Sexual Harassment At Work

6 Pages 1437 Words

I will first start with sexual harassment and what it means. Sexual harassment is defined as, “any unwanted leers, comments, suggestions, or physical contact of a sexual nature as well as unwelcomed requests for sexual favors (Renzetti and Curran 2003: 225).” Sexual harassment in the workplace is a problem for both employees and employers. Women are the more likely gender to be victimized by sexual harassment. Not only do they have to be careful of what type of job they choose, but they also have to be careful of where they choose to work. Sexual harassment is very prevalent in male-dominated jobs where women are new hires, because male workers will harass the women in order to prove their dominance over them (Renzetti and Curran 2003: 225). This proves what Gruber’s study concluded which is, “Where a woman does her job is more important than the type of job she does in affecting her chances of being harassed (Renzetti and Curran 2003: 226).” If a woman is sexually harassed she may suffer from several physical illnesses due to the harassment. Some of these illnesses include: chronic neck and back pain, upset stomach, colitis and other gastrointestinal disorders, and eating and sleeping disorders (Renzetti and Curran 2003: 226). Her mental health may also be in jeopardy. She might become nervous, irritable, and depressed. Instead of reporting it, women try to get away from this harassment by quitting their jobs. However, since the problem is so big, there is never a guarantee that this harassment will not happen somewhere else.
Employers have also had to deal with sexual harassment problems in the workplace. They try to handle sexual harassment in several different ways. Some employers prefer to handle sexual harassment complaints quietly, through private mediation. However, employers have more success in lowering incidents of sexual harassment if they take a visible and proactive approach to addressing the pro...