opportunity to participate in organization’s board meetings. As it is normal in organizations, whenever a new person join the board, it is the responsibility of the board’s chair to introduce him or her to other members. It happened that Musembi chaired the board. Unlike the way she used to introduce new members to the board, she introduced John in a different manner that left other board members doubt his promotion. Musembi commented on how handsome John was and used all sorts of sexually provoking jokes. As she was a jovial lady, the board members did not take the matter seriously. However, John did not take the matter lightly and he decided to discuss it with Paul who was also a board member. Paul told him that Musembi was a jovial lady and all she said she did not mean it.

The next time Musembi invited John to her office. He had notified him that she wanted then to come up with a plan on how to source for more suppliers as they were in the middle of expanding the company. As John was devoted to ensuring the success of the company, he was ready to participate in any discussion aimed at improving the company. He got the office and found Musembi seated in her chair. Surprisingly, Musembi sent her secretary out who used to work on a desk next to her. This made John suspicious of the business as if it was all about the company issues there was no need of sending the secretary away. Musembi invited him to chair that was situated right in front of hers. She told him that she did not specifically intend to discuss company matters. Her main aim of inviting him to her office was to enquire why he looked annoyed when he was being introduced to the board. He told her that the introduction did not appear official and he feared his colleagues would doubt the credibility of his promotion. Musembi told him that she owned the company and had the right to promote whoever she wished. She offered to take John for an outing but John turned her down claiming that he was a married man and would not like to go against his marriage vows. John left the office without further conversation with Musembi.

This did not deter Musembi from making her advance against John. After two weeks, she decided to visit John at his procurement department. John was busy compiling orders that he intended to post the following day. All the other staffs in the department had been deployed to other departments as there was no work in the procurement department. John was surprised to see Musembi standing in front of him. He invited her and continued with his work. She was not happy with the invitation and asked if she was not supposed to visit him. John smiled and told her that she was warmly welcome to visit the department whenever she wished. After a short conversation, Musembi stepped closer to John and placed her hand on his shoulder. She started telling him how she fell in love with him the first time she saw him. She told him that they would keep the matter secrete if he feared his fellow employees knowing of his affairs with her. John reminded her of his marriage and requested her to remove her hand. Musembi kept on insisting making John to stop his compilation. As John tried to convince Musembi why he did not want to have an affair out of his marriage, one of his subordinates came into the office to submit some orders that had not been delivered to the office for processing. He was shocked to find Musembi holding John by the shoulders and John was trying to resist her. Fearing to be intimidated, he dropped the orders on the desk and left the office immediately. Musembi followed and left John in the office. That day he did not complete compiling the orders. This led to materials being delivered late.

Thinking that John feared his fellow employees Musembi organized for a trip outside the country where he told John that they had to go to Dubai for business matters. John had no option but to obey. The day came and they left having informed his wife that he was to be out for two days on business matters. The left with everybody in the company knowing that they were out for business matters apart from Musembi. In Dubai, John was shocked to find that Musembi had booked a single room for the two. He insisted on booking another room but Musembi told him to stop behaving like a child. She claimed that no one knew of what they were doing. She even offered to increase his salary once they go back to the country. John resisted and opted to sleep on the chair. The following day he demanded to go back home. Musembi canceled the trip and they decided to go back home. People in the company were shocked to see them return earlier than they had planed. Without discussing anything with other employees about the trip, he decided to write a resignation letter and left the company.

Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, employees are protected against sexual harassment at workplaces. The act gives the remedies taken in case of sexual harassment at workplaces. This covers employees working in organizations with more than fifteen employees. For organizations with less number of employees, there are similar state anti-discrimination laws that cover them. The act categorizes sexual harassment at workplaces into two types. These are the quid pro quo and hostile work environment harassment. In quid pro Quo harassment, this is a situation where an employee is supposed to succumb to harassment so as to retain his or her job, have salary increment, be promoted or get other working benefits from employers (Larson 2003, para. 1-5).

Hostile work environment harassment on the other hand is the type of harassment that affects one’s performance within the organization or leads to an offensive or abusive working condition (Bennett-Alexander & Laura 2007, p. 243). There are various considerations that are made to determine if the working environment is hostile. These include the type of conduct; if it was verbal, physical or both, if the conduct was intimidating or blatantly offensive, the frequency with which the conduct was repeated, the relation of the harasser to the harassed and the number of victims of the harassment. Quid pro quo harassment can be established with a single incident. However, to establish hostile work environment it requires one to investigate the trend of the conduct. There re various conducts considered as sexual harassment. These are request for sexual favors, physical or verbal conduct that are sexual in nature and unsolicited sexual advances. In Barnes V. Costle , the court of appeal from Columbia District declared that dismissal of employee for refusing sexual advances amounted to sexual harassment. This is because it adversely affected the victim’s working environment (Fenley 1988, pp. 3-5). Verbal sentiments may also comprise sexual harassment based on the context, motives of the remarks and frequency that they are used. If the remarks are offensive and intimidating they can be considered as sexual harassment. In Quality Inn V. UFCW, Local 175 the investigators despite finding that the supervisor had harassed the plaintiff, they held that the conduct did not amount to sexual harassment. Although the harasser’s conduct comprised of some offensive sentiments, they claimed that the conduct was not sexual harassment as it was shared among employees of both genders. However, Ontario Board of Inquiry expanded the scope of sexual harassment in Chaw V. Levac supply Ltd by stating that all derogative and negative statements directed towards a certain person amounts to sexual harassment (Collier 1995, pp. 321-345).

Unwelcome sexual advances are any attempt to lure a person to accepting our request without his or her will. It does not matter whether the harasser initially had an intimate relationship with the victim. In this case, Ms. Musembi’s actions constitutes of sexual harassment. When John realized of her motives, he warned her that he was a married man and was not interested in having extramarital affairs. When she visited him at his office in procurement department, John objected to her idea of placing her hand on his shoulders. He even decided to cancel the trip in Dubai when he understood that Musembi was taking this as an opportunity to advance her sexual requests on him. As a result of this harassment, John deserved to receive punitive damages from Ms. Musembi as a way of discouraging her from reciprocating the same to other employees (Campanella 1994, pp. 491-497).

The sexual abuse started seven months after John joined the company. This was after he was promoted to manage the procurement department. It continued throughout the rest of time he was in the company as Musembi could visit his department or call him to her office whenever she wanted to see him. This made him feel uncomfortable working in the company. After realizing that she could not win him in the company she decided to organize for international trip so as to have an opportunity with him. This affected him emotionally and he deserved to be compensated for that. Apart from the encounter in Dubai, all the other harassments took place at workplace. Musembi visited or invited John to her office during working hours. This made him fail to work effectively. For instance, the encounter in the procurement office made him fail to compile all orders leading to suppliers delivering their materials late. Despite John complaining about the matter and requesting Musembi to stop her advances, she did not stop. Had John filed the case, he could have received punitive damages (Campanella 1994, pp. 498-500). There is need for Kamuga Corporation to come up with sexual harassment policy that will deter Musembi and other employees who may have the intention of sexually harassing their colleagues at workplace.

Bennett-Alexander, D. D. & Laura, P. H., 2007. Employment Law for Business (Fifth Ed) . New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Irwin.

Campanella, J., 1994. Sexual harassment as misconduct: Is there strict liability for harassers? Industrial law journal , 15(3), pp. 491-500.

Collier, R., 1995. Combating sexual harassment in the workplace . Buckingham: Open University Press.

Fenley, T., 1988. Dealing with sexual harassment: American experience. Equal opportunity international, 7(3), pp. 3-5.

Larson, A., 2003. Sexual Harassment Law. [Online] Web.

Martell, k. & Sullivan, G., 1994. Sexual harassment: The continuing workplace crisis. Labor law journal , 45(4), pp. 195-207.

Monat, J. S. & Gomez, A., 1986. Decisional standards used by arbitrators in sexual harassment cases. Labor law journal , 37(10), pp. 712-718.

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Sexual Harassment - Essay Example

• Subject: Law
• Type: Essay
• Level: College
• Pages: 2 (500 words)
• Downloads: 5
• Author: linwood53

Extract of sample "Sexual Harassment"

Sexual Harassment Sexual harassment is a serious issue, as it can have a lasting effect on a person's psychological well-being, their career, and their livelihood. The workplace has evolved from the dark days when a boss could molest his secretary almost with impunity, to the environment that we have today where there is a heightened sense of awareness of what constitutes sexual harassment, and the gravity that the charge holds. This has been a positive step, as it has allowed people to work in friendlier environments without the intimidation and the fear of losing their job that once existed.

Sexual harassment is defined as discrimination, and is a violation of federal law. According to Perlmutter (2008), " Beginning in the 1980s, workplaces could be legally guilty of discrimination if they had a "hostile environment," wherein racial and gender harassment was so repetitive, pervasive and severe that a person could not perform his or her job" (352). In addition, "It is also unlawful to retaliate against an individual for opposing employment practices that discriminate based on sex or for filing a discrimination charge" (Sexual harassment, 2008).

There are several forms of illegal sexual harassment such as violating "a person's right not to be offended, threatened, or insulted by having to hear sexual innuendos, jokes or compliments or having to see sexy magazines or pin-ups" (Perlmutter, 2008, p.352). It can also include "unwanted sexual advances, requests, or verbal or physical behavior of a sexual nature" (Perlmutter, 2008, p.352). These activities can interfere with a workers production or performance of their duties as they may avoid an area that they have duties in, if it is an area where they are being harassed.

The worker may feel also intimidated or despondent, which reduces their level of productivity. Under the law, co-workers and supervisors are treated differently and have different liabilities. Federal law also holds the employer responsible for the actions of the supervisor in regards to sexual harassment (Pastor, 2007, p.292). However, in regards to co-workers, the employer is only held responsible if they are negligent, such as knowing about the harassment and failing to stop it (Pastor, 2007, p.292). The federal law that protects workers from sexual harassment is Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

(Sexual harassment, 2008). In addition, states may have additional laws that can apply. They are usually modeled after the federal law, but often vary in the amount and types of damages that can be awarded in a civil suit (Do states have their own laws, 2009). There are several avenues that a person can pursue if they are being sexually harassed. A worker who is the victim of sexual harassment is encouraged to first report it to their employer or human resources department, and "use any employer complaint mechanism or grievance system available" (Sexual harassment, 2008).

The worker may additionally contact their union or file a suit in state or federal court. However, they must "first file a formal sexual harassment complaint with the federal EEOC and/or your state's fair employment agency" (Know your rights, 2009). In conclusion, the workplace is a more comfortable place to work since the enactment of the sexual harassment laws. People are treated more fairly, they are promoted based on merit, and they do not have to suffer the intimidation and fear of losing their job because they refused to comply with someone's unreasonable sexual advances.

References Do states have their own laws on sexual harassment (2009). Retrieved February 24, 2009, from http://employment-law.freeadvice.com/sexual_harassment/laws_harasssment.htm Know your rights: Sexual harassment at work (2009). Retrieved February 24, 2009, from http://www.equalrights.org/publications/kyr/shwork.asp Pastor, J. F. (2007). Security law and methods. Burlington, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann. Perlmutter, P. (2008). The changing complexity of prejudice and discrimination. Social Science and Public Policy, 45(3), 348-353.

Sexual harassment (2008, March 4). Retrieved February 24, 2009, from http://www.eeoc.gov/types/sexual_harassment.html

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