Sexual harassment refers to unwanted and unwelcome sexual advances made by one person to another. Sexual harassment can be verbal or non-verbal for instance a person may request for sexual favors from another and in some cases, a person may make sexual utterances about another person and which are often offensive. Women are the primary victims of sexual harassment, but in some cases, men also undergo sexual harassment. Sexual harassment can be from a superior person than the victim, relative, colleague or employer. This essay will discuss sexual harassment in the workplace and the impact it creates on the employees as well as the employers.
The concept of sexual harassment at work is perceived differently by men and women. Most women take offense when they receive sexual utterances from either the employer or their co-worker. Men on the other hand, rarely feel offended whenever another person makes sexual remarks about them. A study previously conducted by the Office of Personnel Management revealed that all sexual harassers have several things in common whether male or female. The abusers are often older than the victims, have worked closely with them for more than six months and that they have engaged in acts of sexual harassment before. Educated women are more likely to report sexual harassment because they can quickly tell when harassed. Also, women in lower income brackets are targeted by perpetrators because they depend primarily on the job (Tang and McCollum, 55). Hence, some would endure sexual abuse for the sake of their jobs.
Three things can be done if sexual harassment occurs; firstly, the victim should not fear to speak up. He or she should be bold enough to tell off the perpetrator. Secondly, the victim should follow the procedure set up by the employer to report cases of sexual harassment. Lastly, in the case a company does not handle sexual harassment cases with the seriousness they deserve, the victim should follow legal procedures to report to governmental authorities.
Sexual harassment at the workplace can have adverse effects on the employees and the employers’ altogether. The employees who undergo sexual harassment feel traumatized just in the cases of rape or physical abuse. The trauma then affects the productivity of the victim at work. Sexual harassment affects the victims as well as the observers who often feel drained and disappointed. Sexual abuse also affects the employees psychologically. However, psychological effects are difficult to tell because the victims often conceal them for fear of loss of status among the peers, intimidation, and loss of employment (Tang and McCollum, 55). However, the performance of employees is affected, and the overall performance of such a workplace goes down.
The employer in organizations where sexual harassment takes place also suffers the consequences of the actions of his or her employees. Firstly, employers may incur financial costs whenever an employee is harassed sexually by another employee or supervisor. The costs are in the form of insurance claims by the victims, and victims who decide to quit work altogether (Tang and McCollum, 56). When an employee quits his or her employment due to sexual harassment, the employer undergoes the cost of hiring new employees which is expensive for a company in the long run if there is a high turnover of employees.
Employers are held accountable if an employee is harassed sexually by either another employee or a non-employee if no actions had been put in place by the employer to curb such occurrences. Hence, the human resource departments of any firm should train their employees on workplace diversity and gender inclusion. Such training will ensure that employees have respect for each other despite the gender. Sexual abusers disrespect their victims and view them as objects to be used (Tang and McCollum, 57). Hence, training on diversity would go a long way to ensure employees work harmoniously regardless of gender.
Sexual harassment laws allow employers to formulate policies that prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. Employers are mandated to put in place measures to prevent as well as take action whenever a case of harassment is reported (Boland, 4). Employers should also not punish employees who report cases of harassment, and hence, proper channels should be created for employees to express their grievances in case they get harassed at work.
The human resource is mandated by the organization to formulate policies that prevent sexual harassment at the workplace. The human resource should also treat cases of sexual harassment reported to them with utmost secrecy and information should only be revealed to the parties when necessary. The nature of sexual harassment cases makes them sensitive to deal with and hence, the human resource has the role of explaining to the accuser and the accused the seriousness of the cases and the actions likely to be taken in the case the accusations leveled turned to be true (Condrey, 26). It is evident that the human resource has a major role in fighting and mitigating people in cases of sexual harassment.
An example of sexual harassment of an employee occurred in Queensland in 2013 when a lady who worked part-time at a hardware was regularly subjected to sexual harassment. The acts of the perpetrator included kissing, touching and uttering sexual words to the woman. The woman reported her colleague to their employer who took no action against the perpetrator but instead allowed the lady to handle the situation on her own (“Sexual Harassment Case Studies”). The woman reported to the authorities and was compensated 24,425 dollars for general and economic damages she endured.
In summary, sexual harassment is an everyday occurrence at workplaces, and the main victims are women. Sexual harassment at work affects both the employer and the employee. The employees endure psychological and emotional torture when abused sexually at work. The acts often inhibit their ability to perform at work and hence, general productivity is lowered. The employer endures financial losses in compensation and replacement of workers who quit their jobs due to sexual harassment. The human resource department has the role of putting in place measures to prevent sexual harassment as well as procedures to investigate and solve cases reported to them. In the case of sexual harassment, a victim should speak up, report and escalate to government authorities if their employer does not take action.