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Sexual harassment in the work environment
Background context for sexual harassment essay
Background context for sexual harassment essay
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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 defined as any unwanted action or activity of a sexual nature that explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, performance, or work environment” (Robbins, Decenzo & Coulter, 2011). According to the EEOC, “Harassment can include “sexual harassment” or unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature.” Sexual harassment is not limited to the employee/employer relationship, but can included clients or customers. Harassment does not have to be sexual in nature, but can include harassment about ones gender in general (EEOC, n.d).
Sexual harassment can be traced back for centuries. African-American slavery in the United States is an early example of situations that involved sexual harassment of workers by their superiors. African-American women imposed in slavery often succumbed to sexual advances. Late nineteenth and early twentieth female clerical workers were also often subjected to sexual harassment by their male superiors (Siegel, 2004).
Publicly published articles and government hearings sparked interest in sexual harassment in the late nineteenth century. Interests in the problem of female sexual vulnerabilities during this time period lead to the composition of several books that embedded context of the subject within their pages. Helen C...
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...(n.d.). Workplace violence, issues in response. Retrieved from website: http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/workplace-violence/workplace-violence/view
United State Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2010). Census of fatal occupational injuries summary. Retrieved from website: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cfoi.nr0.htm
United States Department of Labor, Occupational and Safety Administration. (n.d.). What is workplace violence. Retrieved from website: http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/workplaceviolence/
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), (n.d.). Sexual harassment. Retrieved from website: http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/sexual_harassment.cfm
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission , (2011). Sexual harassment charges eeoc & fepas combined: fy 1997 - fy 2011. Retrieved from website: http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/statistics
women who had been sexually assaulted and raped by men in positions of power chronicled their
Petrocelli, William, and Barbara Kate Repa. Sexual Harassment on the job. Berkeley: Nolo Press, 1994
Donna, George. “Textual Harassment.” Women’s Voices, Feminist Visions. Ed. Shaw and Lee’s. McGraw-Hill, 2013. 540-542. Print.
The two types of sexual harassment recognized today are known as "quid pro quo" and "hostile environment". According to the EEOC guidelines, quid pro quo exists when "submission to or rejection of (unwelcome sexual) conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual". Hostile environment exists when unwelcome sexual conduct greatly disturbs an individual and interferes with the individual's job performance. Hostile environment also creates an intimidating workplace for all employees. (EEOC Compliance Manual)
According to legal dictionary (2013), sexual harassment refers to any form of unwelcome sexual behavior or advances, appeals for sexual errands, and other form of physical or verbal conduct or behavior that portrays sex nature and tends to make the working environment offensive or hostile. Any behavior or remarks that take such forms constitute sexual harassment when: Compliance to such conduct happens either implicitly or explicitly based on employment of an individual, rejection or compliance to such conduct is used to make decisions during employment and when such conduct interferes or affects performance of a person at the workplace. Sexual harassment ta...
Men and women comprise two very different and distinct cultures. In an organizational setting, misunderstandings between these two cultures can cause major problems and disrupt the process of working to achieve organizational goals. This problem is compounded when men and women of different cultural backgrounds come together in an organizational setting. One such problem that may occur is the issue of sexual harassment in the organization. The following study will explore the possible definitions of sexual harassment from a cultural perspective. Do different cultures perceive and define sexual harassment differently?
According to Webster’s online dictionary, it is believed that the phrase “sexual harassment” was coined at Cornell University in 1974 ("Sexual harassment," 2011). The phrase wasn’t, however, really used in common language until the testimony of Anita Hill against Clarence Thomas in 1991. Sexual harassment can take many different shapes and forms. According to a Fox News article, the sexual harassment claims made by men have increased twofold in the last twenty years ("Sexual harassment claims," 2010). Because sexual harassment is illegal both on a federal and state level in many states, there are steps that an individual and employer should take to prevent sexual harassment.
Roberts, Barry S. and Richard A. Mann. ?Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: A Primer.? n.pag. On-line. Internet. 5 Dec 2000. Available WWW:
Acts of sexual harassment against another individual have sadly become a common incidence in the workplace. It can be either physical or verbal. In 2008 the Association of Women for Action and Research conducted a survey addressing the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace. The study, which included 500 respondents and 92 companies, showed that 79% of the victims are women and 21% were men; 54% had experienced some form of workplace sexual harassment, 27% experienced harassment by their colleague, while, 17% were harassed by their superior. The study also showed that 12% had received threats of termination if they did no comply with the requests of the sexual harassers ("Statistics | AWARE | Workplace Sexual Harassment", n.d.).
Sexual Harassment Charges. (n.d.). Retrieved March 15, 2011, from U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: http://www1.eeoc.gov//eeoc/statistics/enforcement/sexual_harassment.cfm
Workplace harassment is unwelcome actions that are based on a person’s race, religion, color, and sex, and gender, country of origin, age, ethnicity or disability. The targets of the harassment are people who are usually perceived as “weaker” or “inferior” by the person who is harassing them. Companies and employers can also be guilty of workplace harassment if they utilize discriminatory practices against persons based on ethnicity, country of origin, religion, race, color, age, disability, or sex. These discriminatory practices have been illegal since the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Civil Rights Act of 1964), and have been amended to be more inclusive of other people who experience discrimination by the Civil Rights Act of 1991 (The Civil Rights Act of 1991), and most recently, President Obama’s signing of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (Stolberg, 2009).
KANE-URRABAZO, C. (2007). Sexual harassment in the workplace: it is your problem. Journal Of Nursing Management, 15(6), 608-613. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2834.2007.00725.x
A sexual harassment survey was conducted in 1995 with 551 women firelighters responded. The survey revealed that 88% of the women had experienced sexual harassment. 73% of the women stated they had been treated differently in negative ways, from their male co-workers. (Sexual Harassment) In 1999, a longer survey was given and the percentages increased when women were asked if they had experienced any sexual harassment.
Sexual harassment in the workplace has been a huge problem in recent history. It can happen to anyone, and it can happen everywhere. It can affect all types of races, genders and ages. Statistics today show that more and more sexual harassment has become an issue due to the large number of cases presented. Mainstream media becomes consumed covering sexual harassment because of the high-profile cases.
In today’s workplace, sexual harassment is a growing problem. The legal definition of sexual harassment is any unwelcome sexual advance or conduct on the job that creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment. Another definition is the making of unwanted and offensive sexual advances or of sexually offensive remarks or acts, especially by one in a superior or supervisory position. Women and men of all ages, backgrounds, races and experience are harassed on the job. Sexual harassment encountered in workplaces is a hazard across the world that reduces the quality of working life, jeopardizes the well-being of women and men, undermines gender equality and imposes costs on firms and organizations.