The Impact of Sexual Harassment in the Workplace on Society
Front Corner
Corinne Napper
Megan Corsano
Jenna Hopkins
Lauren Turnamian
Sarah Sweeney
UNIV 112
November 7, 2014
Introduction
This paper is focused on addressing and explaining the impact upon society of
sexual harassment in the workplace. Such harassment has been an issue, for women
especially, for decades. However, it is an issue often dismissed by employers. In the past
20 years, there has been significant momentum in combating sexual harassment, both in
the United States and internationally. This paper will examine the history of sexual
harassment, the impact of technology, the psychological effects on the victim, and the
solutions created.
How has sexual harassment in the workplace changed in our society as a
social norm? [Corinne Napper]
Sexual harassment in the workplace has been a prominent and damaging aspect of
our society since women have been able to attain jobs in corporate offices, but had
become so engrained in our culture that it seemed impossible to fight against by the time
that it had become nationally recognized as a serious problem in the late 1970s
(Backhouse 284). Constance Backhouse’s primary source account of the birth of the
rebellion against sexual harassment in the Canadian Journal of Women and the Law
reported the fact that, though it had not previously been labeled, sexual harassment had
always been around, “Through the fall of 1977 and winter of 1978, we spent untold hours
talking to more sexually harassed women…With very few exceptions, the women we met
had never sought redress and were loathe to take their complaints public. Yet all believed
the time had come to demand change, and they were more than willing to describe the
full details of their experiences, provided they could maintain their privacy” (279). These
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demands for change were loud, and became an increasing part of the feminist movement
at the time that allowed women to rally together in order to draw public attention to
sexual harassment at work, which was the first step to fighting it (Smalensky and
Kleiner). However, according to Stephanie Sipe, Douglas Johnson, and Donna Fisher in
their Equal Opportunities International article, the downside of these historical civil
rights movements and hyped-up court cases have given today’s younger employees a
false sense of security, because they believe that society has moved past such degrading
acts based on born attributes and now think that as long as they are skilled and
knowledgeable, they will be immune to sexual harassment. This view is naïve because
even though the US Supreme Court recognized sexual harassment as a cause of action
under Title VII 2 decades ago, sexual harassment is still often occurring and swept under
the rug in today’s offices (Sipe, Johnson, and Fisher).
The historically negative effects of sexual harassment in the workplace and the
current effects are strikingly similar. In Joan Abramson’s book, Old Boys New Women:
The Politics of Sex Discrimination, she strings together historical court cases on sexual
harassment in the workplace, including the very first one. Lella Smith Candea was the
first woman to file a successful sex discrimination complaint in 1971 after years of
harassment, but she suffered a great amount of backlash as a result of her action,
including losing her office and being relocated to a broom closet, within 24 hours of her
filing it (152). Such struggle is still happening today, often without formal complaint, and
is severely damaging to both the victim and the company that they work for. Sexual
harassment is often perceived as an individual and personal problem, not a problem of the
company as a whole, but it actually does take away from the victim’s productivity no
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matter how skilled they are, and also serves as a distraction to many otherwise productive
employees (Havemann). Judith Havemann’s article, “Evaluating Sexual Harassment in
the Workplace; Education on the Subject ‘A Low Priority’ Despite Survey Finding
Widespread Complaints,” published in The Washington Post in 1988, frequently attests
that sexual harassment, even without filing a formal complaint, damages the victim’s
career by devaluing her skill and productivity in the workplace as well as hurting her
chance for a promotion, because even if she is very skilled it becomes clear that her
associates do not take her seriously enough for her to be considered for a raise. Similarly,
Sipe, Johnson, and Fisher’s study of sexual harassment in Equal Opportunities
International shows that sexual harassment in the workplace can result in the victim's
decreased job satisfaction, withdrawal from work, less organizational commitment, ill
health and some symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder for individuals, as well as
lower productivity, increased absenteeism and increased sick leave costs for
organizations, which shows that it is mutually beneficial for these companies to be
investing in sexual harassment education, treatment, and recovery.
Education and training on sexual harassment in the workplace seems obvious in
order to stop these horrible negative effects, but real training on what this harassment
actually is has been startlingly hard to find even after the 1970s, when attention was first
drawn to the issue. Agencies and corporate offices are have only been concerned with the
productivity and dollar of their company since their establishment in our society
(Havemann). Training for sexual harassment education is not a priority in agencies
because most offices feel as if this education is not directly linked to productivity, like
skill training is (Havemann). However, this way of thinking is mistaken in that, as shown
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in the previous paragraph, sexual harassment in the workplace can cause a downfall in
the productivity of employees. An increase in morale means an increase in productivity,
which means more output and dollar value (Colquitt and Kleiner). The inverse must also
be true. When Judith Havemann interviewed Frederick A. Miller, president of Kaleel
Jamison Associates, he identified that often the lack of education on sexual harassment
keeps both victims and perpetrators from understanding that it is occurring, and makes an
effort to clear up the definition, which he says “is something that happens to women in
the workplace that prevents them from reaching their full potential that is not experienced
by men.” If employees do not reach their full potential, neither does the company. Yet, so
many managers, supervisors, and company owners have yet to grasp that their companies
are comprised of individuals whose behavior affects their output.
The lack of formal complains from victims of sexual harassment in the workplace
is derived from both the negative effects on their career and the apathy by their
companies to help them with what has been deemed an individual problem. Judith
Haveman quotes miller in her interview with him to get some perspective on the
mentality of those in charge of a corporation, “‘If someone in your office stole money
and you reported it, it would be taken out of your hands and pursued by the company
because that's who it harms,’ he said. ‘With sexual harassment, you're on your own, it's
your word and your reputation against theirs -- a lot of women just feel it isn't worth the
hassle to report it.’” If we as a society are able to overcome our apathy and our feelings
of fear and resignation, sexual harassment in the workplace would be greatly diminished.
These reactions have been seen since the beginning of the anti-harassment movement.
“The terminology was new to many. The idea that women might collectively rebel
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against sexual harassment seemed to be beyond credulity. And even those who expressed
deep frustration about sexual harassment, including feminists and leaders of women’s
unions, seemed largely resigned to passivity” (Backhouse, 284). We overcame that initial
passivity and the attention has been drawn to the issue at hand. Now our only option is to
fight it.
Historically, sexual harassment has only been seen as physical interaction,
but now technology changes that dynamic.
How have modern technologies altered the nature or modus operandi of sexual
harassment? [Megan Corsano]
Sexual harassment is often thought of in terms of physical contact, however
harassment can also exist as an online form, made possible as the means of
communication in the modern era increase and harassment in non-physical ways becomes
harder to catch and punish. Angela Thomas-Jones looks at social networking and the
impact it has had on our society in her book, The Host in the Machine: Examining the
Digital in the Social. The chapter titled “You’ve Been Poked” looks more at the negative
side of social media and the ways in which in enables “cyber-bullying” and fosters
negative energy or unwanted communication between strangers. While there are many
benefits to social networking, some darker sides also exist (Thomas-Jones 99). For
example, the idea of “poking” on Facebook started as a fun way to get your friends
attention, however it also became a means of unwanted advances or often harassment,
leading to a means through which someone could continuously remind someone of their
presence in a persistent and unwanted manner (99). While this is a tamer example of the
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use of social media for harassment purposes, it highlights the ways that heightened
communication between individuals can be dangerous and creates an environment that
can foster anonymous negativity. In these instances, the line between friendly outreach
and harassment can become easily blurred, in turn making retaliation or even recognition
difficult at times.
Just as physical harassment can come in many different forms, there are many
ways that online sexual harassment can occur, due to the expanding number of platforms
through which we can communicate to one another. Barbara A. Ritter’s article “Deviant
Behavior in Computer-Mediated Communication: Development and Validation of a
Measure of Cybersexual Harassment” was published in the Journal of ComputerMediated Communication and discusses the different formats of sexual harassment
through online channels, then going in to depth studying people’s perceptions of sexual
harassment and what should be commonly taken as “acceptable.” Ritter defines the ways
that online harassment appears, and explains that online sexual harassment comes in
many different forms, including “e-mail harassment, cyber-stalking, cyber defamation,
hacking, morphing (editing pictures), e-mail spoofing (where the origin in
misrepresented), cyber pornography, cyber sexual defamation, cyber flirting, and cyber
bullying” (198). Online harassment can be compared to and classified as traditional
sexual harassment, which was generally categorized under “gender harassment, unwanted
sexual attention, and/or sexual coercion” (198). Online harassment can often be just as
dangerous as “traditional” sexual harassment, and is often less easy to spot or take action
against. It becomes harder for the victim to defend themselves when there is a computer
screen between them and their attacker. In KrisAnn Norby-Jahner’s article published in
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the Hamline Law Review, she focuses on the different forms of online sexual harassment
and how it affects the nation’s youth, including the long-term issues it can cause. She
also discusses the necessary steps that could be taken to attempt to reduce the extreme
amount of harassment faced in online forums. By harassing another individual online,
the victim has no control over who or what is being said or how they are saying it
(Norby-Jahner). Peers take advantage of online forms to send messages about one
another, either by sending threatening messages directly to the victim or by sending the
harmful messages to other peers, making the victim feel helpless and humiliated (NorbyJahner). The danger comes when the victim starts to become bombarded by these
constant attempts at communication. The issue with online forums is it is harder for the
victim to escape the situation, as an online presence of the harasser allows them to
continue the harassment at any time and place. Angela Thomas-Jones suggests that,
“Social networks fit into the cyber-bullying debate because they provide a space with
multiple levels for contact where this behavior can take place. Chat, walls, blogs,
comment boxes and email are all different avenues for contact – some require friend
requests but many do not. One of the reasons why cyber-bullying is so prevalent is
linked to my previous assertion that there is some anonymity with posting information
online” (103).
Cyber-harassment has become more prevalent in today’s society as tools of online
communication continue to constantly increase. Easy access to these platforms creates
the ability to harass another individual with ease and less feelings of guilt. Thomas-Jones
defines cyber-bullying as “the use of email, text messaging, web sites, discussion forums
and other technological means of communication to intentionally hurt, defame or
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intimidate another” (102). These days, practically anyone has access to a computer and
social media sites. By communicating through them, the harasser is less aware of the
immediate consequences of their actions by not directly seeing the reactions of the
victim.
“With online sexual harassment, the victim becomes ‘faceless . . . literally
dehumanized to nothing more than an entity on a computer screen.’ Because
technology has minimized the reflection time that once existed between planning a
prank and committing the deed, teenagers are more likely to sexually harass their
peers online when they normally would not do so in person.” (Norby-Jahner)
Online sexual harassment has become more frequent as the Internet is readily available
and affordable for almost anyone to easily access (Ritter 200). Harassers are also more
likely to do so because of the anonymity that comes with using online channels, allowing
easy escape from risky situations and a loss of personal accountability of their actions
(Ritter 200). By using the Internet as their means of harassment, the harasser feels
invincible, voicing their unpopular opinions from the safety of their room with just the
click of the button. By doing so, they break the connection between their identities and
their words, voicing their opinions out into the seemingly endless void of the World Wide
Web. The Internet has become the ideal place for someone to express anti-minority
opinions or prejudices, where someone can blatantly post sexist comments without much
immediate backlash from their peers (Ritter 200). Because of the loss of accountability
through using the Internet, people are more likely to voice their true thoughts as they lose
a sense of traditional social norms and the ability to pick up on social cues (Ritter 200).
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Unfortunately, the integral part the technology plays in our lives has been the
cause of sexual harassment online rising in frequency and severity. While attempts
throughout history have been made to reduce the number of sexual harassment cases,
people find new ways to carry out their malicious intents, taking advantage of the
technologies available to them to contact people. Towns and Johnson look at the history
of sexual harassment in the workplace and the ways in which is has evolved, despite
action to eliminate it all together, reporting that,
“As the need and demand for increased technology at the workplace continues to
grow, incidences of e-harassment are likely to increase as well. While pin-up posters
and bikini calendars hopefully have been removed from office walls, the computer
screen is the next medium for such sexual images. In April 2002, six employees from
the Washington State Labor Department were terminated for excessive use of stateprovided computers for personal e-mail, including e-mail of a sexual nature.” (13)
The integral part of our everyday lives that the Internet has become is one the main
reasons online crimes have become so prevalent (Thomas-Jones 105). In order to cut
down on the extent to which these incidents happen, we must become more aware of the
dangers the Internet poses and adjust our online habits to better protect ourselves and our
well-being (Thomas-Jones 105). The frequency of using the Internet for harassment
purposes has caused the consequences of it to seem less sever and for more people to
accept it as a common usage of social media. Online sexual harassment is often
amplified through the concept of “deindividuation,” which involves the sense of ease that
comes through acting as a group, where each individual actor loses a sense of
responsibility with each new person that joins in on ganging up on an individual (Norby-
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Jahner). People are more likely to join in with the harassment if they are acting as a
group, especially if it is taking place in an online forum where they can easily enter and
exit the situation (Norby-Jahner). The use of the Internet to say cruel or hurtful things to
peers has become a more common thing, causing many young adults to join in as an
attempt to “fit in” or go along with a crowd of people attacking a certain individual. As
this occurrence becomes more frequent, it becomes more and more accepted as a social
norm, resulting in less people feeling the need or ability to speak out and defend
themselves against their harasser.
As sexual harassment cases using the Internet rise in numbers, efforts must be
made to combat it. While the effects of harassment online may not be as evident and
clear as physical harassment or stalking, the consequences to the victim can be just as, if
not more, severe. The original assumption is to not take cyber-bullying as seriously
because no physical harm takes place (Thomas-Jones 103). While physical harm is not
caused through online harassment, deeper emotional trauma is often caused, sending the
victim into situations of depression, insomnia or anxiety, which can often be even worse
than bodily harm caused (Thomas-Jones 103). The harasser can also be affected
negatively by communicating through the Internet, as they are essentially leaving a
digital trail of their repeated offenses against the victim. Sexual harassment online can
almost be more incriminating for the perpetrator because the messages they send are
saved in the history of the Internet forever, even when they appear to have been erased
(Towns and Johnson 9). This can also allow different people than originally intended to
see the messages, which can result in a worse outcome for the sender and the victim
(Towns and Johnson 9). Norby-Jahner looks at the statistics of these online sexual
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harassment cases, showing that they are becoming more and more frequent, claiming
that,
“The AAUW reported that in-person peer sexual harassment occurs at an alarming
rate-79% of students have been harassed by current or former students at school (86%
of girls and 71% of boys). In addition, statistics have been reported to be as high as
97% in some junior high schools. When it comes to online sexual harassment, studies
report that anywhere from 20% to 40% of teenagers have been harassed.” (NorbyJahner)
While online sexual harassment may be harder to identify and punish, is crucial that it is
recognized and attempts are made to stop it, as it continues to affect growing numbers of
adolescents and those in the workplace at an alarming rate.
Sexual harassment has been occurring for decades, but the effects on the
victim have not been studied until recently.
How does sexual harassment in the workplace psychologically affect the victim in
which the way they work? [Jenna Hopkins]
The dynamics of the workplace have developed into a place where it is common
for women to be sexually harassed by co-workers or bosses. The sexual harassment
involves verbal all the way to physical abuse. Now, one may question, ‘Well how is this
going to affect the victim on the job after the incident?’ which has many answers. These
work-related outcomes are a result of the psychological tampering of the victim once the
harassment has occurred.
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“Court decisions have identified two forms of sexual harassment: quid pro quo and
hostile environment. Quid pro quo means ‘this for that’ and occurs when job
opportunities, promotions, salary increase and other job benefits are given in return
for sexual favors. Hostile environment harassment occurs when the workplace is
‘permeated with discriminatory intimidation, ridicule, and insult, that is sufficiently
severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of the victim's employment and create an
abusive working environment’ (Harris v. Forklift Systems, 510 US 17, 1993)” (Sipe,
Johnson, and Fisher 3).
These two distinctive ways of harassment can lead to long-lasting psychological effects
on the victim. “Sexual harassment, in turn, is hypothesized to affect job-related,
psychological, and health outcomes” (Munson, Hulin, and Drasgow 22). Many
experiments have been conducted to test these outcomes giving specific ways that
harassment affects a victim.
Studies have been conducted to gain more data on what specific ways that sexual
harassment directly affects the victim. “Research conducted by Williams et al. (1999), in
the military workforce, showed that the stronger the anti-harassment policies, the more
committed women reported to be to their organization, and more importantly,
implementation of those policies reduced the frequency of sexual harassment incidences”
(Pina and Gannon 220). This research addresses the fact that companies need to create
and enforce strict anti-harassment laws in which the company will see a positive attitude
towards it. For example, when a woman gets the justice she wants she will be more
committed to the job and the way to do this is through highly enforced harassment
policies (Pina and Gannon 220). Furthermore, the article “Longitudinal Analysis of
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Dispositional Influences and Sexual Harassment: Effects on Job and Psychological
Outcomes” authored by Munson, whom has their PhD, Hulin, and Drasgow, gives insight
to the psychological effects of sexual harassment specifically in the workplace with
detailed research studies. In a research study by Levin and Stokes suggests “that task
satisfaction was more influenced by negative affectivity than by the task” (qtd. in
Munson, Hulin, and Drasgow 23). “The results of Levin and Stokes research aims at the
idea that the victim’s predisposition may cause them to react to every comment or action
made as an act of sexual harassment” (qtd. in Munson, Hulin, and Drasgow 23).
Additionally, in a newspaper article entitled "Sex Talk in Office Can Lead Workers to
Depression: Study; Not All Sexual Behaviour at Work is Harassment” a study conducted
by Newmann and Grigg was reported and their research concludes that “Only staff who
experienced little to no sexual banter at work had higher levels of psychological wellbeing, and tended not to use drugs and alcohol to relax” (“Sex Talk”). A solution to this
issue that was found in a work environment without sexual harassment would be
“Workplaces that maintain a respectful, professional and neutral environment contribute
more to staff health and productivity than ones where sexual humour and the like are
prevalent” (“Sex Talk”). Overall, these studies conducted allow the insight on the
psychological and work-related outcomes to become discussed.
The psychological effects of sexual harassment all boil down to the way one’s
emotions are affected more so when placed in a stressful situation.
“More recently, the Institute for Research on Women’s Health (1988) underscored
that sexual harassment constitutes a serious threat to women’s psychological and
physical well-being; this report stated that there is now reason to believe that a
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clinically significant depression can be associated with harassment and employment
discrimination (see also Pendergrass, Kimmel, Joesling, Petersen, & Bush, 1976)”
(Koss et al. 140).
This was found in a book entitled No Safe Haven: Male Violence Against Women at
Home, at Work, and in the Community, where the authors, who are all professors in
psychology or medicine, discuss a woman’s response to sexual harassment looking at the
work-related outcomes as well as health-related outcomes and how these affect other
aspects of life too. Although some sexual harassment may not be physical, the victims
can still be affected mentally. For example “even when harassment is not physically
violent, many victims experience strong fear reactions (Holgate, 1989;Junger, 1987).
These include lowered self-esteem (Gruber & Bjorn, 1982), lessened self-confidence
(Benson & Thomson, 1982), loss of control, and disruption of their lives (Alliance
Against Sexual Coercion, 1976;Quina, 1990)” (Koss et al. 140).
These can affect each individual victim to various degrees but effects such as
“anger, fear and sadness to depression, humiliation and mistrust (Crocker & Kalemba,
1999; Loy & Stewart, 1984; Pryor, 1995; USMSPB, 1981)” have been reported. (Pina
and Gannon 221) Depression is often a result of this verbal abuse and can harm the health
of the victim making work related stresses even more difficult (Koss et al. 140). The
effects described previously all can be classified under the diagnosis for depression.
As a victim of sexual harassment in the workplace, these psychological effects
that may occur will affect the dynamic and routine of the company. Victims deal with a
lot of stress as the recover from the experience which may lead to negative happenings
while at work that are not of benefit to the company. Women in today’s society are more
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independent than in previous decades which makes it vital that they have a sustainable
income.The threat of their economic stability is too important to compensate for the
justice that they deserve for the sexual harassment ( Koss et al. 139). Women hesitate to
report the crimes because of this so as a result, “Virtually tens of thousands are forced to
tolerate sexual exploitation or run a daily gamut of sexual and emotional abuse as the
price of earning a living” (Koss et al. 139). Also in the workplace, we find the gender gap
that makes it difficult for women to feel represented or dominant. Gender has become a
“salient feature” of the workplace which results in an unwritten sexualized setting giving
males the dominance factor. For this, women do hesitate to report the crime. (Pina and
Gannon 211) In this case, “Women may be less likely to speak out against sexual
harassment, fearing greater visibility, alienation and retaliation from male co-workers and
supervisors (Carothers & Crull, 1984)”(Pina and Gannon 211). As a result of the stress,
sexual harassment has had many effects on the victim in the workplace such as job loss,
lowered work satisfaction, and lowered commitment (Munson, Hulin, and Drasgow 22).
For the overall company, these actions from harassed workers have cost companies
millions. In a report from Nelson and Quick, "sexual harassment costs the typical Fortune
500 company $6.7 million per year in absenteeism, turnover, and lost productivity’ (p.
29)” (Sipe, Johnson, and Fisher 3).
We have seen how sexual harassment in the workplace has evolved over time
and with technology. We have also seen that recently, the psychological effects on
the victims have come to the forefront of the discussion. Though sexual harassment
has been around in the workplace for over a century, the US government has not
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always taken action. However, in the past 25 years, several acts and doctrines serve
to both protect victims and convict both companies and the individual harassers.
What Governmental Action Has Been Taken to Combat Sexual Harassment in the
U.S.? [Lauren Turnamian]
The legal aspect of sexual harassment in the workplace is often confusing because
of the prevalence of lofty language and a general misunderstanding of the situations.
Since 1917, the Minnesota Law Review, an academic journal written by law students and
educators along with members of the Minnesota Bar Association, has published several
articles dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace.
According to Eleanor Frisch,
educator and journalist for The Minnesota Law Review and Minnesota Bar Association,
“a sex-discriminatory hostile work environment occurs when conduct, directed at a
person because of his or her sex, is severe or pervasive enough to create an environment
that a reasonable person would find hostile or abusive” (1944). As a response to this
abuse, federal courts have recognized that that unwanted sexual tension leads to an
unhealthy workplace environment (1948). Part of the issue stems from the fact that most
modern workplaces dominated by males. Petrocelli served as the Deputy Attorney
General in California before owning his own practice. He is a major supporter of equal
rights in the workplace and female empowerment. This book primarily focuses on the
different forms of abuse in the workplace and how to stop it. It also outlines several
protection statutes such as the Civil Rights Act and state FEP statutes. The fact that the
male dominated workplace victimizes women was exemplified in the case of Pryor v.
United States Gypsum Co (Petrocelli, Repa 7/3). The resulting decision vocalized that
fact that women in the workplace should not be expected to be victims of sexual
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harassment just because the majority of their coworkers are men (Petrocelli and Repa
7/3). Though sexual harassment in the workplace is still a major problem in the United
States, there have been efforts made to limit it. Kara Swisher’s article, “Laying Down
The Law on Harassment; Court Rulings Spur Firms To Take Preventive Tack” was
published in The Washington Post in 1994. Swisher earned her B.S from Georgetown and
then her Master’s in journalism from Columbia University. She has written for both the
Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post as well as written independent articles. She
attributes the cause of the decrease, at least partially, to the fact that “an increasing
number of companies are searching for better ways to protect themselves, laying down
their own laws to stop behavior that isn’t just unwanted, but is also illegal” (1). The best
and most effective way to combat sexual harassment in the workplace is to prevent it
altogether. However, currently many company policies are vague and carry little
punishment. Swisher writes that “companies need an explicit written policy on sexual
harassment that is widely disseminated in the workplace” (2). Though company policies
may thwart some of the sexual harassment problem in the workplace, Federal Acts and
Supreme Court Cases serve as the best deterrent from and protection against the
harassment.
When looking at sexual harassment, abuse, and discrimination in the workplace, it
is important to consider the three major facets: Title VII of the U.S. Civil Rights Act,
State Fair Employment Practice (FEP) Statutes, and the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC). Petrocelli and Repa’s book primarily focuses on protection clauses
in the Civil Rights Act and state FEP statutes. “Title VII of the U.S Civil Rights Act—
often shortened to Title VII—prohibits discrimination and sexual harassment in
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employment” (Petrocelli and Repa 5/3). As a result of the strength of Title VII, federal
courts are now establishing that sexual harassment in the workplace is occurring “because
of…sex” of the victim (Frisch 1948). The Civil Rights Act as a whole, and Title VII
specifically, charges employers with the responsibility to “protect workers from
discriminatory intimidation and ridicule” (Swisher 2). Though the Civil Rights Act put
the blame on the harasser and held the employer accountable, it was not until 1991 when
“Congress added more teeth…by allowing victims to collect monetary damages—capped
at $300,000—from employers for such things as distress, illness, medical costs and loss
of employment caused by harassment” (Swisher 2). Though the Civil Rights Act made
leaps and bounds in combatting sexual harassment, FEP statutes and the EEOC also help
protect both women and men from sexual harassment in the workplace. “State FEP
statutes provide a harassed employee with a legal remedy that is often similar to the U.S.
Civil Rights Act” (Petrocelli and Repa 7/2). The EEOC is involved when there is an issue
or account of sexual harassment that cannot be solved within the company alone, hence
launching a full investigation. “An EEOC investigation my uncover facts that the
company management did not know, such as harassing incidents against other
employees. As the EEOC develops such information, it may induce the employer to settle
the case and adopt policies to prevent future harassment” (Petrocelli and Repa 5/5). The
best way to look at the severity of sexual harassment in the workplace is to look at a case
study.
Charles A. Pierce, Ivan S. Muslin, Chantay M. Dudley, and Herman Aguinis’
article, “From Charm to Harm,” was published by the peer-reviewed journal,
Management Research: The Journal of the Iberoamerican Academy of Management in
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2008. Pierce, the chief researcher in the article, earned his Ph.D at the University of
Albany, and now writes for several peer-reviewed journals, including The Journal of
Applied Psychology, Journal of Management, and Human Resources Management. He
also serves as an expert witness in federal cases about discrimination and harassment. In
his article, Pierce assesses the ways in which workplace managers deal with sexual
harassment and how that is translated in a courtroom. He also used sample court cases to
predict how effective new employee-employer relations policies would be. Pierce
provides several reliable examples and statistics to illustrate how judges make legal
decisions concerning sexual harassment in the workplace. The first, and most important
flaw Pierce noticed in the modern legal system was the disconnect in the ways judges are
supposed to view sexual harassment cases, and the way they actually view them. “Judges
are supposed to consider only the relevant facts, evidence, and issues of a case and relate
them to previous court decisions and applicable law. Judges are supposed to disregard
their personal ideologies, attitudes, and other extralegal factors while deciding a case
(Heise, 2002; Johnson, 1987; Wrightsman, 1999)” (Pierce et al. 29). Pierce and his team
examined 51 similar court cases. In a majority of the cases, the relationship was
heterosexual with a male attacking the female (Pierce et al.35). More than 80 percent of
the time, the harasser held a higher position of authority in the workplace (Pierce et al.
35). Much of the stigma around sexual harassment in the workplace centers around these
statistics. The judge ruled in the victim’s favor roughly a third of the time, even though
two thirds of the cases were identified as being severe assaults (Pierce et al. 35). The
study also showed that it is extremely common for the assault to be recurring and have an
adverse effect on the victim’s job (Pierce et al. 35). Many factors go into a judge’s
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decision, but one of the most common reasons a victim will lose the case is because of a
previous consensual romantic relationship between the victim and the harasser. “The
prior consensual social-sexual behavior weakens the credibility of a plaintiff’s claim of
unwanted social-sexual behavior, and the romance may have a negative effect on the
outcome of a summary judgment” (Pierce et al. 40).
The steps that the US government has taken to control sexual harassment in
the workplace has called attention to sexual harassment in other nations, especially
in Europe and South America.
How does Sexual Harassment in the Workplace in the United States
Compare and Contrast to Sexual Harassment in the Workplace in other Countries?
[Sarah Sweeney]
The cross-cultural perspective of sexual harassment and sexual harassment in the
workplace is depicted in Geert Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory, which is “based on
the notion that: (i) people within and across societies prioritise values according to their
heritage or cultural factors, social position and personal experience; (ii) societies may
differ in the means they use to maintain the social fabric and provide order, and (iii)
values influence perceptions of and behaviours related to sexual harassment” (Ulusoy,
Swigart, Erdemir 608). With this notion in mind, the stances of sexual harassment in the
workplace in the European Union, Brazil, and Turkey will be compared to those in The
United States. Indeed, “though it took the United States until 1964 to begin dealing with
the problem of sex discrimination, and eventually sex harassment in the workplace, it was
21
and still is ahead of the world in combating this universal problem” (DeSouza and
Solberg 8).
Americans were the quickest to begin legislation regarding sexual harassment.
Louise K. Davidson-Schmich, an associate professor of political science at the University
of Miami, describes how feminists and aggrieved individuals the United States defined
sexual harassment and started taking the issue to the court in the in 1960s, starting with
the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In the European Union, however, anti-sexual harassment
policies did not emerge until the 1990s (413-414). Her review of Kathrin S. Zippel’s
book The Politics of Sexual Harassment: A Comparative Study of the United States, the
European Union, and Germany was published in the journal Politics & Gender.
Davidson-Schmich recounts the emergence of sexual harassment policies in the European
Union, with a particular emphasis on Germany, using Zippel’s findings and arguments.
Davidson-Schmich also provides a brief overview of the value of Zippel’s work.
Moreover, Davidson-Schmich compares and contrasts the emergence of sexual
harassment policies in Germany to the emergence of sexual harassment policies in the
United States. It was throughout the 1990s when the E.U. began passing sexual
harassment laws that were often weaker than those in the U.S. For example, an
indeterminate German law passed in 1994 that outlined the grievance procedures for
reporting sexual harassment defined sexual harassment from the harasser’s perspective
and potentially enabled the vindication of alleged perpetrators (Davidson-Schmich 414).
In addition, E.U. policy-maker bodies, consisting mostly of males, were more likely to be
sympathetic toward the men accused of sexual harassment than the women harassed
(415). As a result, unions and state agencies were relied on to take action in the E.U.,
22
whereas policy makers in the courts were relied on in the United States (416). It is
important to consider how “the interpretation of sexual harassment depends on the
context in which it occurs and on perceptions of threat. The inclusion of the term
‘unwelcome’ in U.S. legislation shifts the focus to the recipient of the harassment,
whereas the establishing of sexual intent focuses on the harasser” (Ulusoy, Swigart,
Erdemir 604). Currently, E.U. legislation similarly focuses on the recipient of the
harassment. In fact, “the E.U.’s definition of sexual harassment mimics that of the United
States in its key elements: unwanted approaches and work environments that are
‘individuating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive’” (Zimbroff 1323). However,
unlike United States’ legislation, E.U. legislation places emphasis on dignity, specified in
The Equal Treatment Directive. Because dignity is such an important concept to
Europeans, sexual harassment is seen as more of a violation of dignity rather than an act
of discrimination (1323).
Similar to the European Union, Brazil started passing anti-sexual harassment laws
in the 1990s. According to Jennifer Zimbroff, a University Council at Stanford
University, “Brazil is one of the most economically and educationally advanced South
American countries, with a 1988 constitutional guarantee of gender equality and a 1991
law outlawing sexual harassment” (1321). Jennifer Zimbroff’s article, “Cultural
Differences in Perceptions of and Response to Sexual Harassment,” published in the
magazine Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy, focuses on the legal and cultural
perspectives of sexual harassment in different countries. Zimbroff attempts to explain
how the differing outlooks on sexual harassment are shaped and influenced using various
studies and theories formed by other researchers in order to support her own claims. It
23
was not until 2001 that a measure signed into Brazilian law made sexual harassment in
the workplace a crime punishable by imprisonment. This measure contrasts to regulations
in Title VII and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in the United States,
which lack criminal penalties for such crimes (DeSouza and Solberg 10). Furthermore,
the findings of Pyor et al. in a study involving small pools of lay people exhibited how
most Northern Americans, Australians, and Germans viewed sexual harassment as
unwanted advances, whereas most Brazilians viewed it in more of a romantic and
innocuous light (DeSouza and Solberg 13). According to Zimbroff, “several researchers
tie this finding, in part, to the nature of South American culture, which, generalized as
highly eroticized and open to displays of nudity and sexuality, is more accepting and
even approving of sexual advances” (1321). This finding could also be explained by the
Brazilian patriarchal hierarchy, where male entitlement to sexualizing women is
normalized (1321-1322). Moreover, because the United States is low on power distance
in the workplace, policies are focused on controlling the power held by bosses in contrast
to countries high on power distance where hierarchy and status is emphasized like Brazil
(DeSouza and Solberg 15).
Like Brazil and unlike the United States, patriarchal hierarchy plays a great role in
the legislation of anti-sexual harassment laws as well as the collectivist view of sexual
harassment in Turkey. “It was not until 1980 that the government of Turkey took up the
issue of sexual harassment in the workplace. In Turkey, women’s rights were strictly
curtailed under Islamic law until 1923, when Turkey became a republic under the
presidency of Kemal Ataturk” (Ulusoy, Swigart, Erdemir 604). In their peer-reviewed
article “Think Globally, Act Locally: Understanding Sexual Harassment from a Cross-
24
cultural Perspective” published in the journal Medical Education, Hatice Ulusoy, Valerie
Swigart, and Firdev Erdemir’s focus on a study involving doctors-in-training in Turkey.
The authors thoroughly analyze the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace in
Turkey in contrast to other countries. The authors offer their own theories regarding the
elements of sexual harassment and use various statistics and studies, primarily the
doctors-in-training study, to substantiate their claims. The article was recently published
in 2011. Turkish policy makers passed legislation that defined sexual harassment from
the perspective of the harasser, contrasting to the perspective of the harassed victim
outlined in U.S. legislation.
“An amendment to the constitution (Act 5170) in 2004 prohibited discrimination
based on several grounds, including sex. The new Penal Code, effective since 2005,
criminalizes sexual harassment, which is defined as ‘any act of harassment with
sexual intent’ (Article 105). Under this law, sexual harassment by both supervisors
and co-workers in the workplace is considered an aggravated offence and is
punishable by up to 3 years imprisonment if it involves the exploitations of a
hierarchical work-based relationship” (604).
In contrast, sexual harassment is not a crime punishable by imprisonment in the United
States. Additionally, Hofstede suggested that “individualistic cultures, like Australia,
Sweden, and the United States, are loosely integrated, emphasizing independence,
personal achievement, and competitiveness, whereas collectivists cultures, like Brazil,
Hong Kong (China), Pakistan Puerto Rico, and Turkey, are tightly integrated,
emphasizing interpersonal harmony and cooperation between in-group members like
family, friends, and coworkers” (DeSouza and Solberg 12). Eros R. DeSouza and Joseph
25
Solberg are authors of the chapter “Incidence and Dimensions of Sexual Harassment
across Cultures” in the book Academic and Workplace Sexual Harassment: A Handbook
of Cultural, Social Science Management, and Legal Perspectives. The authors examine
studies conducted by several researchers that are focused on explaining the reasoning
behind the differing perspectives and legal policies regarding sexual harassment in
different countries. The results of the studies in each country are compared to one
another. The book was published quite long ago in 2003, therefore recent changes in the
stances on sexual harassment in the countries examined are not considered. This idea of
collectivism vs. individualism is one of the many explanations for the differing views on
sexual harassment across cultures theorized by Hofstede.
Conclusion
It is fair to say that sexual harassment has always been around. Since it causes
damaging psychological effects to the victims, it is important to understand both the
severity of the issue and what actions are being taken in the United States and abroad
today. Though this paper mainly addresses the issue sexual harassment in the workplace,
it is also important to realize that sexual harassment can happen anywhere and can affect
everyone. Sexual harassment can permanently damage the victim and disrupt the
workplace as a whole, but through proper education and awareness, both domestically
and internationally, it can be prevented.
26
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30