Sexual Harassment Paper

Sexual harassment is any unwanted or unwelcome sexual behaviour. Sexual harassment towards women can be a very serious matter. It is the most common cause of complaint under the Sex Discrimination Act. Younger women usually wear the burden of sexually harassment in the workplace and at school. Sexual harassment does not have to be direct or physical. It can be in the form of:

“Sexual harassment is defined as any unwanted action or activity of a sexual nature that explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, performance, or work environment” (Robbins, Decenzo & Coulter, 2011). According to the EEOC, “Harassment can include “sexual harassment” or unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other

Sexual harassment is always a legal topic in the work environment because the ramifications are so severe, but at the same time very abstract to describe what can constitute sexual harassment. This paper will take into consideration different elements of the law including Employment Law and cases tried before the U.S. Supreme Court. It will also offer suggestions for corrective action pertaining to the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace.

Sexual harassment is a demeaning practice, one that constitutes a profound affront to the dignity of the employees forced to endure it.  By requiring an employee to contend with unwelcome sexual actions or explicit sexual demands, sexual harassment in the workplace attacks the dignity and self-respect of the victim both as an employee and as a human being. Sexual harassment is well defined as an unwelcome sexual request for sexual favors and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. In many countries, sexual harassment is considered a form of sexual abuse and employment discrimination. Sexual harassment is most prevalent is organizations both professional and academic, though it can occur almost anywhere.

Sexual harassment in education includes any unwanted and unwelcome sexual behavior that significantly interferes with a student's access to educational opportunities.

Sexual harassment is discrimination that involves any uninvited comments, exploits, or behavior regarding sex, gender, or sexual orientation. If any type of violation is made by a co-worker, a boss, a work acquaintance, or even a non-employee such as a client, vendor, or contractor, this will be considered unlawful sexual harassment within the work environment. Sexual harassment can create a hostile and uneasy work environment. Sexual harassment includes inappropriate verbal advances, unwelcomed physical behavior that creates an aggressive, hostile, intimidating or malicious work environment for employees. Sexual harassment includes sending suggestive e-mails, notes, and

4. A male supervisor touches or pats a female subordinate on nonsexual parts of her anatomy.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin (2009).

Sexual harassment is an uninvited and unwelcome verbal or physical behavior of a sexual nature, especially by a person in authority toward a subordinate, as per the Merriam-Webster dictionary. This behavior is present in a large number in our societies and we can see such situations at many places, from every day workplaces to daily encounters. A person can be harassed in different manners and it has several consequences on the victims. Sexual assault is still a concern in our daily life and has yet to be generally recognized and it should be prevented.

But what is sexual harassment? This tricky issue can often be difficult to pin down. According to the Sexual Assault and Harassment Resource Handbook (which is handed out in squad groups during orientation), sexual harassment is defined as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and other unwelcome verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. Behavior can be considered harassment if it is undesired and creates an offensive environment.

Sexual Harassment is defined as any unwanted activity of a sexual nature that affect’s an individual’s employment. This unwanted activity can occur between members of the same sex as well as members of the opposite sex. Harassment is not only confined to employees of this organization, but to non employees also.

As seen in the case study, a court decision may be one way for any company to legally define what constitutes sexual harassment in the workplace, but there are many ways to define sexual harassment. Everyone has different views and tolerance levels towards sexual harassment. When a case of sexual harassment occurs in a workplace, however, it comes down to how the courts define sexual harassment. The Supreme Court defines sexual harassment to be unlawful in two ways. “The first type involves sexual harassment that results in a tangible employment action;” this is referred to as quid pro quo. For example, if an employee complies with the harasser’s request, then she will get a raise. This unlawful act is usually presented in the workplace by a person who has an upper hand, such as a manager, to ensure that s/he will get what s/he wants. Employees are often victimized by fear that they will not get promoted or that they will get fired. They also dread that if a complaint is filed, it will not be handled correctly. “This instance of sexual harassment always involves another violation of employee rights; [sic] wrongful termination.” This would occur, for instance, when “a supervisor . . . tells a subordinate that . . . she must be sexually cooperative with [him] or . . . she will be fired, and who then indeed does fire the subordinate for not submitting” (“U.S. Supreme Court Defines”). [schwinlaw.com]

In today’s society we constantly hear or read about individuals that claim they were a victim of sexual pressure. These instances can take place at work, school, the military and even at church. But exactly what is sexual exploitation or unwanted sexual behavior? After looking at several definitions for sexual abuse I came across the following definition that I feel will help all of us to better understand what inappropriate sexual behavior is. Sexual harassment was defined by The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) as unwelcome advances and requests for sexual behavior or conditional requests such as a person’s employment will continue if they perform these acts. (Gale Group, 2003). This definition left me thinking and

"Sexual harassment is a subtle rape, and rape is more about fear than sex," said Dr. John Gottman, a psychologist at the University of Washington. "Harassment is a way for a man to make a woman vulnerable."

Sexual Harassment Laws Sexual harassment is one of the biggest problems facing our schools and businesses today. A week rarely goes by without a reminder of the pervasiveness of sexual harassment as a social problem. The definition of sexual harassment is any unwanted or inappropriate sexual attention. That includes touching, looks, comments, or gestures. A key part of sexual harassment is that it is one sided and unwanted.