How Sexual Harassment Affects People

Sexual harassment is always a legal topic in the work environment because the ramifications are so severe, but at the same time very abstract to describe what can constitute sexual harassment. This paper will take into consideration different elements of the law including Employment Law and cases tried before the U.S. Supreme Court. It will also offer suggestions for corrective action pertaining to the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace.

Sexual harassment in the workplace has become more common in today’s society and both men and women can be victims of sexual harassment in the workplace. “A study conducted showed that out of 20,000 employees surveyed, 42 percent of women and 15 percent of men responded that they had experienced some form of sexual harassment in the workplace” (York, 1989, p. 831). Also, most employee’s do not say anything about the harassment because he/ she feels ashamed or feels that the upper management will not believe his/ her story of the harassment, so many victims stay quiet until he/ she has had enough. Another reason why employees do not come forward when sexual harassment has occurred is because the employee is scared about how the employer will retaliate to his/ her harassment complaint. The EEOC has implemented several laws to protect the employees from discrimination, but these laws also protect the employees from retaliation. Retaliation can occur when an employer punishes an employee from participating in legally protected activity (Miles, Fleming, & McKinney, 2010). It is important to note some important cases in which involved sexual harassment and retaliation and how the ruling

Another solution is to put more serious punishments for culprits into action. This is a tactic used commonly by law enforcement officers, using the philosophy that if the punishment is more valuable than the “reward”, people will hopefully be less likely to attempt sexual harassment crimes. It is also a lot more “fair” if the punishment is more severe. The victim will be affected for their whole life because of the harassment, it only makes sense that the punishment should also be life affecting.

They may develop psychological and traumatic symptoms that mirror those of victims of other crimes, particularly sexual assault. What would be the proper solution in resolving these matters? Is the punishment harassers have to face enough for them to stop what they started? Punishment for sexual harassment will range from informal counseling and apology to suspension, dismissal and legal, civil and criminal prosecution. The severity and frequency of the harassment will determine the extent of the punishment. Most cases are kept in the dark and not reported for many reasons. Most people don’t report such incidents, because they were threatened when they first were forced to face the attack. They would still have the same feeling after. They would live with the feeling of getting hurt if they tell anyone. Secondly, they take into account the possibility of not proving the action on the harasser, which is when the victim would rather commit suicide than live with fear of re-experiencing what they had experienced before. And even if the case proceeds the way the victim and lawyer hope, what will happen

Harassment has plagued the world for centuries. Why should the workplace be any different? Sexual harassment and workplace violence are not only of historical roots, but contemporary issues are still present in the workforce today. Managers are addressing and combating modern sexual harassment and workplace violence, however instances still occur (Robbins, Decenzo & Coulter, 2011).

Sexual harassment is a demeaning practice, one that constitutes a profound affront to the dignity of the employees forced to endure it.  By requiring an employee to contend with unwelcome sexual actions or explicit sexual demands, sexual harassment in the workplace attacks the dignity and self-respect of the victim both as an employee and as a human being. Sexual harassment is well defined as an unwelcome sexual request for sexual favors and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. In many countries, sexual harassment is considered a form of sexual abuse and employment discrimination. Sexual harassment is most prevalent is organizations both professional and academic, though it can occur almost anywhere.

Harassers can do a lot more than just physically hurt their victims. The embarrassment, shame, anxiety and other emotional problems that inevitably occur from being sexual harassed is disturbing and infuriating. Sexual harassment occurs anywhere a person could go; is that not a scary thought to people, especially women, everywhere? Knowing this statement is true makes sexual harassment an injustice that needs to be stopped.

Organizations have an obligation to create a harassment free environment for its employees. Harassment doesn’t have to be of a sexual nature. An organization is liable if the harassment is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment or when it results in adverse employment actions such as the victim being fired, demoted, or transferred. Harassing a person based on their sex is illegal. Sexual harassment has a great impact on an employee’s productivity as well as poses a major impact on an organization’s finances in litigation.

Providing training about harassment has proven beneficial to the business environment. As the former EEOC Chairman stated “Sex harassment has developed as one of the great lessons in how education can have an effect on an offensive practice.” There are education campaigns educating not only employees but employers about what harassment entails, how to prevent it, and how to deal with a claim. (Glazer, 1996) In fact, most

In some incidents some of the sexual harassment incidents are under reported because some of the victims are being threatened. Victims are too afraid to come forward.

Another form of sexual harassment is a hostile work environment. The hostile environment theory involves sexual advances between the supervisor and the employee. An employee’s work performance will be less effective due to these so-called sexual advances. However, a victim can file a complaint against their harasser so that they do not continuously force them to participate. Consequently, they will be forced to hand in their resignation. [This is an issue of power and has nothing to do with sex. For this reason, both male and females can be the harasser. The harasser’s main purpose is to force another to feel or act in a certain way. Sometimes, sexual harassment causes an individual from effectively performing his/her job. As a result, is undermines an individual’s dignity. In our society, there are three essential factors that relate to the issue of sexual advances. These elements are a divergence of perceptions, the complexity of human behavior and the attitudes of a sexist.]

If someone feels unsafe, or if the situation just doesn’t feel right, they should search it up on the internet. They can search up, what sexual harassment is, what is considered sexual harassment, what are the actions they can take, etc. In today’s day and age the internet is right at our fingertips. If something sees off or just not right, search it up. When searching up what sexual harassment is, it may be surprising what is found, and so many situations such as there can be avoided. Simply because the person searched up the situation and stopped it before it got much more complicated.

There are federal laws put in position to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. Most employees sometimes don’t even realize what sexual harassment is are when they are committing this violation. On the flip side an employee may not realized when they are being sexually harassed and when is the appropriate time to speak up. Education on sexual harassment has increased within the workplace as cases are more public and fines are getting steeper.

As seen in the case study, a court decision may be one way for any company to legally define what constitutes sexual harassment in the workplace, but there are many ways to define sexual harassment. Everyone has different views and tolerance levels towards sexual harassment. When a case of sexual harassment occurs in a workplace, however, it comes down to how the courts define sexual harassment. The Supreme Court defines sexual harassment to be unlawful in two ways. “The first type involves sexual harassment that results in a tangible employment action;” this is referred to as quid pro quo. For example, if an employee complies with the harasser’s request, then she will get a raise. This unlawful act is usually presented in the workplace by a person who has an upper hand, such as a manager, to ensure that s/he will get what s/he wants. Employees are often victimized by fear that they will not get promoted or that they will get fired. They also dread that if a complaint is filed, it will not be handled correctly. “This instance of sexual harassment always involves another violation of employee rights; [sic] wrongful termination.” This would occur, for instance, when “a supervisor . . . tells a subordinate that . . . she must be sexually cooperative with [him] or . . . she will be fired, and who then indeed does fire the subordinate for not submitting” (“U.S. Supreme Court Defines”). [schwinlaw.com]

Some women may even prefer not to report any allegations of being pressured sexually for fear of what might happen to them if they do. Although it is not lawful to retaliate against an individual for exposing employment practices that discriminate many people would seek retaliatory efforts. Therefore there are many women who feel it may be better for them to suffer in silence than to deal with revengeful or vindictive tactics such as being denied promotions or being scorned by other women who may think that the victim is pressing charges for attention. Because of the nature of such unprofessional behavior the victim may find him or herself very alone and no one wants to go through that especially after suffering through the harassment itself.