Sexual Harassment

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.