N. Rouse 1
Nathan Rouse
English 155
Professor Krista Price
Research Paper
Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment is one of the most ignored serious cases. In my research paper I will
argue the different cases of sexual harassment. As far as, in the work place, school amongst peers
and even at home. Some information may be sad and I ask that you take in consideration that this
is a very disturbing topic and I will be giving some personal point of views along with
information from articles I found on my topic.
According to the U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, sexual harassment is
unlawful to harass a person (an applicant or employee) because of that person’s sex. Harassment
can include “sexual harassment” or unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and
other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature. Harassment does not have to be of a
sexual nature, however, and can include offensive remarks about a person’s sex. For example, it
is illegal to harass a woman by making offensive comments about women in general.Both victim
and the harasser can be either a woman or a man, and the victim and harasser can be the same
sex.
Sexual harassment applies to all gender as I will further discuss in this paper. There are
many things in the workforce most employees wouldn’t think is considered harassment. Every
employee is entitled to a peaceful work environment. Efforts to end sexual harassment that rely
primarily on target reporting are unlikely to be successful because most targets do not report
N. Rouse 2
their experiences. Be sure to let your employer know if harassment accurse in the workforce
rather against you or a fellow employee.
First and for most please report any behavior of harassment. Do not second guest what
you feel is harassment if apply to you or an employee. You must report it even if it’s something
small. Must employees in the workforce will not know if harassment has happened because they
don’t look for it or not noticing it happening. People can take sexual harassment verbally or
physically.
Any employee, male or female, can be the harasser or the one that’s getting harassed.
Females are one of the most targets harassed in the workforce. In the past and maybe still today
females were ask to perform certain duties before getting the job. It’s very ware that happens to a
male. Don’t under estimate anyone in the workforce as a harasser because it can be the person
that’s always being nice to you.
There are a lot of thing that can be considered as harassment. You can have an employee
come in your office just to ask you a question and happen to glance at your calendar and notice
that it has a graphic picture of a lady in a bathing suit and he didn’t like that is harassment. You
can compliment someone and they not like it and warn you, come back the next day and you
compliment them again and they not like it that is harassment. So just remain professional in the
workforce and on your toes for that person that might just be the harasser or get harassed. If you
don’t feel comfortable with what someone is doing warn them then report them.
The place where you work should be the place where you work nothing else. The only
way it can stay a peaceful place is if the employees as one know there task and gets it done
without bothering other employees, unless it has something to do with the job. Most employees
N. Rouse 3
will not report harassment for some odd reason they wait until it has gone too far and then they
try to report it. Report anything that you feel is harassment, even if not against you but you
witness it happened. Your fellow employee deserves the right to work in peace.
The work environment should not be a place where you try to get a date. Don’t try and
start small talk when you supposed to be working. Other feel they came here to work and if it’s
not a break then they shouldn’t be talking unless it’s about the job. Respects the work
environments treat it as professional as the white house. I don’t think you would be flirting with
the president and working for him and expect to keep the job. Every company has to be on the
same page with a person space and know that you came here to work and that is the only thing
that should be going on. Just like with a teacher they come to school every day to teach not to
chat with student about non school related stuff. There is a job that needs to be done and
anything else can be dealt with off the clock. (Cheung Shu Fai)
The past two decades have witnessed mounting research on sexual harassment. Many
have tried to explain why the phenomenon grows particularly pervasive in some contexts and
how it affects the victims at various levels. Victims tend to be shock that such an event can take
place in a professional environment. Psychological outcomes include a number of stress related
symptoms, such as lowered self-esteem and increased depression. Also, another outcome of
sexual harassment is found to derive lower satisfaction from their work and be less committed to
the organizations. (Cheung, Shu Fai)
Sexual harassment can add a high level of stress to the individual, body, and there
surrounding. Most victims of sexual harassment are subjected to extended patterns of offensive
behaviors. For example, headaches, gastrointestinal disorders, sleep disturbance, and many more
N. Rouse 4
different symptoms. A study shows that sexual harassment was significantly more strongly
associated with negative moods and turnover intentions in women than in men. (Cheung, Shu
Fai)
Interviews conducted by researchers showed that violence in the workplace can be
summarized as any unaccepted/ un-welcomed and harmful behavior whether it is verbal or
physical, or emotional harassment. According to the majority of the respondents verbal violence
is perceived as any insulting, humiliating or belittling remarks from the boss or a colleague
and/or when it interferes with the victim's job performance, others added sexually discriminatory
remarks made by a colleague in the workplace which is perceived as belittling.(Abdel-hameid,
Shahira)
The interviewee’s commonly believe that physical harassment includes any sexual
advances or sexually explicit offensive statements. Emotional or psychological harassment as
explained by the targeted respondents encompass demands for sexual favors accompanied by
implicit or explicit threats concerning one's job performance, evaluation, and promotion, as one
respondent stated:
'Sexual harassment extends to denying a qualified employee an
opportunity or benefit that was granted to another employee because
He/she submitted to the employer's sexual advances, humiliation and
Bullying'. (Abdel-hameid, Shahira)
The largest number of the respondents indicated that they are not aware of any policy
statement addressing sexual harassment or any other form of harassment. This could mean that
N. Rouse 5
either the respondents did not encounter any sexual harassment or they have kept silent about the
incident as they find it too embarrassing. With regard to protection against sexual harassment,
violence and discrimination, a study conducted by Badri (2004) in public and private universities
indicated that there is no specific mechanism for gender discrimination emphasized, yet there is a
system of complaints and any person can file a complaint. (Abdel-hameid, Shahira, and Widad
AbdelRhman)
This goes in line with what is stated in the literature that sexual violence and harassment
is mostly not reported or revealed. Many victims shoulder their responsibility to cope with the
harmful consequences. In general, many factors- basically fear from social gossip and stigmas
are behind that. Sexual harassment in the workplace, as indicated by the largest number of
respondents, leads to decreased work performance and low self-esteem. (Abdel-hameid, Shahira,
and Widad AbdelRhman)
Some mentioned public embarrassment, humiliation and gossip. For instance, the
harassed becomes the accused or blamed whether for her dress, lifestyle, and private life and will
often become under scrutiny. This will unfairly affect the reputation of the harassed person. It
may result in loss of job, as quite a number of respondents decided to quit their jobs. Others
indicated loss of trust in the types of people that occupy similar positions as the harasser and
some emphasized extreme stress in the job and in relationships with others. (Abdel-hameid,
Shahira, and Widad AbdelRhman)
Surprisingly, given this widespread occurrence and serious consequences, formal
reporting of workplace harassment is relatively rare. The objective of this research is to discuss
N. Rouse 6
why victims of unwanted sexual behavior are reluctant to use the internal grievance process to
address these discriminatory behaviors. I extend beyond the more often studied circumstances of
the incident, such as the seriousness of the behavior experienced, and demographic and personal
makeup of the victim, such as age and tenure in the organization, to the less studied
organizational context.( Ganga, Vijayassiri)
Organizational conditions in which a victim finds herself may influence victim response
to harassment. Certain structural conditions may dampen assertive responses even for victims
who are conscious of and eager to exercise their legal rights. The current study examines such
contextual and organizational factors, including the victim’s trust in the system and fear of
reprisal. (Ganga, Vijayassiri)
Today most companies/corporations have sexual harassment policies and grievance
procedures in place. The typical sexual harassment policy informs employees that sexual
harassment is prohibited and attempts to prevent or reduce its occurrence. An internal grievance
procedure enforces a company’s policy against sexual harassment by investigating harassment
complaints and sanctioning harassers. These policies and procedures allow victims to call on the
formal power of the organization in order to address and resolve a sexual harassment situation.
(Ganga, Vijayassiri)
The current study examines whether victim trust in the internal grievance process is
associated with decisions to file sexual harassment complaints. Literature on trust and
organizational justice suggests that individuals, in their evaluations of the trustworthiness of
authorities and institutions, focus on both the fairness of the procedures and the fairness of
outcomes. The current study also focuses on an organizational aspect that has not been seriously
N. Rouse 7
investigated but may affect victim response—fears of reprisal that do not involve the formal
organizational power structure. The study looks at the impact of non-formal reprisal by
examining the association between fears of coworker mistreatment following a complaint and
likelihood of reporting. (Ganga, Vijayassiri)
The way to overcome this problem in the future is to conduct longitudinal studies that
could produce valid measures of victim sentiments prior to filing a complaint. Data collected at
two points in time from the same organization should lend itself to a determination of the causal
pathway with regard to the association between efficacy of complaint channels and reporting
rates. Additionally, the legal environment and the organizational culture of the sample
organization and the civilian workplace might differ on various dimensions. In the military, the
job has traditionally been defined as masculine, the complete functioning of the organization is
based on obeying orders, and there is strong pressure to conform to the existing institutional
culture. (Ganga, Vijayassiri)
N. Rouse 8
N. Rouse 9
N. Rouse 10
N. Rouse 11
N. Rouse 12
Works Cited
Abdel-hameid, Shahira, and Widad AbdelRhman. "Sexual Harassment in the Workplace." Ahfad
Journal 26.1 (2009): 3-24. Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 June 2012.
Cheung Shu Fai, et al. "Examining the Job-Related, Psychological, and Physical Outcomes of
Workplace Sexual Harassment: A Meta-Analytic Review." Psychology of Women
Quarterly 32.4 (2008): 362-376. Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 June 2012.
Nicole T. Buchanan, et al. "Sexual Harassment Policies In K-12 Schools: Examining
Accessibility To Students And Content." Journal Of School Health 78.11 (2008): 607614. Academic Search Premier. Web. 11 June 2012.
Vijayasiri, Ganga. "Reporting Sexual Harassment: The Importance of Organizational Culture
and Tax rust." Gender Issues 25.1 (2008): 43-61. Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 June 2012.
N. Rouse 13
.