Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

¶ … Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

There has been a lot of debate as concerns the exact definition of sexual harassment even though there have been efforts from both the national and international community to eradicate the vice. No single definition has been developed of what constitutes prohibited behavior, by and large; international instruments delineate sexual harassment largely as a form of violence against women and as prejudiced treatment, though national laws concentrate on the illegal conduct. Regardless of the definition however, there is a common ground that the forbidden behavior is unwanted and harms the victim. There are a number of issues that characterize sexual harassment; these include undesirable behavior that is sexually determined such as advances and physical contacts, remarks with sexual coloring, and making sexual demands and showing pornography. These may be expressed through actions or words. Such conduct are considered discriminatory when the victim has levelheaded ground to reckon that her protestation would give her a disadvantage with regard to her employment which may include promotion, recruitment, or creation of an intimidating working environment.

For a long time it was believed that sexual harassment can only be experienced by the junior staff arising from the senior staff, but with time it was realized that this act can be by a supervisor, a co-worker in the same position, or a junior staff. Even though a junior staff may not have the opportunity of discriminating against their juniors in terms of their employment, they still have the capacity to harass them sexually through actions or words that may not be held strong enough to dismiss such a junior staff, this has led to the suffering of many senior staff unknowingly. In fact, many have refuted such claims when put forward by the senior staff viewing it as a means of dismissing the junior staff baselessly.

How frequent and severe is sexual harassment?

Whether a single incident or a sequence of such incidents add up to harassment lies on the balancing of the severity of the incidents and how frequent they are. The rationale behind balancing the severity and frequency of the occurrence is to make certain that offensive comments are not experienced in the work place while at the same time protecting the employer against liability for every obnoxious remark. A single occurrence may add up to harassment, more so if the occurrence is long-drawn-out, odious and very serious in nature. For instance, a supervisor fondling the breasts of an employee adds up to sexual harassment on a single occurrence. Conversely, a sequence of events having varied magnitude of seriousness and frequency can also constitute harassment. An example in this case would be a manager asking for a date from a secretary over and over again despite the persistent rebuttals, this in the first few occurrences would not be considered as harassment but when the habit persists in excess then it constitutes harassment.

Such incidents are common in the current work places and most of them go unnoticed since the victims may not report due to fear of the consequences that may come with reporting those involved. These do not usually start as serious cases or habits but they develop with time as the harassers take advantage of the quiet nature of their prey. The existence of sexual harassment is brought about by a number of factors which exist in virtually all work places, thus there is no doubt as to whether there are such cases in any environment. One such factor being the male perception where men feel they are superior beings and can misuse and abuse women whenever they feel like. This has also led to violence against women as men try to show their superiority and they believe that the best way is through sexual violence. This kind of problem can be blamed on the roles which are endorsed to men and women both in the economic and social sphere which ultimately influences the positions held by women in the labor market.

The other major contributing factor to sexual harassment is the use of harassment and discrimination as an instrument of controlling the workplace. In order to control the work place, men have resorted to sex discrimination which has the main intention of keeping women in jobs that are low-paying and to make sure they stay in such jobs forever, men go further to harass them sexually (Prekel 2001). Even without considering more factors that contribute to sexual harassment, a strong conclusion can be drawn to the effect that such harassment exists in virtually all workplaces and assuming it would be so precarious. This is because when sexual harassment becomes common in a place then it can lead to several damages such as lose of jobs either through sacking or resigning due to pressure. In a case where the employee survives then there are chances that the job performance will go down due to trauma, this effect can spread to all those working around such individuals and would eventually affect the overall performance of the company.

What should is the way forward?

Since sexual harassment at workplace has proved to be a real problem, it is imperative that a solution is found to prevent and solve the vice and the related effects. The only person who is at the best position to solve this problem is the victim and will require very little assistance from those around her or those concerned with such issues. This is because it is the victim who can bring out the evidence with regard to the harassment activities which will now be used to deter the harasser and at the same time it is the victim who can prevent the habit before it gets too far and out of hand. Meloy (1998) suggests that the first step that an individual who feels uncomfortable about the actions of a colleague should do is informing the offender that their attention is unwanted. This is important since ignoring such behavior encourages it to continue since they may not be in a position to read your mind thus you having to take the step of informing them. In informing the harasser that their moves are unwelcome, the victim should make a demand that the behavior stops and then go ahead and talk to others about such harassment. The next important step is that of setting your own boundary. This is usually a new idea to many individuals but is very important thus when need be the victim should get assistance from "conflict resolution specialists" (Mullen 1999). It is also important to document the harassment, this may be in form if writing, saved mails, recorded conversions, and video-taped evidence. It will also be necessary to document any negative actions that are related to your refusal to submit to such behaviors such as demotions which should also go together with documenting your work performance for easy comparison and tracking.

The final and most important step is that of launching formal complaints the persons concerned. Before this is done, the victim should ensure that all the necessary details are in place since they will assist in handling the case smartly. It is also important to find out the available channels for raising such issues and follow them accordingly. The victim must also have enough proof for the case being presented and should also be able to show that they tried to handle the situation before forwarding it. Trying to find support from others who have had similar experiences is important since they will easily join you in the war and always remember to stay composed during the entire process. In a case where the situation is not solved within the workplace and is instead worsening then it is important to research options but it is advisable that you do not leave the job until and unless you have consulted a lawyer to advise you accordingly. To avoid the over-reaction of those around you, it is good to keep such consultations confidential else you risk losing your job before the case is handled and you should remember that it is more difficult to handle a case from outside than it is from inside.

The company also has a role to play in preventing sexual harassment especially with regard to sexual harassment policy. Even though a number of companies do have sexual harassment policies, the way that such policies are handled is never to the advantage of the victims but that of the company. In order to successful fight this vice of sexual harassment; focus should shift from preventing company liabilities to protecting the interest and welfare of the employees. It is important that the company understands sexual harassment, the way it is handled by employees, and the consequences it has for both the company and the employees. The other important aspect is that the policy should communicated and discussed with all employees, the communication of such a policy should originate from the topmost office of the company to stress on its seriousness. The company should then establish clear procedures with regard to reporting of cases and the way they are handled, this can be done by establishing a competent body to handle this issue. The last step is enforcement of the policy, when all this is done then the policies will help safeguard the employees and at the same time reducing on company liabilities since there will be few cases to handle.