About Sexual Harassment against Women at the Work Place

Gender equality has become a long-standing problem, with many people battling for women's job opportunities. As a result of feminist organizations' campaigns, the number of women working in diverse professions is steadily increasing. While having the ability to serve in the same workplace and at the same levels as men, women face more violence. Having sexist or offensive comments, treating them sexually, and pressuring them to have intimate affairs against their will are all examples of abuse. Women who refuse physical advances from their male employers run the risk of losing their jobs or facing various types of sexism. Notably, sexual harassment has numerous effects on the health, well-being, and productivity of women. Most report mental disorders such as depression and anxiety, which leads to reduced concentration on work. As a result, many abused women tend to be less productive. The level of abuse varies across different nations. For instance, in the US, few incidents occur compared to third world countries such as the Middle East and Korea. Fortunately, some countries have established laws that prohibit any form of abuse against female employees. This issue has a great significance since rights of women are violated in many parts of the world. Apart from increased insecurity, women fail to compete at the same level with men when they encounter harassment. Therefore, the findings of this research will help to determine the different types of sexual harassment, their impacts, and strategies adopted to solve them.





Thesis Statement

Sexual harassment of women is an issue prevailing in most workplaces in many countries worldwide. Female employees who encounter sexual harassment suffer from mental disorders, poor social life, and reduced productivity. Therefore, understanding factors contributing to sexual abuse can lead to the identification of a lasting solution.

Scope of the Issue

Various laws have been enacted to protect women from sexual harassment at their places of work in countries such as India where the situation is typical. What normally brings about the problem of female sexual harassment at workplace is the assumption that the female sex is inferior (Barton et al. 2015). Traditionally, women have been placed in lower ranking positions while being at the mercy of their men counterparts. Typically, the females have to submit to the males owing to the fact about male dominance.

The traditional society made the male species at the top to be the provider for the females. The woman of the traditional world was meant to do household chores. Therefore, she lacked the chance to compete with men. The translations of this beliefs and behaviors to the current society are that women compete with men (Sadruddin, 2013). For this reason, they have been subjected to various forms of discrimination. To say, for promotional purposes or to be hired, about sixty percent of women have encountered the different types of sexual harassment.

The society always places women in the low position compared to men. In fact, most of the victimized women are always afraid of speaking up. Majority of them who suffer sexual harassment remain silent. In countries such as Pakistan, the culture of women to remain quiet even when mistreated has been cultivated because whenever they talk, their intentions are questioned. In the end, the victim suffers both sexual and social harassment. In most cases, female victims of sexual harassment whenever they voice their concerns they are always dismissed. Such behaviors have been extended to the workplace environment.

Notably, women who object sexual harassment in the workplace encounter humiliation, intimidation and could lose their jobs. Besides, most of the employers and their senior managers use their positions to harass the women sexually. Some of the method commonly used to force them into having sexual relationships include threats and intimidation. Therefore, this study is effective in identifying different forms of sexual harassment, how they affect women’s performance in the workplace and possible solutions.

Research Question

What is the prevalence and impact of sexual harassment against women at the workplace?

Hypotheses

Hypotheses

Women are more vulnerable to sexual harassment in their workplace especially when they are in managerial positions.

Women encounter harassment from their male workmates and their bosses as well.

The performance of women in their workplace is affected negatively by sexual harassment.



Historical Perspective of the Issue

People still argue about the meaning of sexual harassment and how it differs from sexual discrimination. Understanding the history of sexual harassment is important in knowing the different forms. Sexual harassment has been in existence for many decades or even centuries. Many people understood sexual harassment as undesirable or forced sexual relationships between subordinates and their superiors. In many instances, subordinates, mostly who are women are coerced into having sexual affairs with their leaders. This behavior was more persistent during the slave trade when African American women were subjected to mistreatment by their masters, and some forms of punishment would involve forced sex. Similarly, free women working in their master’s houses as domestic servants experienced several forms of sexual harassments. Furthermore, stories told by women employed as clerks or those in the manufacturing industry shows that the workplace was always dominated by sexual harassment. Men dominated the organizations and always imposed their sexual desires onto women. Besides, males would use different forms of sexual advances including insults and physical assault when they women failed to submit to their demands.

However, talks on the vulnerability of women to forced sexual relationships at the workplace began to emerge. Surprisingly, women were blamed for the abuse and judged as promiscuous. On the other hand, a section of women condemned the fore used by men to force women into having sexual relationships. The public also was not happy with the sexual abuse incidents reported at the workplace, a factor that attracted condemnation. The abolition press played a critical role in revealing and discussing such relationships. The government delved into the issue, which was widely affecting the servants. In 1887, a report published by Helen Campbell on Women Wage –Workers helped to understand the degradation linked to harassment of women. The author also provided a detailed discussion of sexual extortion perpetrated by men against women in factories. A similar revelation came from Upton Sinclair in an article titled The Jungle, which describes the different types of sexual exploitation that occurred in wage and chattel slavery.

Solving the issue became difficult since the American legal system failed to protect women. In fact, it was not illegal to rape slaves, who the state considered as the property of their masters. Besides, the law required the women to prove that the sexual relationship resulted from the force, and the man’s power was stronger than her resistance. With time, many people began to condemn the issue. Hence, laws were established to protect women from any form of abuse at their places of work. However, the behavior persists.

Literature Review

Sexual harassment per se can be manifested in a variety of mannerisms in the scenario of a workplace. To begin with, utterances that denote sexually suggestive intentions are deemed as wrong. It is utterly distasteful to make such overtones, as they are demeaning to the woman portraying her as a sex object. Bothra (27) argues that women are satirized by their body figures or complexions. Those of appealing body shapes or rather; those who depict the ideal female figure are more susceptible to sexual harassment instead of being accorded the same treatment as the other female workmates. The same case applies to women of enchanting appearances. The more attractive one’s face is, the higher the probability of encountering instances of sexual assault. In the general run of things, women ought to be treated with respect and should not be subject to such innuendos regardless of their striking nature.

There have been myriad cases of threats subjected to women in the workplace. This is often materialized in the digital platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and other instant messaging sites. Most of these sexual harassment cases are often perpetrated by male counterparts in the workplace who tend to obtain the women’s numbers probably in their files and go ahead to harass them devoid of the disclosure. A woman, for instance, happens to receive a text implying her as a whore on the grounds of her dressing code or her striking appearance. She is further told that she ought to be stripped and raped for being a woman. Logically, such comments would undeniably make a woman feel jeopardized in her workstation. Hardaker and Mc Glashan (82) speak of the anonymity of some harassers on twitter that utterly insult women and go unpunished. They tend to make use of this online feature of anonymity to make unbecoming remarks pertaining to women. This would ultimately affect the woman’s work output, as she would fear for her welfare and hence not work at ease. Subsequently, this could result in dismissal from work due to unproductivity.

Women are sexually harassed on the grounds of their modes of dressing. Some women happen to be extremely curvaceous to the extent that anything they wear depicts their enchanting shapes. This makes them preys on physical harassment such as inappropriate touching or verbal ridicule based on their grooming. Such women are often disheartened to the point that they do not deliver fully on their mandate. Sadruddin (118) argues that discomfort becomes their portion, as no rational manner would make one work in such a situation seamlessly. It ought to be a point of concern that women be given their space when it comes to working appropriate wear. Under no circumstances should a woman be assaulted based on her dress code. Some women’s bodies are just appealing regardless of whichever clothing they choose to put on. For that reason, men should not use the grooming factor as a leeway for sexual harassment. Men should learn to respect women.

Women working in secluded environments where they are to deal with the clients in solitude are often victims of sexual harassment. Kensbock et al. (45) speak in the context of women who tend to guests in the hotel rooms. They are often mandated to serve the guests in their rooms and be at their beck and call. The good thing about most hotel room services is that they expect the ladies to work while the doors to the rooms are unlocked. This would give them an opportunity to flee in the scenario that the customers have sexual intentions. Many times, these women are in their salad years thus suggesting of their curvaceous figures and attractive faces. On the other hand, most guests are typically men of advanced ages. For that reason, some men would offer incentives in the form of fiscal matter in a bid to catch the attention of the fine ladies. Therefore, it is often a woman’s choice to consent to the advances or to refute them. Nonetheless, in the general run of things, these ladies are exposed to risk in their isolated workplaces.

Women are often intimidated in the scenario they report cases of sexual harassments to a loftier authority. This is the case where you hear a blackmailer threatening to harm a woman’s family if she decides to make a complaint (Bothra 27). Such a case would combat a woman to put the welfare of her children first in lieu of her own. She would rather die than see her family suffer from matters that they are utterly not apprised of. This is just one of the catches that blackmailers use to coerce a woman into having sexual relations with them. By and large, there are countless tactics they use to get a hold on stubborn women who under no circumstances would consent to any form of sexual relations.

There is this issue of gender nonconformity. This primarily applies to women in high positions who refuse to stoop low to the extents that men require of them. Such women often get teased a lot and are not accorded the levels of respect that they ought to receive on the grounds of their statuses. Leskinen et al. (192) allege that just like other women, these women are connoted as sex objects; only that their cases are not that adverse as their fellow women. At times, they give instructions to deaf ears as their subordinates are often chauvinistic full of patronizing thoughts. It is often difficult for such women to get a handle on their male subordinates. Nonetheless, strong women who care less about demeaning overtones and just have a profound personality can maneuver very well in such positions.

The matter of gender imbalance contributes to sexual harassment. As aforementioned, the contemporary world is still patriarchal though women are rising up in the corporate sector. Men take advantage of the few women they engage within their workstations by harassing them in whichever manner they think of. Mclaughlin et al. (627) speaks of work demography as a predominant factor of sexual harassment. They assert that institutions that are awash with male workers pose a risk to their female counterparts. Such institutions primarily fall in the engineering domain or any work that is perceived to be a “man’s work”. Such men tend to be chauvinistic and do not connote women to be like them when it pertains to workforce. Since women are few in comparison to men, they grab the opportunity to harass them out of lust and covetousness if not sexual starvation.

One of the reasons that compel women not to report on sexual harassment cases is the fear of trust. Women fear that their allegations would fall on deaf ears and instead of receiving assistance, ridicule would be the order of the day. Contemplate a scenario of a woman complaining against a male counterpart for sexually assaulting her and the man being reported refutes the claims. A neutral party would have such a hard time making a verdict that has no substantial claim. Logically, what proof would a woman put forward that she has been sexually harassed in the case that she has been abused or inappropriately touched? Some men would even claim that she deliberately consented to the act and that it was consensual. In such a scenario, the woman would lose the case despite being the victim. Such a case would create ideas in women that they would not be given credence to and the justice they deserve but instead, they would be viewed as liars and attention seekers in the scenario they choose to report the cases.

One of the top-notch preventive measures to this escalating menace would be zero tolerance to sexual harassment. There are rights present in the constitution that protect the female workforces against any forms of sexual harassment. Lockhart (55) alleges that it is the mandate of the victim to report the perpetrator in cases where she feels to have been sexually molested. This would, in turn, ascertain that such sexual predators are brought to book. Lockhart (55) speaks in the context of the nursing profession whereby there are frequent instances of patients sexually assaulting the nurses tending to them. Lockhart says that such moves by patients often leads to mistrust and a chasm between the two parties. Ultimately, this would affect the quality of amenities the nurse would offer the patient. To avert such unprofessionalism, the nurses ought not to condone such moves; be they overtones or physical harassments. Nurses are urged to speak out to be assisted. Keeping mum about the issue and putting up with it would be jeopardizing them.

Appropriate actions ought to be enacted against sexual offenders. They should be prosecuted for demeaning and assaulting women. Women in the corporate sector have an equal right as their fellow men serving in the work industry. Therefore, no substantial claim would authenticate sexual assault. It is only right to give credence to the fact that many societies have stood up to defend the rights pertaining to women. No woman should be assaulted for having the female anatomy or in other words, being born a woman. Moreover, a woman’s body was not made for manly satisfactions but rather, issues pertaining to reproduction and being a man’s companion. No particular law states that men should derive amusement from the females in whichever context present. Consequently, perpetrators of sexual offenses deserve no mercy and ought to be punished by the law so that others who may share a similar viewpoint concerning women avert a similar fate. Some countries have previously issued death penalties for such law offenders for simply physically assaulting a lady in the case of rape. This, therefore, should be a lesson to all other men to refrain from actions that imperil the woman’s sexuality.

Research Design

This study is based on a mixed research design consisting of both qualitative and quantitative methods. Selection of this design helps to determine the number of women affected and the related consequences either on their physical or mental health. Thus, a qualitative approach helped to collect narration information from the participants. Further, a combination of the two methods made it easy to compare the data and provide a correct relationship between sexual harassment, mental disorders, and reduced performance at the workplace.

Method

Literature Searches. The research was based primarily on analyzing data from previous studies on the same topic. Articles with relevant information were obtained from websites and databases such as Medline, Cinahl, International Bibliography of the Social Sciences, and ASSIA. The search was based on keywords such as sexual harassment, workplace, sexual violence, mental disorders, poor work, and sexual abuse. These terms made it easy to retrieve articles that show the causes of sexual violence, effect, and related prevention measures. The first search led to 236 articles, which had information on various topics related to sexual harassment of women. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were then applied to choose sources with relevant information. For instance, articles that required inclusion into the study had to have a defined experimental or data collection procedures. The articles with randomly selected study participants were also included in the analysis. Furthermore, those researches that compared information from different ethnic groups and countries were used. On the other hand, articles excluded in the research were those that failed to specify data collection and analysis. In addition, some articles where the examples used do not relate to the study topic or research questions were not included in this research. Application of this strategy led to the selection of 25 articles and only ten qualified to be included in the research.

Data Collection

Participants and Procedure. This research was primarily based on a study by Leskinen, Cortina & Kabat and Dionisi, Barling, & Dupré who collected information on understanding the sexual harassment that occurs at the workplace. In the initial study, Leskinen et al. (399) surveyed 53,170 individuals, selected randomly. The key focus was on 9,725 women who participated willingly. On the other hand, Dionisi et al. recruited 467 female participants. In both studies, the study population was aged 21 – 73 years with a mean age of 39.89. The information was then collected according to specific measures identified as sexual harassment, workplace aggression, psychological well-being, performance decline, work attitudes, and turnover intentions.

Sexual harassment: The researchers used Sexual Experiences Questionnaire Department of Defense (SEX-DoD) to collect relevant information on the unwanted sexual experiences encountered by women at the workplace. This instrument has a scale of 1-5 with 4 representing very often whereas 5 shows never. The items measures include sexist remarks, ogling, staring, leering, touch, and reward.

Psychological Well-being: Mental Health Inventory was used to determine the psychological state of the participants. The tool has a scale of 1-5. 1 representing none or little whereas 4 show often or nearly all the times. Some of the measures include peaceful, calmness, unhappy and depressed.

Performance Decline: A scale was used to determine the performance of women at the workplace due to the state of physical or emotional health following the experience of the harassment. A scale of 1 to 5 was used with 1 showing little decline whereas 5 represent a significant reduction in performance.

Work attitudes: The measures included satisfaction with coworkers and commitment to the job. A scale of 1 to 5 was used. 1 showed little or note whereas 4 represented high.

Turnover intentions: A 1-5 scale was used to measure the participant’s intentions of quitting their work following the harassment. 1 represents strongly disagree whereas 5 strongly agrees.



Results

From the data collected, many women experience sexual harassment from their place of work. For instance, 5698 participants had a scale of 3 - 4, which indicates that they encountered intense sexual abuse including staring, sexual remarks, tough and rewards. 50% of the participants reported that they suffer from mental issues such as depression and fear, which affect their mental wellbeing. Furthermore, 75% of the women report increased thoughts of quitting their jobs. Then, 65% state that they develop low attitudes towards their work whenever they experience the harassment. As a result, they have reduced commitment to their organizations.

Discussion

The results of the study support all the three hypotheses. The first hypothesis is that many women are highly vulnerable to sexual harassment. From the findings, many participants report that they experience different forms of harassment, which range from sexist words to physical touch. Therefore, they are the target objects of men in the organizations where women are few. Sexual harassment has a great impact on the performance of women as well as their health. For instance, many reports increased cases of depression and fear. Hence, they become socially isolated from the rest of the population. Unlike men, women become demotivated to work. Therefore, they record poor performance with a decreased commitment to the organization. Furthermore, sexual abuse makes it difficult for women to concentrate at the workplace; hence, most of them consider quitting their jobs. Therefore, it becomes difficult to have a steady career growth.



Conclusion

Sexual harassment of women is common to many workplaces. The findings of this study show that majority of women encounter different forms of harassment. The practice has an impact on women’s physical and emotional health, with many developing disorders such as depression. Furthermore, the women loss or resign from their jobs, hence failing to have a steady career growth. The solution is to train all employees on the impacts of sexual harassment and how to treat women equally.



Works Cited

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Dionisi, Angela M., Julian Barling, and Kathryne E. Dupré. "Revisiting the comparative outcomes of workplace aggression and sexual harassment." Journal of occupational health psychology 17.4 (2012): 398.

Hardaker, Claire, and Mark McGlashan. "“Real men don’t hate women”: Twitter rape threats and group identity." Journal of Pragmatics 91 (2016): 80-93.

Kensbock, Sandra, et al. "Sexual Harassment of Women Working as Room Attendants within 5‐Star Hotels." Gender, Work & Organization 22.1 (2015): 36-50.

Leskinen, Emily A., Verónica Caridad Rabelo, and Lilia M. Cortina. "Gender stereotyping and harassment: A “catch-22” for women in the workplace." Psychology, Public Policy, and Law 21.2 (2015): 192.

Lockhart, Lisa. "Sexual harassment in the workplace." Nursing Made Incredibly Easy 14.6 (2016): 55.

McLaughlin, Heather, Christopher Uggen, and Amy Blackstone. "Sexual harassment, workplace authority, and the paradox of power." American sociological review 77.4 (2012): 625-647.

Merkin, Rebecca S., and Muhammad Kamal Shah. "The impact of sexual harassment on job satisfaction, turnover intentions, and absenteeism: findings from Pakistan compared to the United States." SpringerPlus 3.1 (2014): 215

Sadruddin, Munir Moosa. "Sexual Harassment at Workplace in Pakistan-Issues and Remedies about the Global Issue at Managerial Sector." Journal of Managerial Sciences 7.1 (2013).