Sexual Harassment Must Be Recognized - Report Example

Sexual Harassment must be recognized Sexual harassment has been a fact of life since the dawn of time, but not usually recognized as having any kind of severe consequences on the individual until relatively recent years. The official definition of sexual harassment is “unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature” (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2002). The important criteria of the official designation includes “when submission to or rejection of this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment” (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2002). Despite popular opinion, the victim and the harasser can be a man or a woman, and the victim doesn’t necessarily have to be the opposite gender from the harasser. In addition, the harasser is not necessarily always the supervisor of the employee. The harasser can also be an agent of the employer, a co-worker, a worker from another area, a non-employee, a teacher, a student or any number of individuals with whom the victim might come into contact in the daily course of their living activities. Although most employers have some kind of sexual harassment policies in place, it is often not taken seriously enough and the victims may have difficulty bringing their concerns to attention. What has come to light and what is important to remember when finding it difficult to understand the significance of true sexual harassment, is that it is very limiting to both male and female students and workers. In many ways, sexual harassment functions to restrict access to certain professions or educational paths based on nothing more than gender simply because those being harassed are not taken seriously or chose to flee rather than bring the offending behavior to attention. Sexual harassment must be taken seriously if any significant change is going to occur, so it must be made clear how prevalent and how accepted harassment is in our schools and workplaces as well as how this functions to severely limit our society as a whole. With this type of understanding, it is hoped that readers will become more aware of the issues involved and more sensitive to the real harm sexual harassment can cause. Despite the emphasis given to sexual harassment issues within the workplace, the patterns of harassment actually start much earlier, often in grade school. According to a 2001 report, “Hostile Hallways: Bullying, Teasing and Sexual Harassment in School” conducted by the American Association of University Women Educational Foundation, four out of five students of both genders have indicated that they have experienced some type of sexual harassment while attending school. “According to the students surveyed, sexual harassment – words and actions – in school happens often, occurs under teachers’ noses, can begin in elementary school and is very upsetting to both girls and boys” (“Hostile Hallways”, 2001). A majority of these schools had policies in place to combat against sexual harassment, but students claimed they had very little concept of just what did and did not constitute harassment, nor were they aware of just how to report the behavior without facing ridicule. This is indicated by the statistics provided within the report regarding how students are affected by the harassing behavior. “Girls are far more likely than boys to feel ‘self-conscious,’ ‘embarrassed’ and ‘less confident’ because of an incident of harassment. Girls are more likely than boys to change behaviors in school and at home because of the experience, including not talking as much in class and avoiding the person who harassed them. Girls were consistently more likely to say they would be ‘very upset’ by all 14 incidents of sexual harassment, with the exception of being called gay or lesbian” (“Hostile Hallways”, 2001). This withdrawal type behavior has the adverse affect of leading teachers and administrators to deduce an apathetic or underachieving student, which can further lead to educational obstructions and a reduction in student achievement. This behavior continues on into college as the harassers are aware of what they can get away with and the victims continue to refine the art of invisibility. Like students in high school and below, college students often feel it necessary to hide or flee rather than confront their harasser or bring the behavior of this individual to the attention of the authorities. Part of this reason resides in the general perception held regarding sexual harassment on the college campus. “While women allude to numerous sexist remarks and behaviors by faculty which derogate the abilities of women as a group, the male respondents claim that individual women profit from their sexual attributes because male instructors go out of their way to be ‘extra friendly’ and helpful to them” (Benson & Thomson, 1982). Thus, the perception on campus among women is that they are being held back because of their gender, but feel incapable of complaining of unwanted behavior both because of the detriment it might have to her own grades, but also because the male perception on campus is that she already has all the advantages strictly because of her gender. While other types of sexual harassment exist on campus, researchers Benson and Thomson suggest reports that the experience is nearly equally divided among both genders are incorrect. It many respects, they suggest the use of sexual harassment has become a replacement for previous laws that restricted access to educational and professional training. With this type of misrecognition on the part of the male and inability to assert their rights on the part of the women, certain male-dominated fields and professions remain essentially closed based upon the unwillingness of women to place themselves in a hostile environment and uncorrected, unrecognized behavior among the men. This unwillingness to confront the hostility is perhaps better seen in the blue-collar skilled workforce. Although women now make up approximately half of the nation’s workforce overall, including positions in management and professional offices, they remain significantly underrepresented in skilled blue-collar professions. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates women make up 3.3 percent of mechanics and repairpersons, 2.1 percent of construction workers, and 17.2 percent of handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers and laborers (cited in Padavic & Reskin, 1990). Although part of the reason for this disparity is given as remnant pre-market discrimination restricting women’s skills and credentials necessary for these types of jobs, it is also suggested that women are disinclined to pursue jobs that are formally open to them. “Social scientists offer two reasons why some women lack interest in male blue-collar jobs: 1) socialization-induced preference for sex-appropriate jobs, especially jobs compatible with the traditionally female domestic role and 2) the deterrent effects of men’s treatment of women who invade their turf” (Padavic & Reskin, 1990), which involves harassment and exclusion by male co-workers. When women, or men, feel its necessary to merge into the shadows to survive in a given context, be it school or work, they are no longer able to contribute to the overall well-being of the organization, reducing the benefits of association to everyone. “Victims of sexual harassment manifest negative mood, difficulties in concentrating and elevated stress. From an organizational perspective, sexual harassment is associated with job dissatisfaction, increased absenteeism and turnover, and productivity losses. Gutek and Dunwoody suggest that sexual harassment prevents women from effectively contributing to the organization by creating a hostile environment” (Adams-Roy & Barling, 1998). Although this report indicates that 35-45 percent of female employees report some sort of sexual harassment at the workplace, when they were provided with a list of actions that could constitute sexual harassment, the incidence jumped to 80-90 percent of women indicating they had experienced those types of behavior. Studies regarding the heavy costs of sexual harassment to both the individual as well as the organization have been well-documented. “This failure to take action perpetuates the problem, as it may signal to the perpetrator and the organization that the harassing behavior is not offensive and not a real concern. Taking no action may allow the harasser to believe the behavior is acceptable and may encourage future harassment” (Adams-Roy & Barling, 1998). Clearly, organizations need to redirect focus on sexual harassment to include clear definitions of what does or does not constitute harassment as well as provide clear channels of action for victims that both provide easy access and privacy as a means of protecting the victim’s already damaged confidence. If sexual harassment is to stop in schools, offices and workplaces around the nation, we must recognize that it is an important topic, that it does have serious consequences both for the individuals and the organizations involved and that it needs to stop by providing clearly defined ideas of what sexual harassment is and what victims can do to stop it. Finally, we need to ensure that the victims who report harassment are able to see results rather than ridicule, both to communicate to potential harassers that this behavior is not acceptable as well as to encourage other victims to step forward. References Adams-Roy, Jane & Barling, Julian. (July 1998). “Predicting the Decision to Confront or Report Sexual Harassment.” Journal of Organizational Behavior. Vol. 19, N. 4, pp. 329-36. Benson, Donna J. & Thomson, Gregg E. (February 1982). “Sexual Harassment on a University Campus: The Confluence of Authority Relations, Sexual Interest and Gender Stratification.” Social Problems. Vol. 29, N. 3, pp. 236-51. “Hostile Hallways: Bullying, Teasing and Sexual Harassment in School.” (2001). American Association of University Women. Retrieved May 15, 2006 from < http://www.aauw.org/research/girls_education/hostile.cfm> Padavic, Irene & Reskin, Barbara F. (November 1990). “Men’s Behavior and Women’s Interest in Blue-Collar Jobs.” Social Problems. Vol. 37, N. 4, pp. 613-28. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (June 27, 2002). “Facts About Sexual Harassment.” Washington D.C.: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Read More