Sexual Harassment

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace is as Present as Ever

Though there are some parts of a job that many people can overlook or simply ignore, sexual harassment is not among those issues. If ignored, sexual harassment in the workplace does not go away, but rather grows, festers, and evolves into a problem that has moved beyond discomfort and is instead risky or even dangerous. Every employee should be aware of what sexual harassment is, and should be alert to its presence in the workplace, trusting their feelings about the issue, and not being afraid to take action to resolve it if it is present.

The worst situation for an employee occurs when the cause of the sexual harassment is the person's boss. The problem here is that the employee's boss holds power over the person being harassed. Therefore, if the boss is doing the sexual harassing, the employee may be worried that if s/he takes action against that person, there is a risk of losing a promotion or even being fired. Though these are perfectly understandable concerns, by not acting on the situation, it will only get worse.

Sexual harassment simply doesn't go away on its own. It may begin as something small, but it is an issue that rapidly develops into a large problem. For example, imagine one day your boss makes an inappropriate comment to you one, and you simply ignore it. By ignoring it, your boss may think that it doesn't bother you, so s/he will continue it. Since s/he already has boundary issues, s/he may then take it to the next step, touching you in subtle ways, such as standing closer than you're comfortable, rubbing your back, or brushing his or her hand across a part of your body. Without doing something to put a stop to this behavior, it will only continue to get worse because the harasser will believe that you don't have a problem with it. The longer it happens, the greater the risk of moving from sexual harassment to sexual assault or rape. This example clearly shows how vital it is to stop sexual harassment before it gets out of control. If an employee feels sexually harassed there are some things that can be done to make the situation better. These include:

Keeping a journal

Begin writing the events down as soon as they begin happening, and do it right after it happens so that the situation is fresh in your mind and hasn't been distorted over time. If the time comes that you need to take action within the company or on a legal level, this written record will be an extremely important piece of evidence. It will hold the date, time, frequency, and precise way in which sexual harassment occurred.

Talk about it

Let people you trust know what has happened to you. Not only is it important that you receive the support you need, but these people may also have good advice that you can use. Furthermore, if you do need to take action, these people can serve as witnesses.

Confront the harasser

This is likely the most difficult thing that you can do, but you will likely feel very empowered if you can make yourself do it. Talk to the person responsible for the sexual harassment and tell him or her to cease the inappropriate behavior. Inform the person that while you do enjoy your job, those types of behavior are making you very uncomfortable. This may be enough to make the person willing to stop. If not, feel free to warn the sexual harasser that you will be forced to take drastic actions legally or in the company if they do not stop.

Nobody should ever have to face sexual harassment, however, by taking actions against it, employees enable themselves to stop it from happening to them, and possibly to others. The important thing is not to ignore it.

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