What is Sexual Harassment?
Information, Advice, Workplace Law, Prevention, Statistics, Training Videos, Power & Gender Relationships between Men & Women

Definition of Sexual Harassment

From the website: 'Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitutes sexual harassment when submission to or rejection of this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual's employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual's work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment.

Sexual harassment can occur in a variety of circumstances, including but not limited to the following:

* The victim as well as the harasser may be a woman or a man.
* The harasser can be the victim's supervisor, an agent of the employer, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or a non-employee.
* The victim does not have to be the person harassed but could be anyone affected by the offensive conduct.
* Unlawful sexual harassment may occur without economic injury to or discharge of the victim.
* The harasser's conduct must be unwelcome.'

https://www.eeoc.gov/facts/fs-sex.html

Sexual Harassment: Information on What to Do

From the website: 'If you are experiencing sexual harassment, there are a variety of steps you can take.

Know your rights. Sexual harassment is illegal. The EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) requires all organizations with more than 15 employees to have policies and procedures to deal with sexual harassment.

Speak up at the time. Be sure to say "NO" clearly, firmly and without smiling. There is a chance that the harasser does not realize the behavior is offensive; you must be firm in saying that you are offended.

Keep records. Keep track of what happens and keep any notes or documents you receive. Write down the dates, times, places, an account of what happened and the names of any witnesses.

Report sexual harassment to the appropriate person in the organization. Schools and employers are required to have policies and procedures for dealing with sexual harassment. You can use those policies and procedures to make an informal or a formal complaint against the person who harasses you.

File a complaint with your state agency that deals with employment discrimination or with the EEOC.'

https://www.de2.psu.edu/harassment/whatif/

Statistics & Studies on Sexual Harassment

From the website: 'The literature suggests that sexual harassment is a widespread phenomenon, affecting 42% of women and 15% of men in occupational settings, 73% of women and 22% of men during medical training, and lower percentages in other educational settings. Despite the pervasive nature of this problem, only 1% - 7% of victims file formal complaints.

Sexual harassment produces an array of psychological and physical symptoms in over 90% of victims, and 12% seek help from mental health care professionals. Self-doubt is a central issue regardless of gender, but in instances where the perpetrator is male and the victim is female, there are ramifications unique to the trauma of gender-based abuse.

Few experimental studies have focused on the victims of sexual harassment, and none have focused on the perpetrators. Psychiatry can play an invaluable role in the assessment and treatment of victims, the fostering of education and research in this area, and the understanding of underlying psychological and gender issues.'

An overview of Sexual Harassment. By Charney DA, Russell RC. Am J Psychiatry. 1994 Jan;151(1):10-7.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed&uid=8267106&cmd=showdetailview&indexed=google

Sexual Harassment in Males & Females

From the website: 'Our analysis predicts that behaviors identified as harassing by men stem from negotiations of gender in the workplace that challenge male dominance, whereas behaviors experienced by women as sexually harassing reinforce female subordinance.

Consistent with our predictions, results indicated the following: men are considerably less threatened than women are by behaviors that women have found harassing; men find sexual coercion the most threatening form of harassment; men as well as women sexually harass men, and men identify behaviors as harassing that have not been identified for women. Results also showed signs of backlash among men against organizational measures that address sexual harassment and discrimination against women.'

The sexual harassment of men? By Berdahl, Jennifer L.; Magley, Vicki J.; Waldo, Craig R. Psychology of Women Quarterly. 1996 Dec Vol 20(4) 527-547

https://doi.apa.org/?uid=1996-06926-004

Analyse any human emotion, no matter how far it may be removed from the sphere of sex, and you are sure to discover somewhere the primal impulse, to which life owes its perpetuation. ... The primitive stages can always be re-established; the primitive mind is, in the fullest meaning of the word, imperishable. ... Mans most disagreeable habits and idiosyncrasies, his deceit, his cowardice, his lack of reverence, are engendered by his incomplete adjustment to a complicated civilisation. It is the result of the conflict between our instincts and our culture. (Sigmund Freud)

Create some good Sexual Karma - Share this Knowledge - Thanks!

Famous Sexually Provocative Erotic Books & Sex Stories
Download & Read Beautifully Illustrated
Erotic Novels on Amazon Kindle

Support an open honest discussion of human sexuality by sharing this knowledge.
https://www.sexualevolution.org/sexual-harassment.htm
What is Sexual Harassment? Information, Advice, Workplace Law, Prevention, Statistics, Training Videos

Site Map - Banners - Bibliography / Reference Books - Reasons for this Sexuality Study - Legal Disclaimer & Privacy Policy - Protect Children Online

Copyright 1997 - 2018
We support 'Fair Use' of these pages for Academic & Non Commercial use.
You are welcome to use images and text, but please reference them with a link to relevant web page on this site. Thanks!


The free, unhampered exchange of ideas and scientific conclusions is necessary for the sound development of science, as it is in all spheres of cultural life. ... Only the individual can think, and thereby create new values for society, nay, even set up new moral standards to which the life of the community conforms.
(Albert Einstein)