Sexual Harassment: An Employment Issue

In: Equal opportunities international: EOI, Volume 11, Issue 1, p. 8-11

Abstract

Women have been sexually harassed on the job as long as they have been in the workplace. Everyday many women are subjected to sexual activities they do not want. These assaults violate not only their bodies but also their right to freedom and privacy. Although both men and women can be victims, women are more often the target because men are usually in positions of greater power and women are in the vulnerable position of being subordinates. Sexual harassment exists throughout the academic and business world, but here people have been even slower to recognise its impact. Some researchers have suggested that victims of sexual assaults and rape often carry emotional scars that last longer than their bruises, and the impact of sexual aggression extends far beyond the victims. Even the fear of being sexually attacked disrupts victims from enjoying life to the fullest. Many victims "compulsively" and anxiously bolt their doors fearfully investigate unknown and grotesque noises, refrain from going out alone, and worry that their behaviours and clothes might be seen as provocative.