Sexual harassment is one of the most troubling issues in our society today. Sexual harassment is unwelcome sexual advances that may be physical or verbal. This definition is according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission which is an agency in the USA responsible for enforcing laws against workplace discrimination. It is important to note that sexual harassment affects both woman and men. Sexual harassment can also take place in various places from the street to the learning instructions and even the workplaces. It is, therefore, crucial to learn more about this problem and how to deal with it. This paper will look at forms of sexual harassment and what managers can do about it in the workplace.
There are two types of sexual harassment .One is when one is required to do something to receive a favor. For instance when an employee is made to believe that they will get a promotion when they go out with their boss. The second type of sexual harassment is hostile work environment (Ruiz, 2015). This type of harassment happens when the behavior of sexual nature creates an environment that is intimating and threatening to an employee. It includes making an offensive sexual comment in the workplace.
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In addition to types of sexual harassment, it is also vital to force on some forms that sexual harassment may take and examples of each. One of this form is verbal sexual harassment. A case of verbal sexual harassment includes spreading lies about workmate sex live, making comments that are sexual about someone's clothes or looks, asking personal questions and making sexual sounds like whistling at someone. Another form of sexual harassment is non-verbal this includes but not limited to making physical expressions like throwing a kiss, giving a person gifts that are personal, starring at someone from top to bottom and blocking somebodies path. Harassment can also be physical. Examples include touching a coworker body clothes or even hair, kissing or hugging a workmate against their will and messaging somebodies neck or shoulders. All these are examples of sexual harassment. Lastly, harassment can be in written form. For instance, sending sexual text messages to a coworker or through the use of social media.
Many studies show that sexual harassment is widespread and it seriously affects women in careers. One out of three women who are between the age of 18 and 34 has been assaulted sexually at the workplace. Eight out of ten of those who are sexually harassed say it involved something to them. Forty-four present of women sexually harassed encounter inappropriate sexual touch (Gordon, 2018). Most of the sexual harassment go unreported due to shame fear and intimidation. Sexual harassment is also not reported because women accept the behavior as a compliment or a joke. Speaking out about sexual harassment is one of the best ways to tame this kind of behavior.
Sexual harassment hinders good working environment. For this reason, managers should do everything in their power to discourage such behavior. To do that they must first acknowledge that sexual harassment in the workplace exists and that it affects both women and men. They should also not ignore the fact that sexual harassment may occur between same genders. Sexual harassment is not considered to be a criminal offense unless it is rape and assault; however, companies can be liable under civil right act a law that forbids discrimination based gender (Johnson, 2018).
There are several things that a manager can do to control and stop this behavior in the workplace. First, the manager has to communicate clearly to the employee that all forms of sexual harassment will not be accepted and that those found guilty of such behavior will be punished. This should be included in the company's policy. It can be achieved through training. Every organization should conduct a sexual harassment course. Such training will enlighten the employs on what to consider has harassment and where to put a limit when they are interacting with their co-workers.
Secondly, the manager should encourage his workers to report sexual harassment. He can do this by providing different ways through which his employs can complain. One way can be through the human resource or directly to the manager.it is also the duty of the manager to assure the employees who have been assaulted that just and fair investigations will be conducted. The manager should also try to find a witness or other victims that might have been harassed by the same person. However, no one should be punished without a proper investigation done.
The manager should also follow up the case until it's completed to ensure justice for the victim. They should ensure there is proper documentation of the event. A manager may also contact the agencies or organization involved with providing equality of all employees to help solve the case. For example the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in the US.
Finally, every company should have a strict policy when it comes to relationships among its employees. Sometimes when workplace relationships go sour, the individuals involved may be bitter and result in sexual harassment (Heathfield, 2018).
In conclusion in this day and age of social media, there are more casual relationships among coworkers which provide more opportunity for individuals to cross the line between professional and unprofessional conduct. However, every manager must ensure that professionalism in the organization.
References
Ruiz, M. (2015). What Sexual Harassment at Work Really Looks Like.
https://www.cosmopolitan.com/career/a36462/sexual-harassment-at-work/
Gordon, S. (2018). Same-Sex Sexual Harassment in the Workplace.
https://www.verywellmind.com/how-common-is-female-to-female-sexual-harassment-4134990
Johnson, R. (2018). Seven Ways to Deal With Sexual Harassment in the Workplace
https://smallbusiness.chron.com/seven-ways-deal-sexual-harassment-workplace-18095.html
Heathfield, S. (2018). Susan M. Heathfield.
https://www.thebalancecareers.com/susan-m-heathfield-1916605
