Sexual Harassment in the Work Place

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

Andrew Frano

BA 210

Joe Winter

May 10, 2004

Andrew Frano

Joe Winter

BA 210

May 5, 2004

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

Sexual harassment occurs quite frequently in various workplaces and can consist of many different situations. In today's world though, females are not the only ones who have to deal with this problem, believe it or not, males do too. There are many ways of dealing with these situations, but getting the harassment to stop is not as easy. Dealing with sexual harassment today does not just include unwelcome sexual advances, but slurs, lewd remarks, and much more. Many laws have been set up to interact with these problems. Unfortunately, most of these laws are not followed through. Let's go into detail and take a look at many different situations and actions.

What is sexual harassment in the work place you may ask? Sexual harassment may consist of the following, repeated sexual innuendos, off-color jokes, slurs, lewd remarks, and sexually explicit content of letters, emails, faxes, and notes. This type of conduct interferes with the victims work performance and can create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment. A person that comes in contact with this problem sometimes feels submission to the conduct as if it is necessary to keep the job. Also, in some cases a person may feel that employment decisions are based on how they react to the conduct. We have to realize that women are not the only victims of harassment, men are too. Along with the following, either a man or a woman can be the harasser and also can come form a person of the same sex. One important thing people do not understand is that the person complaining about sexual harassment does not have to be the person at whom it was directed. It could be a person who has witnessed, overheard, or told about the situation.

With there being a number of different types of harassment, there are also different types of harassing conduct. They are broken down into four main groups including physical, verbal, visual, and hazing harassment. Physical harassment involves touching someone in a sexual manner by pinching, patting, rubbing up against, gestures, and assault. Verbal conduct tends to deal with jokes of racial sexual nature, comments, questions or comments about a persons body, and using offensive language of a sexual nature. Visual drawings, displaying sexual objects, electronic messages, e-mail, and faxes are one form of harassment that occurs often in many workplaces. Finally, hazing harassment continues when teasing and practical jokes occur of a sexual nature and spreading rumors about a person's personal sex life. With so many different things being consider sexual harassment, there are two questions that you can ask yourself in determining if your own conduct is unwelcome. "Would my behavior change if someone from my family was present?" Also, "Would I want my spouse or child to be treated this way?" People that commit sexual harassment sometimes do not realize that they are even doing it. There is not room in the world today for sexual talk in the workplace with anybody.

Two main forms of sexual harassment that occur frequently in the workplace are quid pro quo and hostile work environment. Quid pro quo harassment is latin for "something for something." And example of this is when an employee is asked either directly, indirectly or submits to a sexual advance in exchange for some benefit at work. Hostile work environment is when harassment makes the work environment intolerable because constant sexual, gender base activity or comments interfere with an employee's ability to do their job. This is when a hostile work environment has occurred. Other forms of harassment involve pinups, asking a co-worker for a date more than once, rude treatment of a man or women, and intentional touching.

There are actions that you can take to stop harassment if it happens. Initiate action against the harasser and do not feel powerless. Know your rights, including the written policy that your company has prohibiting harassment and its internal grievance procedure. Make sure that you know who you can contact in your company about the problem and what other actions are available under the law. When behavior is neither welcome nor humorous, tell the harasser right from the beginning. This does not have to be done in person, but can be done in writing too. Be specific in what you want the harasser to do because sometimes trying to be nice by just saying no sends mixed messages. Things like "Please do not touch me again" or "Please do not make those personal comments to me again" are assertive. By being blunt the harasser knows exactly how you feel. If the offensive behavior continues, victims should report it to there supervisor, manager, or personnel administrator. If the harasser is the owner of the business, you may need to go directly to outside enforcement. Keeping written records of the harassment, what exactly was said, when, where, and any information that may be helpful later in a harassment case if it comes down to that situation is crucial. Trying to find out if any other employees in the company have been harassed could also be of help. There support in knowing that you are not the only one that it has happened to could help confirm in testimony. When it comes down to it you may ask your self, "Why do employees put up with harassment and fail to report it to the employer?" The major reason why people do not speak out is fear, the fear of losing

their job or repercussions on the job. Victims usually think that they will not be taken seriously or that they will not be believed. Another criticism that can happen to women is the assumption that somehow they "Ask for it" by their manner of dress or behavior. You have to realize that the victim does not create the problem; the harasser creates the problem. In conclusion, if attempts to resolve the situation are not successful or the harassment is continual, don't be afraid to seek help. Keep in mind that filing a formal complaint with the city, state or with a federal agency may be the only way to get a positive result.

Victims of sexual harassment are not the only ones that need to be aware of various situations, but employers need to understand the concept too. The cost of sexual harassment in the workplace is expensive. A harassing atmosphere at work will cause low employee morale