Sexual harassment is so ordinary in the workforce that frequently we fail to even recognize harassing behavior as immoral. This is because so many of us--women and men alike--have become desensitized to offensive behaviors. Sexual harassment in any form is unacceptable behavior and should not be tolerated by anyone. It undermines our ability to study, to work, and to feel like effective, empowered people in the world.
The U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission describes sexual harassment as a form of gender discrimination that is in violation of the Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Undesirable sexual advances, request for sexual favors, and further verbal and physical conduct of a sexual nature constitutes sexual harassment, when compliance to or refusal of this behavior explicitly or implicitly affects an individual employment (EEOC).
According to a recent study, the causes of sexual harassment in the workforce can be exceedingly difficult due to the fact that employee’s are dependent on each other for team work and support, and are reliant on their supervisor’s approval for time off and career advancement. Supervisors and employers take advantage of their supremacy they have over their employees. Such closeness and intensity can distort the professional boundaries which lead people to cross over the line. The report also reported that Politics can be a catalyst, and problems caused by poor management, workplace bullying, frustration, and job/financial insecurity which creates a hostile environments. Furthermore, personal problems can also play a factor, and sexual harassment can be a symptom of the effects of life traumas, such as divorce, or death of a spouse or child (Sexual Harassment in the Workplace).
Sexual Harassment Support reported that in 1998 the U.S. Supreme Court made employers more legally responsible for sexual harassment of their employees. In addition to, The Society for Human Resource Management has reported that 62% of companies offer sexual harassment prevention training programs, and 97% have a written sexual harassment policy (Sexual Harassment in the Workplace).
Over the last decade the number of grievance filed with EEOC has gradually decreased. For example, in 1997 approximately 16,000 complaints of sexual harassment were filed. Last year, the number of complaints dropped to 11,717 which 16.4% of charges were filed by men (Sexual Harassment Charges). The common of complaints reported to the EEOC came from women; conversely the quantity of complaints filed by men is ever-increasing, along with increasing numbers of men filing against female supervisors. In 2007, 16% of complaints filed with the EEOC were filed by men (Sexual Harassment Charges).
Men are increasingly claiming they’re victims of sexual harassment and sexual harassment of men does occur. The first ever court case involving sexual harassment of a man in the workplace was in 1995. The EEOC sued Domino Pizza after a female supervisor of a...
