Sexual harassment is an unwelcome sexual behavior, which mainly makes the person affected feel offended, intimidated or humiliated. Sexual harassment is verbal, physical or written. The harassment is not always sexual in nature but can also be in the form of remarks or comments. If one makes an offensive comment about women in general, it is considered as harassment. The harasser can be of opposite sex or similar sex. The law does not forbid teasing and flirting, but when it becomes severe and frequent to an extent of creating a hostile working environment for the victim, then it is considered as harassment. The harasser can be a supervisor, co-worker, client, customer or a non-employee (Korgen, Korgen & Giraffe, 2015). Sexual harassment can be directed to both men and women. This paper focuses on sexual harassment directed at women, which are most common cases. Sexual harassment is a social and workplace problem.

A study done by Schneider et al. (1997) revealed that sexual harassment even at low frequency leads to significant negative effects. It influences negatively on the women psychological wellbeing and particularly on the work behaviors and job attitudes. In the study, women who had been sexually harassed reported the worst job-related outcomes as well as psychological outcomes. Those who had not been sexually harassed also reported negative outcomes. This is because they are aware of the situation they are exposed to.

Sexual harassment makes the working environment hostile. A hostile working environment makes an employee uncomfortable.  Most people tend to understate the effects of sexual harassment. Sexual harassment can cause serious health issues. It affects the victims well being by interfering with the emotional well-being leading to low self-esteem and compromising personal relationships (Schneider et al., 1997). It can also cause anxiety and stress. The major problem is that in most cases, a senior employee to the victim perpetrates sexual harassment in the workplace. In such a case, the victim has other factors to consider rather than reporting the case. The victim can be fired or even prosecuted given that it is hard to prove sexual harassment. Most of the victims opt to stay quiet leading to emotional and psychological pain.

Emotional health is closely related to physical health. When the victim is emotionally unhealthy, it leads to physical health cases in most of the cases. These include appetite loss, weight fluctuations, headaches and sleep disturbances. When a harassed employee reports a case with no evidence, it can be interpreted as witch-hunt on fellow employees. Non-sexual harassment, for example, is hard to prove in which case a victim can be fired. Being fired adds to the problem of harassment and the victim end up developing a psychological problem.

The documentary “The Invisible War” investigates the sexual harassment in the United States Army. It portrays the kind of problem that exists when a junior employee reports sexual harassment perpetrated by a senior. It is possible that the employee is reporting to the same person who harassed her. In the documentary, most of the victims have developed psychological problems. Some of the women interviewed in the documentary also have serious physical injuries.

Though sexual harassment in the workplace is prohibited, women are still sexually harassed in the workplace. This behavior impacts negatively even on the company or enterprise in that a harassed employee will have a negative attitude towards work. This in turn will lower the employee’s productivity. In addition, most organizations depend on time for efficiency and good results. It will be hard for a sexually harassed employee to engage with other employees due to low self-esteem and fear.

Bowling & Beehr (2006) in their article “Workplace Harassment From the Victim’s Perspective” argue that there are three direct causes of workplace harassment. These include the work environment characteristic, the victim, and the perpetrator. It is possible for the victim to blame both of the other causes of the organization. First, the organization can be responsible for the harassment given that the perpetrator is an employee of the organization. In addition, the culture of the organization can directly or indirectly encourage harassment. Bowling & Beehr (2006) continue to argue that the perpetrators of workplace harassment may be stressed. Being exposed to work stress can lead to the production of negative behavioral and emotional responses that can ultimately lead to victimization. The perpetrators of work-based harassment might be coping with work-based stress. High level of stressors can lead the perpetrators to engage in harassment.

Personal characteristics can help identify a perpetrator of work-based harassment. Research indicates that perpetrators are emotionally reactive, rebellious, cynical and have a low tolerance and hierarchal position. Greenberg and Barling (as cited in Bowling & Beehr, 2006) found that there is a positive correlation between aggression towards supervisors, co-workers, subordinates. When the perpetrators characteristics are partially responsible for the harassment, then the victim can blame either the perpetrator or the organization.

Bowling & Beehr (2006) concluded that the characteristics of the work environment could contribute to harassment. When employees are working in a stressful environment, they may be victims of harassment since the stressors in the workplace produce behaviors that may encourage others to victimize them. It is important for the employer to inspect regularly the working environment to try to recognize any stressors available.

Berdahl, (2007) did a study to test two competing views about sexual harassment. The first view was that sexual harassment is motivated by sexual desires thus directed to women who meet feminine ideals while the other one is that sexual harassment is motivated by the desire to punish women who violate feminine ideals. Berdahl indicates that, originally, sexual harassment was a male boss victimizing a female subordinate. Berdahl concluded that women who violate feminine ideals were most likely to be sexually harassed in the workplace. Women in male-dominated jobs have a high likely hood of being sexually harassed. Sexual harassment is thus a form of sex discrimination that keeps both the sexes unequal and separate.

Sexual harassment positive support using various social controls

Sexual harassment can be prevented by use of various social controls. One major way to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace is by generating and implementing strict organizational policies against the behavior. One major issue that should be addressed is bureaucracy. When an employee is expected to report everything to the immediate boss, she will not report a sexual harassment case to the person who committed it. This is the major reason most of the victims never report harassment. As mentioned earlier, sexual harassment is hard to prove. When an employee reports a sexual harassment case to the senior management, she will automatically be asked to produce evidence.  It is hard to determine these cases given that there is no witness. When the victim and the harasser lay down their arguments, it is likely that the case will be dismissed for lack of evidence.

The victim will be humiliated. In extreme cases such as in the documentary mentioned above, the victims are fired with no benefits.

To avoid these cases, organizations should have strict policies that outline the reporting and handling of sexual harassment cases. There should be an independent body or committee to handle sexual harassment cases. This way, the cases will be handled without no prejudice and discrimination. Riger (1991) in a study investigating the dilemma in sexual harassment policies noticed that many women do not report sexual harassment cases. This is because the sexual harassment policies are gender biased, and women are discouraged from using them.  Though such policies are drafted in gender-neutral language, they are experienced different due to the gender difference in sexual harassment perception. Sexual harassment inflicts on an individual rights and freedoms protected by the constitution. In my view, the management should not handle sexual harassment cases in the workplace. The cases should be handled by the judicial system. The management might favor any of the involved parties for various reasons, but the judicial system will be independent.

Another way to control sexual harassment is by educating the employees. Sexual harassment is both physical and non-physical. Employees should be fully aware of what entails as sexual harassment as per the organizations policies (Korgen, Korgen & Giraffe, 2015). A frequent simple tease can lead to sexual harassment, and if the employee is already aware of the situation, she can be able to prevent herself early enough.

Women are also argued to encourage sexual harassment. Male employees may interpret female employees dressing wrongly. Organizations should implement a social change where people dress appropriately. In addition, when employees attend corporate functions, they should behave responsibly. Taking of alcohol in such functions should be controlled since it might lead to sexual harassment. The bottom line is that all employees should be responsible and always consider the effects of their actions on other employees. Some women provoke male employees into sexually harassing them knowingly or unknowingly.

Sexual harassment is a social problem in this century. Not only does it happen in the workplaces but other social facilities. It is the responsibility of the employers to maintain a free and comfortable workplace. I would recommend that employers adopt a strict and clear policy about sexual harassment.  The policy should elaborate on what sexual harassment entails. The policy should also define in clear terms the procedure to be used when filing for sexual harassment complains. Any sexual harassment complaints should be thoroughly investigated and any wrongdoer punished severely. This will encourage other victims to report (Fitzgerald, Swan & Fischer, 1995).  The policy should also emphasize that any retaliation against those who file complaints will not and will never be tolerated.

Employees are different. There are those who will readily file complaints and those who will fear victimization or retaliation. Due to this, I would recommend that the employer monitors the workplace. The employer should periodically talk about the work environment with the employees. The employees should be involved in making decisions that affect their work environment. This way the employer will create a good working relationship with the employees.  However, there are cases where the employer perpetrates the sexual harassment. This means the victim cannot report to the same employer (Korgen, Korgen & Giraffe, 2015).  In such a case, the Government should specify the procedures to be followed while filing a sexual harassment through the judiciary system. In addition, if any victim feels that the case was not well handled by the employer, she should forward the complain to the judicial system.

A big problem with the sexual harassment is the lack of evidence. Employers should install systems that monitor emails and communications in the workplace and scan for any sexual harassment.  Video cameras and sound recorders should be placed in strategic places inside the working premises to be able to monitor any sexual harassment.

Potential social and economic benefits   

Preventing and controlling sexual harassment in the workplace can have both social and economic benefits. First, research has proven that sexual harassment can cause psychological problems. If prevented, cases of psychological problems can be minimized. This is a benefit not only to the society but also to the organization. A sexually harassed employee will not be able to concentrate on their work. This, in turn, lowers their productivity. Hard the sexual harassment been prevented, the employee would still be productive. The economy depends largely on the organizations for its growth. When such organizations are performing poorly, the economy, in general, is performing badly. The working environment should be conducive so as to allow all employees be productive.

As Berdahl, (2007) indicates, women in male-dominated jobs have a high likely hood of being sexually harassed. This can keep the women away from such jobs and in turn, render them jobless. The unemployment rate is a major cause of economic failure. When people are unemployed, they do not contribute to the growth of the economy. In addition, when unemployment rates are high social issues such as poverty, homelessness kicks in. This forces the government to spend a lot of money in trying to solve such issues.

Riger (1991) concluded that many women do not report sexual harassment cases due to gender bias in the sexual harassment policies. This means many victims leave with the guilt inside them. Such guilt is very dangerous to those people living close to the victim. The victim can develop psychological problems or become physically violent. Preventing sexual harassment can help the society solve or evade such issues. In addition, for the victims who report the cases, a lot of time is spent investigating the cases. In most cases, the victim and the perpetrator are sent home on compulsory and unpaid leave. This creates financial problems for the victim. Issues like these have been seen to cause other family problems for the married women. All these problems could be prevented if sexual harassment is prevented.

Conclusion

Sexual harassment is a problem in both the society and the workplace. This is because, when it happens to the workplace, the consequences are felt by both the organization and the society. Issues such as loss of employment, unpaid leave, family problems, poverty and psychological problems impact more on the society.

Organizations should have gender-sensitive sexual harassment policies that are easy to follow. Victims will see the employer as partly responsible for their victimization. Thus, the employers should be strict in managing the workplace environment secure and free from sexual harassment victimization. In cases where the victims are afraid to report a claim with the organization management, legal channels through the judiciary system are available for use.

References

Berdahl, J. L. (2007). The sexual harassment of uppity women. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(2), 425.

Bowling, N. A., & Beehr, T. A. (2006). Workplace harassment from the victim’s perspective: a theoretical model and meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(5), 998.

Fitzgerald, L. F., Swan, S., & Fischer, K. (1995). Why didn’t she just report him? The psychological and legal implications of women’s responses to sexual harassment. Journal of Social Issues, 51(1), 117-138.

Korgen, K. O., Korgen, J. O., & Giraffe, V. (2015). Social issues in the workplace (2nd ed.) [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/

Riger, S. (1991). Gender dilemmas in sexual harassment policies and procedures. American Psychologist, 46(5), 497.

Schneider, K. T., Swan, S., & Fitzgerald, L. F. (1997). Job-related and psychological effects of sexual harassment in the workplace: empirical evidence from two organizations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 82(3), 401.

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