sexual harassment short essay

Essay on Sexual Harassment

500 words essay on sexual harassment.

Sexual harassment refers to any form of unwelcome sexual behaviour which is offensive, humiliating and intimidating. Further, it is against the law to sexually harass anyone. Over the years, sexual harassment has taken a lot of time to be recognized as a real issue. Nonetheless, it is a start that can protect people from this harassment. The essay on sexual harassment will take you through the details.

Sexual Harassment and Its Impacts

Sexual harassment comes in many forms and not just a single one. It includes when someone tries to touch, grab or make other physical contacts with you without your consent. Further, it also includes passing comments which have a sexual meaning.

After that, it is also when someone asks you for sexual favours. Leering and staring continuously also counts as one. You are being sexually harassed when the perpetrator displays rude and offensive material so that others can see it.

Another form is making sexual gestures towards you and cracking sexual jokes or comments towards you. It is also not acceptable for someone to question you about your sexual life or insult you with sexual comments.

Further, making an obscene phone call or indecently exposing oneself also counts as sexual harassment. Sexual harassment can impact a person severely. It may stress out the victim and they may suffer from anxiety or depression.

Moreover, it can also cause them to withdraw from social situations. After that, the victim also starts to lose confidence and self-esteem. There may also be physical symptoms like headaches, sleep problems and being not able to concentrate or be productive.

What Can We Do

No one in this world deserves to go through sexual harassment, whether man or woman. We all have the right to live freely without being harassed, bullied or discriminated against. It is the reason why sexual harassment is illegal.

To begin with, the person may try talking to the offender and convey their message regarding their unwanted behaviour. Further, it is also essential to stay informed about this issue. Make sure to learn about the policies and procedures regarding sexual harassment in your workplace, school or university.

Further, try to document everything to help you remember the name of the offenders and the incidents. Similarly, make sure to save any evidence you get which will help with your complaint. For instance, keeping the text messages, emails, photos or more.

Most importantly, always try to get external information and advice from people who will help you if you decide to file a lawsuit. Likewise, never deal with it on your own and share it with someone you trust to lighten your load.

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Conclusion of the Essay on Sexual Harassment

To conclude, sexual harassment is a very real issue that went unnoticed for a long period of time, but not anymore. It is essential for all of us to take measures to prevent it from happening as it damages the life of the victim severely. Thus, make sure you help out those who are suffering from sexual harassment and make the perpetrator accountable.

FAQ of Essay on Sexual Harassment

Question 1: What are the effects of sexual harassment?

Answer 1: Sexual harassment has major effects on the victim like suffering from significant psychological effects which include anxiety, depression , headaches, sleep disorders, lowered self-esteem, sexual dysfunction and more.

Question 2: How do you tell if someone is sexually harassing you?

Answer 2: It is essential to notice the signs if you feel someone is sexually harassing you. The most important sign is if you feel uncomfortable and experience any unwanted physical contact. If your ‘no’ does not have an impact and you’re being subjected to sexual jokes, you are being sexually harassed.

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Essay on Sexual Harassment

Students are often asked to write an essay on Sexual Harassment in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

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100 Words Essay on Sexual Harassment

Understanding sexual harassment.

Sexual harassment is a serious issue. It involves unwanted sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. It can occur in various settings like schools, workplaces, and public places.

Impact of Sexual Harassment

Victims of sexual harassment may experience emotional distress, fear, and anxiety. It can impact their work or school performance and overall well-being. It’s crucial to stand against it and support victims.

Preventing Sexual Harassment

Education is key to preventing sexual harassment. Understanding consent and respecting boundaries can help. Also, schools and workplaces should have strict policies against it.

250 Words Essay on Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment, a pervasive societal issue, is an unwelcome behavior of a sexual nature that can undermine an individual’s personal dignity and safety. It is a manifestation of power imbalance, often occurring in environments such as workplaces, educational institutions, and public spaces.

The Types of Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment can be categorized into two types: ‘quid pro quo’ and ‘hostile environment’. ‘Quid pro quo’ refers to instances where job benefits are made contingent on sexual favors. ‘Hostile environment’ includes any unwelcome sexual behavior that creates an intimidating or offensive atmosphere.

The impact of sexual harassment is profound, often leading to psychological, physical, and occupational consequences. It can cause anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder among victims, disrupt their work or academic performance, and even lead to job loss or dropout.

Addressing Sexual Harassment

Addressing sexual harassment necessitates a comprehensive approach. It involves creating awareness, implementing stringent laws, and promoting a culture of respect. Education plays a crucial role in fostering understanding about consent and the importance of treating all individuals with dignity.

Sexual harassment is a grave issue that requires collective effort to combat. By fostering a culture of respect and implementing strong legal measures, society can create a safe environment for all individuals. The fight against sexual harassment is not just a legal battle, but a moral one that shapes the fabric of our society.

500 Words Essay on Sexual Harassment

Introduction.

Sexual harassment, a pervasive issue in society, is a form of gender-based violence that infringes upon an individual’s fundamental rights. It is a complex phenomenon that transcends all social, economic, and cultural boundaries, manifesting in various forms such as unwelcome sexual advances, verbal or physical harassment, and requests for sexual favors.

Sexual harassment is characterized by its unwelcome nature, where the victim feels uncomfortable, threatened, or violated. It is crucial to understand that it is the impact on the victim, not the intent of the perpetrator, that determines whether an act constitutes harassment. This behavior can occur in various settings, including workplaces, educational institutions, and public spaces, and can have severe psychological, physical, and socio-economic effects on the victim.

The Legal Perspective

From a legal standpoint, sexual harassment is recognized as a violation of human rights. Numerous international conventions and national laws, such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act in the U.S. or the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act in India, have been enacted to protect individuals from such behavior. These laws aim to maintain a safe and respectful environment for all, emphasizing the importance of consent and respect in interpersonal relationships.

The Societal Impact

The societal impact of sexual harassment is profound. It perpetuates gender inequality, inhibits social development, and undermines the dignity and potential of the victims. The fear and stigma associated with sexual harassment often discourage victims from reporting, leading to underreporting and a lack of justice. This silence further emboldens the perpetrators and perpetuates a culture of impunity.

Preventive Measures and Solutions

Addressing sexual harassment requires a comprehensive approach. Education plays a critical role in prevention, with emphasis on teaching respect, consent, and gender equality from a young age. Institutions must also implement strict anti-harassment policies, provide safe reporting mechanisms, and ensure that complaints are taken seriously and dealt with promptly.

Furthermore, it is essential to foster an environment that supports victims and encourages them to speak out. This requires challenging societal norms that blame victims and perpetuate silence. Instead, society should focus on holding perpetrators accountable for their actions.

Sexual harassment is a grave violation of human rights and a significant barrier to achieving gender equality. Despite its pervasive nature, it is not inevitable. Through education, legislation, and societal change, it is possible to create a world where everyone is treated with respect and dignity. The responsibility to combat sexual harassment lies with all of us, and it is through collective action that we can effect meaningful change.

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Sexual Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Academic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2018)

Chapter: 7 findings, conclusions, and recommendations, 7 findings, conclusions, and recommendations.

Preventing and effectively addressing sexual harassment of women in colleges and universities is a significant challenge, but we are optimistic that academic institutions can meet that challenge—if they demonstrate the will to do so. This is because the research shows what will work to prevent sexual harassment and why it will work. A systemwide change to the culture and climate in our nation’s colleges and universities can stop the pattern of harassing behavior from impacting the next generation of women entering science, engineering, and medicine.

Changing the current culture and climate requires addressing all forms of sexual harassment, not just the most egregious cases; moving beyond legal compliance; supporting targets when they come forward; improving transparency and accountability; diffusing the power structure between faculty and trainees; and revising organizational systems and structures to value diversity, inclusion, and respect. Leaders at every level within academia will be needed to initiate these changes and to establish and maintain the culture and norms. However, to succeed in making these changes, all members of our nation’s college campuses—students, faculty, staff, and administrators—will need to assume responsibility for promoting a civil and respectful environment. It is everyone’s responsibility to stop sexual harassment.

In this spirit of optimism, we offer the following compilation of the report’s findings, conclusions, and recommendations.

FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS

Chapter 2: sexual harassment research.

Sexual harassment is a form of discrimination that consists of three types of harassing behavior: (1) gender harassment (verbal and nonverbal behaviors that convey hostility, objectification, exclusion, or second-class status about members of one gender); (2) unwanted sexual attention (unwelcome verbal or physical sexual advances, which can include assault); and (3) sexual coercion (when favorable professional or educational treatment is conditioned on sexual activity). The distinctions between the types of harassment are important, particularly because many people do not realize that gender harassment is a form of sexual harassment.
Sexually harassing behavior can be either direct (targeted at an individual) or ambient (a general level of sexual harassment in an environment) and is harmful in both cases. It is considered illegal when it creates a hostile environment (gender harassment or unwanted sexual attention that is “severe or pervasive” enough to alter the conditions of employment, interfere with one’s work performance, or impede one’s ability to get an education) or when it is quid pro quo sexual harassment (when favorable professional or educational treatment is conditioned on sexual activity).
There are reliable scientific methods for determining the prevalence of sexual harassment. To measure the incidence of sexual harassment, surveys should follow the best practices that have emerged from the science of sexual harassment. This includes use of the Sexual Experiences Questionnaire, the most widely used and well-validated instrument available for measuring sexual harassment; assessment of specific behaviors without requiring the respondent to label the behaviors “sexual harassment”; focus on first-hand experience or observation of behavior (rather than rumor or hearsay); and focus on the recent past (1–2 years, to avoid problems of memory decay). Relying on the number of official reports of sexual harassment made to an organization is not an accurate method for determining the prevalence.
Some surveys underreport the incidence of sexual harassment because they have not followed standard and valid practices for survey research and sexual harassment research.
While properly conducted surveys are the best methods for estimating the prevalence of sexual harassment, other salient aspects of sexual harassment and its consequences can be examined using other research methods , such as behavioral laboratory experiments, interviews, case studies, ethnographies, and legal research. Such studies can provide information about the presence and nature of sexually harassing behavior in an organization, how it develops and continues (and influences the organizational climate), and how it attenuates or amplifies outcomes from sexual harassment.
Women experience sexual harassment more often than men do.
Gender harassment (e.g., behaviors that communicate that women do not belong or do not merit respect) is by far the most common type of sexual harassment. When an environment is pervaded by gender harassment, unwanted sexual attention and sexual coercion become more likely to occur—in part because unwanted sexual attention and sexual coercion are almost never experienced by women without simultaneously experiencing gender harassment.
Men are more likely than women to commit sexual harassment.
Coworkers and peers more often commit sexual harassment than do superiors.
Sexually harassing behaviors are not typically isolated incidents; rather, they are a series or pattern of sometimes escalating incidents and behaviors.
Women of color experience more harassment (sexual, racial/ethnic, or combination of the two) than white women, white men, and men of color do. Women of color often experience sexual harassment that includes racial harassment.
Sexual- and gender-minority people experience more sexual harassment than heterosexual women do.
The two characteristics of environments most associated with higher rates of sexual harassment are (a) male-dominated gender ratios and leadership and (b) an organizational climate that communicates tolerance of sexual harassment (e.g., leadership that fails to take complaints seriously, fails to sanction perpetrators, or fails to protect complainants from retaliation).
Organizational climate is, by far, the greatest predictor of the occurrence of sexual harassment, and ameliorating it can prevent people from sexually harassing others. A person more likely to engage in harassing behaviors is significantly less likely to do so in an environment that does not support harassing behaviors and/or has strong, clear, transparent consequences for these behaviors.

Chapter 3: Sexual Harassment in Academic Science, Engineering, and Medicine

Male-dominated environment , with men in positions of power and authority.
Organizational tolerance for sexually harassing behavior (e.g., failing to take complaints seriously, failing to sanction perpetrators, or failing to protect complainants from retaliation).
Hierarchical and dependent relationships between faculty and their trainees (e.g., students, postdoctoral fellows, residents).
Isolating environments (e.g., labs, field sites, and hospitals) in which faculty and trainees spend considerable time.
Greater than 50 percent of women faculty and staff and 20–50 percent of women students encounter or experience sexually harassing conduct in academia.
Women students in academic medicine experience more frequent gender harassment perpetrated by faculty/staff than women students in science and engineering.
Women students/trainees encounter or experience sexual harassment perpetrated by faculty/staff and also by other students/trainees.
Women faculty encounter or experience sexual harassment perpetrated by other faculty/staff and also by students/trainees.
Women students, trainees, and faculty in academic medical centers experience sexual harassment by patients and patients’ families in addition to the harassment they experience from colleagues and those in leadership positions.

Chapter 4: Outcomes of Sexual Harassment

When women experience sexual harassment in the workplace, the professional outcomes include declines in job satisfaction; withdrawal from their organization (i.e., distancing themselves from the work either physically or mentally without actually quitting, having thoughts or

intentions of leaving their job, and actually leaving their job); declines in organizational commitment (i.e., feeling disillusioned or angry with the organization); increases in job stress; and declines in productivity or performance.

When students experience sexual harassment, the educational outcomes include declines in motivation to attend class, greater truancy, dropping classes, paying less attention in class, receiving lower grades, changing advisors, changing majors, and transferring to another educational institution, or dropping out.
Gender harassment has adverse effects. Gender harassment that is severe or occurs frequently over a period of time can result in the same level of negative professional and psychological outcomes as isolated instances of sexual coercion. Gender harassment, often considered a “lesser,” more inconsequential form of sexual harassment, cannot be dismissed when present in an organization.
The greater the frequency, intensity, and duration of sexually harassing behaviors, the more women report symptoms of depression, stress, and anxiety, and generally negative effects on psychological well-being.
The more women are sexually harassed in an environment, the more they think about leaving, and end up leaving as a result of the sexual harassment.
The more power a perpetrator has over the target, the greater the impacts and negative consequences experienced by the target.
For women of color, preliminary research shows that when the sexual harassment occurs simultaneously with other types of harassment (i.e., racial harassment), the experiences can have more severe consequences for them.
Sexual harassment has adverse effects that affect not only the targets of harassment but also bystanders, coworkers, workgroups, and entire organizations.
Women cope with sexual harassment in a variety of ways, most often by ignoring or appeasing the harasser and seeking social support.
The least common response for women is to formally report the sexually harassing experience. For many, this is due to an accurate perception that they may experience retaliation or other negative outcomes associated with their personal and professional lives.
The dependence on advisors and mentors for career advancement.
The system of meritocracy that does not account for the declines in productivity and morale as a result of sexual harassment.
The “macho” culture in some fields.
The informal communication network , in which rumors and accusations are spread within and across specialized programs and fields.
The cumulative effect of sexual harassment is significant damage to research integrity and a costly loss of talent in academic science, engineering, and medicine. Women faculty in science, engineering, and medicine who experience sexual harassment report three common professional outcomes: stepping down from leadership opportunities to avoid the perpetrator, leaving their institution, and leaving their field altogether.

Chapter 5: Existing Legal and Policy Mechanisms for Addressing Sexual Harassment

An overly legalistic approach to the problem of sexual harassment is likely to misjudge the true nature and scope of the problem. Sexual harassment law and policy development has focused narrowly on the sexualized and coercive forms of sexual harassment, not on the gender harassment type that research has identified as much more prevalent and at times equally harmful.
Much of the sexual harassment that women experience and that damages women and their careers in science, engineering, and medicine does not meet the legal criteria of illegal discrimination under current law.
Private entities, such as companies and private universities, are legally allowed to keep their internal policies and procedures—and their research on those policies and procedures—confidential, thereby limiting the research that can be done on effective policies for preventing and handling sexual harassment.
Various legal policies, and the interpretation of such policies, enable academic institutions to maintain secrecy and/or confidentiality regarding outcomes of sexual harassment investigations, arbitration, and settlement agreements. Colleagues may also hesitate to warn one another about sexual harassment concerns in the hiring or promotion context out of fear of legal repercussions (i.e., being sued for defamation and/or discrimination). This lack of transparency in the adjudication process within organizations can cover up sexual harassment perpetrated by repeat or serial harassers. This creates additional barriers to researchers

and others studying harassment claims and outcomes, and is also a barrier to determining the effectiveness of policies and procedures.

Title IX, Title VII, and case law reflect the inaccurate assumption that a target of sexual harassment will promptly report the harassment without worrying about retaliation. Effectively addressing sexual harassment through the law, institutional policies or procedures, or cultural change requires taking into account that targets of sexual harassment are unlikely to report harassment and often face retaliation for reporting (despite this being illegal).
Fears of legal liability may prevent institutions from being willing to effectively evaluate training for its measurable impact on reducing harassment. Educating employees via sexual harassment training is commonly implemented as a central component of demonstrating to courts that institutions have “exercised reasonable care to prevent and correct promptly any sexually harassing behavior.” However, research has not demonstrated that such training prevents sexual harassment. Thus, if institutions evaluated their training programs, they would likely find them to be ineffective, which, in turn, could raise fears within institutions of their risk for liability because they would then knowingly not be exercising reasonable care.
Holding individuals and institutions responsible for sexual harassment and demonstrating that sexual harassment is a serious issue requires U.S. federal funding agencies to be aware when principal investigators, co-principal investigators, and grant personnel have violated sexual harassment policies. It is unclear whether and how federal agencies will take action beyond the requirements of Title IX and Title VII to ensure that federal grants, composed of taxpayers’ dollars, are not supporting research, academic institutions, or programs in which sexual harassment is ongoing and not being addressed. Federal science agencies usually indicate (e.g., in requests for proposals or other announcements) that they have a “no-tolerance” policy for sexual harassment. In general, federal agencies rely on the grantee institutions to investigate and follow through on Title IX violations. By not assessing and addressing the role of institutions and professional organizations in enabling individual sexual harassers, federal agencies may be perpetuating the problem of sexual harassment.
To address the effect sexual harassment has on the integrity of research, parts of the federal government and several professional societies are beginning to focus more broadly on policies about research integrity and on codes of ethics rather than on the narrow definition of research misconduct. A powerful incentive for change may be missed if sexual harassment is not considered equally important as research misconduct, in terms of its effect on the integrity of research.

Chapter 6: Changing the Culture and Climate in Higher Education

A systemwide change to the culture and climate in higher education is required to prevent and effectively address all three forms of sexual harassment. Despite significant attention in recent years, there is no evidence to suggest that current policies, procedures, and approaches have resulted in a significant reduction in sexual harassment. It is time to consider approaches that address the systems, cultures, and climates that enable sexual harassment to perpetuate.
Strong and effective leaders at all levels in the organization are required to make the systemwide changes to climate and culture in higher education. The leadership of the organization—at every level—plays a significant role in establishing and maintaining an organization’s culture and norms. However, leaders in academic institutions rarely have leadership training to thoughtfully address culture and climate issues, and the leadership training that exists is often of poor quality.
Evidence-based, effective intervention strategies are available for enhancing gender diversity in hiring practices.
Focusing evaluation and reward structures on cooperation and collegiality rather than solely on individual-level teaching and research performance metrics could have a significant impact on improving the environment in academia.
Evidence-based, effective intervention strategies are available for raising levels of interpersonal civility and respect in workgroups and teams.
An organization that is committed to improving organizational climate must address issues of bias in academia. Training to reduce personal bias can cause larger-scale changes in departmental behaviors in an academic setting.
Skills-based training that centers on bystander intervention promotes a culture of support, not one of silence. By calling out negative behaviors on the spot, all members of an academic community are helping to create a culture where abusive behavior is seen as an aberration, not as the norm.
Reducing hierarchical power structures and diffusing power more broadly among faculty and trainees can reduce the risk of sexual ha

rassment. Departments and institutions could take the following approaches for diffusing power:

Make use of egalitarian leadership styles that recognize that people at all levels of experience and expertise have important insights to offer.
Adopt mentoring networks or committee-based advising that allows for a diversity of potential pathways for advice, funding, support, and informal reporting of harassment.
Develop ways the research funding can be provided to the trainee rather than just the principal investigator.
Take on the responsibility for preserving the potential work of the research team and trainees by redistributing the funding if a principal investigator cannot continue the work because he/she has created a climate that fosters sexual harassment and guaranteeing funding to trainees if the institution or a funder pulls funding from the principal investigator because of sexual harassment.
Orienting students, trainees, faculty, and staff, at all levels, to the academic institution’s culture and its policies and procedures for handling sexual harassment can be an important piece of establishing a climate that demonstrates sexual harassment is not tolerated and targets will be supported.
Institutions could build systems of response that empower targets by providing alternative and less formal means of accessing support services, recording information, and reporting incidents without fear of retaliation.
Supporting student targets also includes helping them to manage their education and training over the long term.
Confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements isolate sexual harassment targets by limiting their ability to speak with others about their experiences and can serve to shield perpetrators who have harassed people repeatedly.
Key components of clear anti-harassment policies are that they are quickly and easily digested (i.e., using one-page flyers or infographics and not in legally dense language) and that they clearly state that people will be held accountable for violating the policy.
A range of progressive/escalating disciplinary consequences (such as counseling, changes in work responsibilities, reductions in pay/benefits, and suspension or dismissal) that corresponds to the severity and frequency of the misconduct has the potential of correcting behavior before it escalates and without significantly disrupting an academic program.
In an effort to change behavior and improve the climate, it may also be appropriate for institutions to undertake some rehabilitation-focused measures, even though these may not be sanctions per se.
For the people in an institution to understand that the institution does not tolerate sexual harassment, it must show that it does investigate and then hold perpetrators accountable in a reasonable timeframe. Institutions can anonymize the basic information and provide regular reports that convey how many reports are being investigated and what the outcomes are from the investigation.
An approach for improving transparency and demonstrating that the institution takes sexual harassment seriously is to encourage internal review of its policies, procedures, and interventions for addressing sexual harassment, and to have interactive dialogues with members of their campus community (especially expert researchers on these topics) around ways to improve the culture and climate and change behavior.
Cater training to specific populations; in academia this would include students, postdoctoral fellows, staff, faculty, and those in leadership.
Attend to the institutional motivation for training , which can impact the effectiveness of the training; for instance, compliance-based approaches have limited positive impact.
Conduct training using live qualified trainers and offer trainees specific examples of inappropriate conduct. We note that a great deal of sexual harassment training today is offered via an online mini-course or the viewing of a short video.
Describe standards of behavior clearly and accessibly (e.g., avoiding legal and technical terms).
To the extent that the training literature provides broad guidelines for creating impactful training that can change climate and behavior, they include the following:
Establish standards of behavior rather than solely seek to influence attitudes and beliefs. Clear communication of behavioral expectations, and teaching of behavioral skills, is essential.
Conduct training in adherence to best standards , including appropriate pre-training needs assessment and evaluation of its effectiveness.
Creating a climate that prevents sexual harassment requires measuring the climate in relation to sexual harassment, diversity, and respect, and assessing progress in reducing sexual harassment.
Efforts to incentivize systemwide changes, such as Athena SWAN, 1 are crucial to motivating organizations and departments within organizations to make the necessary changes.
Enacting new codes of conduct and new rules related specifically to conference attendance.
Including sexual harassment in codes of ethics and investigating reports of sexual harassment. (This is a new responsibility for professional societies, and these organizations are considering how to take into consideration the law, home institutions, due process, and careful reporting when dealing with reports of sexual harassment.)
Requiring members to acknowledge, in writing, the professional society’s rules and codes of conduct relating to sexual harassment during conference registration and during membership sign-up and renewal.
Supporting and designing programs that prevent harassment and provide skills to intervene when someone is being harassed.
Strengthening statements on sexual harassment, bullying, and discrimination in professional societies’ codes of conduct, with a few defining it as research misconduct.
Factoring in harassment-related professional misconduct into scientific award decisions.
Professional societies have the potential to be powerful drivers of change through their capacity to help educate, train, codify, and reinforce cultural expectations for their respective scientific, engineering, and medical communities. Some professional societies have taken action to prevent and respond to sexual harassment among their membership. Although each professional society has taken a slightly different approach to addressing sexual harassment, there are some shared approaches, including the following:

___________________

1 Athena SWAN (Scientific Women’s Academic Network). See https://www.ecu.ac.uk/equalitycharters/athena-swan/ .

There are many promising approaches to changing the culture and climate in academia; however, further research assessing the effects and values of the following approaches is needed to identify best practices:
Policies, procedures, trainings, and interventions, specifically how they prevent and stop sexually harassing behavior, alter perception of organizational tolerance for sexually harassing behavior, and reduce the negative consequences from reporting the incidents. This includes informal and formal reporting mechanisms, bystander intervention training, academic leadership training, sexual harassment training, interventions to improve civility, mandatory reporting requirements, and approaches to supporting and improving communication with the target.
Mechanisms for target-led resolution options and mechanisms by which the target has a role in deciding what happens to the perpetrator, including restorative justice practices.
Mechanisms for protecting targets from retaliation.
Rehabilitation-focused measures for disciplining perpetrators.
Incentive systems for encouraging leaders in higher education to address the issues of sexual harassment on campus.

RECOMMENDATIONS

RECOMMENDATION 1: Create diverse, inclusive, and respectful environments.

Academic institutions and their leaders should take explicit steps to achieve greater gender and racial equity in hiring and promotions, and thus improve the representation of women at every level.
Academic institutions and their leaders should take steps to foster greater cooperation, respectful work behavior, and professionalism at the faculty, staff, and student/trainee levels, and should evaluate faculty and staff on these criteria in hiring and promotion.
Academic institutions should combine anti-harassment efforts with civility-promotion programs.
Academic institutions should cater their training to specific populations (in academia these should include students/trainees, staff, faculty, and those in leadership) and should follow best practices in designing training programs. Training should be viewed as the means of providing the skills needed by all members of the academic community, each of whom has a role to play in building a positive organizational climate focused on safety and respect, and not simply as a method of ensuring compliance with laws.
Academic institutions should utilize training approaches that develop skills among participants to interrupt and intervene when inappropriate behavior occurs. These training programs should be evaluated to deter

mine whether they are effective and what aspects of the training are most important to changing culture.

Anti–sexual harassment training programs should focus on changing behavior, not on changing beliefs. Programs should focus on clearly communicating behavioral expectations, specifying consequences for failing to meet these expectations, and identifying the mechanisms to be utilized when these expectations are not met. Training programs should not be based on the avoidance of legal liability.

RECOMMENDATION 2: Address the most common form of sexual harassment: gender harassment.

Leaders in academic institutions and research and training sites should pay increased attention to and enact policies that cover gender harassment as a means of addressing the most common form of sexual harassment and of preventing other types of sexually harassing behavior.

RECOMMENDATION 3: Move beyond legal compliance to address culture and climate.

Academic institutions, research and training sites, and federal agencies should move beyond interventions or policies that represent basic legal compliance and that rely solely on formal reports made by targets. Sexual harassment needs to be addressed as a significant culture and climate issue that requires institutional leaders to engage with and listen to students and other campus community members.

RECOMMENDATION 4: Improve transparency and accountability.

Academic institutions need to develop—and readily share—clear, accessible, and consistent policies on sexual harassment and standards of behavior. They should include a range of clearly stated, appropriate, and escalating disciplinary consequences for perpetrators found to have violated sexual harassment policy and/or law. The disciplinary actions taken should correspond to the severity and frequency of the harassment. The disciplinary actions should not be something that is often considered a benefit for faculty, such as a reduction in teaching load or time away from campus service responsibilities. Decisions regarding disciplinary actions, if indicated or required, should be made in a fair and timely way following an investigative process that is fair to all sides. 2
Academic institutions should be as transparent as possible about how they are handling reports of sexual harassment. This requires balancing issues of confidentiality with issues of transparency. Annual reports,

2 Further detail on processes and guidance for how to fairly and appropriately investigate and adjudicate these issues are not provided because they are complex issues that were beyond the scope of this study.

that provide information on (1) how many and what type of policy violations have been reported (both informally and formally), (2) how many reports are currently under investigation, and (3) how many have been adjudicated, along with general descriptions of any disciplinary actions taken, should be shared with the entire academic community: students, trainees, faculty, administrators, staff, alumni, and funders. At the very least, the results of the investigation and any disciplinary action should be shared with the target(s) and/or the person(s) who reported the behavior.

Academic institutions should be accountable for the climate within their organization. In particular, they should utilize climate surveys to further investigate and address systemic sexual harassment, particularly when surveys indicate specific schools or facilities have high rates of harassment or chronically fail to reduce rates of sexual harassment.
Academic institutions should consider sexual harassment equally important as research misconduct in terms of its effect on the integrity of research. They should increase collaboration among offices that oversee the integrity of research (i.e., those that cover ethics, research misconduct, diversity, and harassment issues); centralize resources, information, and expertise; provide more resources for handling complaints and working with targets; and implement sanctions on researchers found guilty of sexual harassment.

RECOMMENDATION 5: Diffuse the hierarchical and dependent relationship between trainees and faculty.

Academic institutions should consider power-diffusion mechanisms (i.e., mentoring networks or committee-based advising and departmental funding rather than funding only from a principal investigator) to reduce the risk of sexual harassment.

RECOMMENDATION 6: Provide support for the target.

Academic institutions should convey that reporting sexual harassment is an honorable and courageous action. Regardless of a target filing a formal report, academic institutions should provide means of accessing support services (social services, health care, legal, career/professional). They should provide alternative and less formal means of recording information about the experience and reporting the experience if the target is not comfortable filing a formal report. Academic institutions should develop approaches to prevent the target from experiencing or fearing retaliation in academic settings.

RECOMMENDATION 7: Strive for strong and diverse leadership.

College and university presidents, provosts, deans, department chairs, and program directors must make the reduction and prevention of sexual

harassment an explicit goal of their tenure. They should publicly state that the reduction and prevention of sexual harassment will be among their highest priorities, and they should engage students, faculty, and staff (and, where appropriate, the local community) in their efforts.

Academic institutions should support and facilitate leaders at every level (university, school/college, department, lab) in developing skills in leadership, conflict resolution, mediation, negotiation, and de-escalation, and should ensure a clear understanding of policies and procedures for handling sexual harassment issues. Additionally, these skills development programs should be customized to each level of leadership.
Leadership training programs for those in academia should include training on how to recognize and handle sexual harassment issues, and how to take explicit steps to create a culture and climate to reduce and prevent sexual harassment—and not just protect the institution against liability.

RECOMMENDATION 8: Measure progress.

Academic institutions should work with researchers to evaluate and assess their efforts to create a more diverse, inclusive, and respectful environment, and to create effective policies, procedures, and training programs. They should not rely on formal reports by targets for an understanding of sexual harassment on their campus.

When organizations study sexual harassment, they should follow the valid methodologies established by social science research on sexual harassment and should consult subject-matter experts. Surveys that attempt to ascertain the prevalence and types of harassment experienced by individuals should adopt the following practices: ensure confidentiality, use validated behavioral instruments such as the Sexual Experiences Questionnaire, and avoid specifically using the term “sexual harassment” in any survey or questionnaire.
Academic institutions should also conduct more wide-ranging assessments using measures in addition to campus climate surveys, for example, ethnography, focus groups, and exit interviews. These methods are especially important in smaller organizational units where surveys, which require more participants to yield meaningful data, might not be useful.
Organizations studying sexual harassment in their environments should take into consideration the particular experiences of people of color and sexual- and gender-minority people, and they should utilize methods that allow them to disaggregate their data by race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity to reveal the different experiences across populations.
The results of climate surveys should be shared publicly to encourage transparency and accountability and to demonstrate to the campus community that the institution takes the issue seriously. One option would be for academic institutions to collaborate in developing a central repository for reporting their climate data, which could also improve the ability for research to be conducted on the effectiveness of institutional approaches.
Federal agencies and foundations should commit resources to develop a tool similar to ARC3, the Administrator-Researcher Campus Climate Collaborative, to understand and track the climate for faculty, staff, and postdoctoral fellows.

RECOMMENDATION 9: Incentivize change.

Academic institutions should work to apply for awards from the emerging STEM Equity Achievement (SEA Change) program. 3 Federal agencies and private foundations should encourage and support academic institutions working to achieve SEA Change awards.
Accreditation bodies should consider efforts to create diverse, inclusive, and respectful environments when evaluating institutions or departments.
Federal agencies should incentivize efforts to reduce sexual harassment in academia by requiring evaluations of the research environment, funding research and evaluation of training for students and faculty (including bystander intervention), supporting the development and evaluation of leadership training for faculty, and funding research on effective policies and procedures.

RECOMMENDATION 10: Encourage involvement of professional societies and other organizations.

Professional societies should accelerate their efforts to be viewed as organizations that are helping to create culture changes that reduce or prevent the occurrence of sexual harassment. They should provide support and guidance for members who have been targets of sexual harassment. They should use their influence to address sexual harassment in the scientific, medical, and engineering communities they represent and promote a professional culture of civility and respect. The efforts of the American Geophysical Union are especially exemplary and should be considered as a model for other professional societies to follow.
Other organizations that facilitate the research and training of people in science, engineering, and medicine, such as collaborative field sites (i.e., national labs and observatories), should establish standards of behavior

3 See https://www.aaas.org/news/sea-change-program-aims-transform-diversity-efforts-stem .

and set policies, procedures, and practices similar to those recommended for academic institutions and following the examples of professional societies. They should hold people accountable for their behaviors while at their facility regardless of the person’s institutional affiliation (just as some professional societies are doing).

RECOMMENDATION 11: Initiate legislative action.

State legislatures and Congress should consider new and additional legislation with the following goals:

Better protecting sexual harassment claimants from retaliation.
Prohibiting confidentiality in settlement agreements that currently enable harassers to move to another institution and conceal past adjudications.
Banning mandatory arbitration clauses for discrimination claims.
Allowing lawsuits to be filed against alleged harassers directly (instead of or in addition to their academic employers).
Requiring institutions receiving federal funds to publicly disclose results from campus climate surveys and/or the number of sexual harassment reports made to campuses.
Requesting the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health devote research funds to doing a follow-up analysis on the topic of sexual harassment in science, engineering, and medicine in 3 to 5 years to determine (1) whether research has shown that the prevalence of sexual harassment has decreased, (2) whether progress has been made on implementing these recommendations, and (3) where to focus future efforts.

RECOMMENDATION 12: Address the failures to meaningfully enforce Title VII’s prohibition on sex discrimination.

Judges, academic institutions (including faculty, staff, and leaders in academia), and administrative agencies should rely on scientific evidence about the behavior of targets and perpetrators of sexual harassment when assessing both institutional compliance with the law and the merits of individual claims.
Federal judges should take into account demonstrated effectiveness of anti-harassment policies and practices such as trainings, and not just their existence , for use of an affirmative defense against a sexual harassment claim under Title VII.

RECOMMENDATION 13: Increase federal agency action and collaboration.

Federal agencies should do the following:

Increase support for research and evaluation of the effectiveness of policies, procedures, and training on sexual harassment.
Attend to sexual harassment with at least the same level of attention and resources as devoted to research misconduct. They should increase collaboration among offices that oversee the integrity of research (i.e., those that cover ethics, research misconduct, diversity, and harassment issues); centralize resources, information, and expertise; provide more resources for handling complaints and working with targets; and implement sanctions on researchers found guilty of sexual harassment.
Require institutions to report to federal agencies when individuals on grants have been found to have violated sexual harassment policies or have been put on administrative leave related to sexual harassment, as the National Science Foundation has proposed doing. Agencies should also hold accountable the perpetrator and the institution by using a range of disciplinary actions that limit the negative effects on other grant personnel who were either the target of the harassing behavior or innocent bystanders.
Reward and incentivize colleges and universities for implementing policies, programs, and strategies that research shows are most likely to and are succeeding in reducing and preventing sexual harassment.

RECOMMENDATION 14: Conduct necessary research.

Funders should support the following research:

The sexual harassment experiences of women in underrepresented and/or vulnerable groups, including women of color, disabled women, immigrant women, sexual- and gender-minority women, postdoctoral trainees, and others.
Policies, procedures, trainings, and interventions, specifically their ability to prevent and stop sexually harassing behavior, to alter perception of organizational tolerance for sexually harassing behavior, and to reduce the negative consequences from reporting the incidents. This should include research on informal and formal reporting mechanisms, bystander intervention training, academic leadership training, sexual harassment and diversity training, interventions to improve civility, mandatory reporting requirements, and approaches to supporting and improving communication with the target.
Approaches for mitigating the negative impacts and outcomes that targets experience.
The prevalence and nature of sexual harassment within specific fields in

science, engineering, and medicine and that follows good practices for sexual harassment surveys.

The prevalence and nature of sexual harassment perpetrated by students on faculty.
The amount of sexual harassment that serial harassers are responsible for.
The prevalence and effect of ambient harassment in the academic setting.
The connections between consensual relationships and sexual harassment.
Psychological characteristics that increase the risk of perpetrating different forms of sexually harassing behaviors.

RECOMMENDATION 15: Make the entire academic community responsible for reducing and preventing sexual harassment.

All members of our nation’s college campuses—students, trainees, faculty, staff, and administrators—as well as members of research and training sites should assume responsibility for promoting civil and respectful education, training, and work environments, and stepping up and confronting those whose behaviors and actions create sexually harassing environments.

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Over the last few decades, research, activity, and funding has been devoted to improving the recruitment, retention, and advancement of women in the fields of science, engineering, and medicine. In recent years the diversity of those participating in these fields, particularly the participation of women, has improved and there are significantly more women entering careers and studying science, engineering, and medicine than ever before. However, as women increasingly enter these fields they face biases and barriers and it is not surprising that sexual harassment is one of these barriers.

Over thirty years the incidence of sexual harassment in different industries has held steady, yet now more women are in the workforce and in academia, and in the fields of science, engineering, and medicine (as students and faculty) and so more women are experiencing sexual harassment as they work and learn. Over the last several years, revelations of the sexual harassment experienced by women in the workplace and in academic settings have raised urgent questions about the specific impact of this discriminatory behavior on women and the extent to which it is limiting their careers.

Sexual Harassment of Women explores the influence of sexual harassment in academia on the career advancement of women in the scientific, technical, and medical workforce. This report reviews the research on the extent to which women in the fields of science, engineering, and medicine are victimized by sexual harassment and examines the existing information on the extent to which sexual harassment in academia negatively impacts the recruitment, retention, and advancement of women pursuing scientific, engineering, technical, and medical careers. It also identifies and analyzes the policies, strategies and practices that have been the most successful in preventing and addressing sexual harassment in these settings.

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Introduction

Sexual harassment has been a hot topic for years. Corporations all over the world have been forced to deal with sexual harassment legal challenges. Crain & Heischmidt (1995) mention that after the case of Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas, Supreme Court nominee, the number of women coming out to file a complaint about sexual harassment increased significantly. Indeed, in the next nine months, the number of cases increased by 150 percent (Crain & Heischmidt, 1995). Sexual harassment is defined by the Federal Register (1980) as any form of sexual advance, physical or verbal conduct of sexual nature. While sexual harassment is illegal in most countries, it also has ethical implications. Employers need to put effective measures in place that prevent sexual harassment from happening, and make reporting easy, anonymous, and safe. The below paper will focus on government and corporate guidelines for preventing and identifying sexual harrassment.

Sexual Harassment in Context

Significance of the Issue

According to Dromm (2012), “sexual harassment is a real issue with real consequences. What some people in the workplace think brings comfort, actually brings fear and problems with self-esteem” (Dromm, 2012). Sexual harassment in the workplace is a very critical issue and affects men and women alike.

A recent publication by Stop Violence Agaisnt Women (2010) states that “It is believed that at least one-third of women in the United States experience some form of sexual harassment”. This indicates that the prevalence of sexual harassment in the workplace is significantly greater than the number of reported cases would suggest.

Ramsarop & Parumasur (2007) stated that it is still not clear which behaviors and behavior patterns constitute towards sexual harassment. The existence of the gray area makes it harder for individuals to make a judgment, and prosecutors to rule in individual cases. The next section of the review will focus on the main problems that prevent the discovery and the reporting of sexual harassment cases worldwide.

Barriers of Reporting and Ethical/Legal Considerations

According to the Stop Violence Against Women (2007), in most cases sexual harassment is not reported for many reasons. First, women do not believe that authorities and supervisors within the company would take any steps. Secondly, many women are afraid of becoming stigmatized and being blamed for falling a victim of this act. Finally, in some cases, women simply do not want to hurt the person who harassed them. They might be good friends, and a corporate night out resulted in unwanted sexual advancements. In these cases, women believe that the prosecution of the person would be too great of a punishment.

It is also hard to provide a proof of injury at court, and in most cases it is one person’s word against the other person’s, as sexual harassment usually takes place without anyone witnessing it.

Preventive Actions

One of the actions that are taken to handle sexual harassment is that all sexual harassment problems is to create relevant company policies that focus on training related to ethics. Further, policies need to state that employees can report sexual harassment anonymously.

The culture of the organization should focus on openness information sharing. In an ethical company, unwanted sexual advancement should not be tolerated. It’s one thing to be on even ground with that person, as far as sexual advances or even making sexual jokes that they don’t mind. At the same time, when the person starts taking it personally then it should be reported because the person has to feel like what they say and feel matters. According to Sherwyn (2008), “Everyone entertains a different perception of sexual harassment in the workplace, but a coworker’s personal life combined with sexual teasing should never come into play because it can cause some real damage to them especially with people that they have to work around (Sherwyn, 55, 2008).

Recent Case Analysis

A recent sexual harassment case against Kroger (Arkansas Matters, 2015) shows that the company itself has certain responsibilities towards employees. Certain steps need to be taken after the issues are reported, or the preventive policies will not achieve their intended effect. A teenager employee was subjected to sexual harassment in the workplace, and repeatedly reported the issue to her supervisor. According to the ruling in the case, Keoger “failed to take effective action to prevent such abuse of the employee by a male co-worker” (Arkansas Matters, 2015, para. 2). The company did not take any action against the harasser, and is now made to pay a settlement of $42.500. As Faye A. Williams, regional attorney of EEOC’s confirmed: “Employees – especially very young and vulnerable employees such as in this case — should be able to report to work without fear of sexual harassment,” (Quoted in: Arkansas Matters, 2015, para. 5).

Bosses and supervisors are usually required to take action, but sometimes they fail to fulfill their obligations to victims, like in the above case. In light of this, special or mandatory training on sexual harassment is another course of action that people as well as CEOs are forced to take and participate in. During the training people, people, coworkers as well as supervisors are taught about the importance of sexual harassment preventions. Also, these same people are walked through several different training scenarios that show and illustrate what is appropriate behavior in the workplace along with what is intolerable or where the line needs to be drawn.

Reflection and Recommendations

According to Blackstone (2012), “Men and women are made victims of sexual harassment, harmless sexual teasing can open the doors to workplace violence unless measures are put in place to prevent this from happening” (Blackstone, 2012). Therefore, policies should not only focus on women, but the entire population.

It can be argued that women are usually the common victims of sexual harassment and are immediately expected to tell the supervisor, but men are just as susceptible to it as women are. Back in the mid to late 90s, sexual harassment wasn’t as prevalent and in need of methodical prevention like it is today but what is clear is that both genders of people experience it at one point in time.

There have been instances in the past where people who file sexual harassment complaints aren’t dealt with accordingly because of the lack of evidence or because it’s her word against his. In these cases, employers need to determine who is lying and who’s telling the truth; it can become a battle of moral and workplace. Education related to sexual harassment, prevention, and making it easy to report cases seems to be the most effective solution for reducing the number of cases.

According to Carter (2006), “taking preventative steps to eliminating sexual harassment in the workplace is the key to happy and productive workers not to mention happy supervisors” (Carter, 2006). It can be said that sexual harassment in the workplace is an issue that should be handled with care, because it can impact a lot of people.

In closing, sexual harassment in the workplace has caused quite a lot of damage to the people working in the workplace because of the inaction on both parties’ side but taking the time to prevent it shows courage and adaptability to change; a person’s job is not a place for sexual advances or sexual harassment of any kind. It’s everyone’s responsibility to stop it at the source.

Arkansas Matters. (2015) Kroger to Pay Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Settlement. Arkansas Matters News online. Retrieved from http://www.arkansasmatters.com/news/local- news/kroger-to-pay-sexual-harrassment-lawsuit-settlement

Blackstone, A. (2012, May 1). Fighting Sexual Harassment in the Workplace. Retrieved November 9, 2015, from University of Maine http://www.scholarsstrategynetwork.org/content/fighting-sexual-harassment-workplace

Carter, S. (2006). Preventing sexual harassment in the workplace. Retrieved November 9, 2015, from http://www.roughnotes.com/rnmagazine/search/management/08_08P070.htm

Crain, K. A., & Heischmidt, K. A. (1995). Implementing business ethics: Sexual harassment. Journal of Business Ethics , 14 (4), 299-308.

Dromm, K. (2012, May 31). Keith Dromm on Sexual Harassment . Retrieved November 9, 2015, from http://sites.broadviewpress.com/keith-dromm-on-sexual-harassment/

Ramsaroop, A., & Parumasur, S. B. (2007). The prevalence and nature of sexual harassment in the workplace: A model for early identification and effective management thereof. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology , 33 (2), 25-33.

Sherwyn, D. (2008). Roundtable Retrospective 2007: Dealing with Sexual Harassment. The Scholarly Commons , 2, 55-55. http://scholarship.sha.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1386&context=articles

Stop Violence Against Women. (2007) Barriers to Effective Enforcement of Sexual Harassment Law. Retrieved from http://www.stopvaw.org/barriers_to_effective_enforcement_of_sexual_harassment_law.html

Stop Violence Against Women. (2011) Prevalence of Sexual Harassmen t. Retrieved from http://www.stopvaw.org/prevalence_of_sexual_harassment

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Essay on Sexual Harassment (1196 Words)

June 6, 2018 by Study Mentor Leave a Comment

Sexual harassment is not just a term. It’s a whole phenomenon in itself. At times, it unfolds all at once or else it takes time. It is a much-debated topic in current times. What we need to realize is that mere discussions will not help alone.

We need to understand the depth of the topic and consider its complications; only then can we go ahead and place our respective views on it. Another angle that will be taken up in this essay is the society’s take on sexual harassment. We will discuss the views of Indian society as well as the western, so called ‘modern’ societies.

Sexual harassment is not a topic of this generation. It has existed and sadly, survived through the older generations. Earlier people considered it shameful to talk about it and would not bring it out in public spaces.

But now we have popular organisations, student groups and therapists discuss this motion out in open. It is not about the dimensions that you see in this issue. It is about the wholesome picture that it presents to you, whether you can grasp the concept as a whole or are you just clinging on to certain aspects of it.

Indian society often shuns the discussion on sexual harassment and embarrasses the victim. Well, the word ‘victim’ too puts the harassed in the weak position and brings out the idea of ‘damage has been done’. This further perpetrates a guilt feeling in the person who is harassed and makes them think that ‘they’ should have been more careful.

We need to understand that the words used by a society to describe the harassed person are often very harsh and crude. They are not at all sensitive towards the feelings of that person and do not even consider being gentle towards them. Harassed people are often treated as if they are offenders and have committed some crime.

The view that sexual harassment brings embarrassment to the harassed and that they should not voice it, needs to be done away with. We need to construct a more holistic approach towards this problem and bring out the fearful aspect of it.

The impacts of sexual harassment on the person who is harassed cannot be measured. The damage done, has not only been physical. It is mentally torturing for someone to have borne the pain and not been able to share with anyone. They cannot talk about it to people and this empowers the felon even more.

They lose their sense of dignity and look down upon their own selves. All this results in the willingness of the person to commit suicide, as they see no way out of it. All this because society shuns them and gives them no dignitary place.

This was the view on how Indian society treats its sexual harassment victims. Not just Indian actually but also Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and a few more Asian nations. Contrasting this with the modern developed western worlds, do we see a very different image then the one we have already discussed about.

The western societies are more open about the claims to sexual harassment and they deal with it in a much more mature manner. There is a whole system and procedures in place which are activated when such a case comes up.

The famous cases of sexual harassment on Senator Bob Packwood and Six-year-old v. Brockton, Massachusetts School District; were dealt with in an appropriate manner. As a result of their act, in the former case the senator faced resignation from his post.

Latter case resulted in the school revising its sexual harassment policy. These cases, if compared to the Indian cases will make us realise how India took so long to come up with ‘Vishaka Guidelines’. Even though we had complaints regarding sexual harassment where former Punjab Director General of Police, KPS Gill was accused of harassing a senior IPS Officer in 1988.

From then till now, where we have heard of Ashok Kumar Ganguly, a former Supreme Court judge and Tarun Tejpal , chief editor of Tehelka magazine; we have had several cases of sexual harassment.

It took 20 years for the Indian judiciary to come up with laws to protect women from sexual harassment. Vishakha guidelines were taken as a law in 2013 which stood against harassment of women in workplace. What is astounding about this law is that it raises more questions than it answers.

Does this law not consider harassment at home or in any public domain to be equivalent to harassment in place? Does it not believe that even men can be victims of sexual harassment? Is it compulsorily going to be a woman who will be assaulted in India? These are the questions which have arisen in response to the vishakha guidelines, which too could not deliver justice to Bhanwari Devi’s rape case .

Nowadays we have many NGOs and university cells which are spreading awareness on sexual harassment and encouraging people to fight and speak up against it.

The recent Facebook campaign of ‘#MeToo’ also focuses on the aspect of trying to make people come out in open about their hidden fears of being judged because they were assaulted. This campaign took wings in a few days and many tweets and Facebook posts started to talk explicitly of how and where people were harassed.

Incident of sexual harassment don’t contain themselves to any particular age group. There are cases of harassment filed on behalf of juvenile girls in India, by their parents. From the age of three to seventy-two, we have had cases of women being harassed and exploited.

Age is not a factor which provokes such incidents, as claimed by many. How sexually developed is a three-year-old girl to be raped? what pleasure will anyone get by sexually abusing a seventy-two-year-old woman?

Often in India it is claimed that women are raped cause of their eating habits and because they put on denims. Well these notions are the most ridiculous ones for anyone to believe. There are people who wear denims and skirts every day and have not been raped whereas women in saree have also faced assault in India.

What dressing culture are our political leaders then talking about? Do they fail to look beyond the chains of culture and religion? Seems like, yes. They will do whatever that helps their vote bank politics. They fail to analyse the case in a proper manner and come up with bizarre conclusions.

What really causes the harassment cases to increase is the thinking and the perspectives that Indians hold towards each other, specially towards women. They need to consider women as equals and not as a subordinate gender, who is born to serve them.

The objectification of women in Bollywood also gives a lead to criminals who commit such crimes. Our song lyrics portray women in a very helpless manner and as enjoyable objects.

This change can happen only if people are educated to realise that the offender should be guilty and not the victim. Knowledge alone, via schooling or by campaigns of various human rights activists, can help them to rise above their current perspectives and treat women in a more equivalent manner.

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What Researchers Discovered When They Sent 80,000 Fake Résumés to U.S. Jobs

Some companies discriminated against Black applicants much more than others, and H.R. practices made a big difference.

By Claire Cain Miller and Josh Katz

A group of economists recently performed an experiment on around 100 of the largest companies in the country, applying for jobs using made-up résumés with equivalent qualifications but different personal characteristics. They changed applicants’ names to suggest that they were white or Black, and male or female — Latisha or Amy, Lamar or Adam.

On Monday, they released the names of the companies . On average, they found, employers contacted the presumed white applicants 9.5 percent more often than the presumed Black applicants.

Yet this practice varied significantly by firm and industry. One-fifth of the companies — many of them retailers or car dealers — were responsible for nearly half of the gap in callbacks to white and Black applicants.

Two companies favored white applicants over Black applicants significantly more than others. They were AutoNation, a used car retailer, which contacted presumed white applicants 43 percent more often, and Genuine Parts Company, which sells auto parts including under the NAPA brand, and called presumed white candidates 33 percent more often.

In a statement, Heather Ross, a spokeswoman for Genuine Parts, said, “We are always evaluating our practices to ensure inclusivity and break down barriers, and we will continue to do so.” AutoNation did not respond to a request for comment.

Companies With the Largest and Smallest Racial Contact Gaps

Of the 97 companies in the experiment, two stood out as contacting presumed white job applicants significantly more often than presumed Black ones. At 14 companies, there was little or no difference in how often they called back the presumed white or Black applicants.

Source: Patrick Kline, Evan K. Rose and Christopher R. Walters

Known as an audit study , the experiment was the largest of its kind in the United States: The researchers sent 80,000 résumés to 10,000 jobs from 2019 to 2021. The results demonstrate how entrenched employment discrimination is in parts of the U.S. labor market — and the extent to which Black workers start behind in certain industries.

“I am not in the least bit surprised,” said Daiquiri Steele, an assistant professor at the University of Alabama School of Law who previously worked for the Department of Labor on employment discrimination. “If you’re having trouble breaking in, the biggest issue is the ripple effect it has. It affects your wages and the economy of your community going forward.”

Some companies showed no difference in how they treated applications from people assumed to be white or Black. Their human resources practices — and one policy in particular (more on that later) — offer guidance for how companies can avoid biased decisions in the hiring process.

A lack of racial bias was more common in certain industries: food stores, including Kroger; food products, including Mondelez; freight and transport, including FedEx and Ryder; and wholesale, including Sysco and McLane Company.

“We want to bring people’s attention not only to the fact that racism is real, sexism is real, some are discriminating, but also that it’s possible to do better, and there’s something to be learned from those that have been doing a good job,” said Patrick Kline, an economist at the University of California, Berkeley, who conducted the study with Evan K. Rose at the University of Chicago and Christopher R. Walters at Berkeley.

The researchers first published details of their experiment in 2021, but without naming the companies. The new paper, which is set to run in the American Economic Review, names the companies and explains the methodology developed to group them by their performance, while accounting for statistical noise.

Sample Résumés From the Experiment

Fictitious résumés sent to large U.S. companies revealed a preference, on average, for candidates whose names suggested that they were white.

To assign names, the researchers started with a prior list that had been assembled using Massachusetts birth certificates from 1974 to 1979. They then supplemented this list with names found in a database of speeding tickets issued in North Carolina between 2006 and 2018, classifying a name as “distinctive” if more than 90 percent of people with that name were of a particular race.

The study includes 97 firms. The jobs the researchers applied to were entry level, not requiring a college degree or substantial work experience. In addition to race and gender, the researchers tested other characteristics protected by law , like age and sexual orientation.

They sent up to 1,000 applications to each company, applying for as many as 125 jobs per company in locations nationwide, to try to uncover patterns in companies’ operations versus isolated instances. Then they tracked whether the employer contacted the applicant within 30 days.

A bias against Black names

Companies requiring lots of interaction with customers, like sales and retail, particularly in the auto sector, were most likely to show a preference for applicants presumed to be white. This was true even when applying for positions at those firms that didn’t involve customer interaction, suggesting that discriminatory practices were baked in to corporate culture or H.R. practices, the researchers said.

Still, there were exceptions — some of the companies exhibiting the least bias were retailers, like Lowe’s and Target.

The study may underestimate the rate of discrimination against Black applicants in the labor market as a whole because it tested large companies, which tend to discriminate less, said Lincoln Quillian, a sociologist at Northwestern who analyzes audit studies. It did not include names intended to represent Latino or Asian American applicants, but other research suggests that they are also contacted less than white applicants, though they face less discrimination than Black applicants.

The experiment ended in 2021, and some of the companies involved might have changed their practices since. Still, a review of all available audit studies found that discrimination against Black applicants had not changed in three decades. After the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, such discrimination was found to have disappeared among certain employers, but the researchers behind that study said the effect was most likely short-lived.

Gender and other characteristics

On average, companies did not treat male and female applicants differently. This aligns with other research showing that gender discrimination against women is rare in entry-level jobs, and starts later in careers.

However, when companies did favor men (especially in manufacturing) or women (mostly at apparel stores), the biases were much larger than for race. Builders FirstSource contacted presumed male applicants more than twice as often as female ones. Ascena, which owns brands like Ann Taylor, contacted women 66 percent more than men.

Neither company responded to requests for comment.

The consequences of being female differed by race. The differences were small, but being female was a slight benefit for white applicants, and a slight penalty for Black applicants.

The researchers also tested several other characteristics protected by law, with a smaller number of résumés. They found there was a small penalty for being over 40.

Overall, they found no penalty for using nonbinary pronouns. Being gay, as indicated by including membership in an L.G.B.T.Q. club on the résumé, resulted in a slight penalty for white applicants, but benefited Black applicants — although the effect was small, when this was on their résumés, the racial penalty disappeared.

Under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, discrimination is illegal even if it’s unintentional . Yet in the real world, it is difficult for job applicants to know why they did not hear back from a company.

“These practices are particularly challenging to address because applicants often do not know whether they are being discriminated against in the hiring process,” Brandalyn Bickner, a spokeswoman for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, said in a statement. (It has seen the data and spoken with the researchers, though it could not use an academic study as the basis for an investigation, she said.)

What companies can do to reduce discrimination

Several common measures — like employing a chief diversity officer, offering diversity training or having a diverse board — were not correlated with decreased discrimination in entry-level hiring, the researchers found.

But one thing strongly predicted less discrimination: a centralized H.R. operation.

The researchers recorded the voice mail messages that the fake applicants received. When a company’s calls came from fewer individual phone numbers, suggesting that they were originating from a central office, there tended to be less bias . When they came from individual hiring managers at local stores or warehouses, there was more. These messages often sounded frantic and informal, asking if an applicant could start the next day, for example.

“That’s when implicit biases kick in,” Professor Kline said. A more formalized hiring process helps overcome this, he said: “Just thinking about things, which steps to take, having to run something by someone for approval, can be quite important in mitigating bias.”

At Sysco, a wholesale restaurant food distributor, which showed no racial bias in the study, a centralized recruitment team reviews résumés and decides whom to call. “Consistency in how we review candidates, with a focus on the requirements of the position, is key,” said Ron Phillips, Sysco’s chief human resources officer. “It lessens the opportunity for personal viewpoints to rise in the process.”

Another important factor is diversity among the people hiring, said Paula Hubbard, the chief human resources officer at McLane Company. It procures, stores and delivers products for large chains like Walmart, and showed no racial bias in the study. Around 40 percent of the company’s recruiters are people of color, and 60 percent are women.

Diversifying the pool of people who apply also helps, H.R. officials said. McLane goes to events for women in trucking and puts up billboards in Spanish.

So does hiring based on skills, versus degrees . While McLane used to require a college degree for many roles, it changed that practice after determining that specific skills mattered more for warehousing or driving jobs. “We now do that for all our jobs: Is there truly a degree required?” Ms. Hubbard said. “Why? Does it make sense? Is experience enough?”

Hilton, another company that showed no racial bias in the study, also stopped requiring degrees for many jobs, in 2018.

Another factor associated with less bias in hiring, the new study found, was more regulatory scrutiny — like at federal contractors, or companies with more Labor Department citations.

Finally, more profitable companies were less biased, in line with a long-held economics theory by the Nobel Prize winner Gary Becker that discrimination is bad for business. Economists said that could be because the more profitable companies benefit from a more diverse set of employees. Or it could be an indication that they had more efficient business processes, in H.R. and elsewhere.

Claire Cain Miller writes about gender, families and the future of work for The Upshot. She joined The Times in 2008 and was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for public service for reporting on workplace sexual harassment issues. More about Claire Cain Miller

Josh Katz is a graphics editor for The Upshot, where he covers a range of topics involving politics, policy and culture. He is the author of “Speaking American: How Y’all, Youse, and You Guys Talk,” a visual exploration of American regional dialects. More about Josh Katz

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Sexual Harassment and Culture Essay

Introduction, sexual harassment in schools, a cultural viewpoint on sexual harassment, sexual harassment and culture, empirical-based research, conclusions.

The contemporary workplace has transformed a great deal compared to a few decades ago. Both diversity and multiculturalism are now more dominant than ever before as occasioned by the impact of globalization. As a result, employers can hardly disregard the cultural-based influences brought about by other workers at the place of work.

Hence, the understanding of sexual harassment can only be vivid when explored in terms of cross-cultural dimensions. Nonetheless, it is imperative to note that the characterization of sexual harassment might be complex since its actual meaning has not been adequately comprehended even within a single culture (Saguy, 2003).

In retrospect, sexual harassment has been a subject of debate for ages especially when elements such as human resource management are brought on board. Furthermore, the debate is not merely concentrated at a local level, it is rather widespread.

The attempt to give meaning to the concept of sexual harassment is further complicated by the fact that the environment that is multicultural in nature is also put into account. There is a lot of controversy surrounding this concept when ideas from myriad of cultures are all considered.

For instance, the understanding of sexual harassment in one culture may be completely different from another one, or even complement each other. What might be a norm in one culture may be a taboo in another and vice versa. Better still; values that are cherished in one culture may totally be repugnant in another one.

On the same note, the way an employer will respond to sexual harassment issues arising at workplace will be dictated by cultural elements. Hence, the process of demonstrating the impacts of visualizing sexual harassment based on cultural ideals requires shrewd consideration of certain implicit factors. For example, both workers and managers should be educated on the relevance of cultural diversity.

Besides, cultural psychology should be made use especially when handling court cases that are addressing disputes emanating from sexual harassment and finally, due consideration should be made on standards and policies that are being used on different personalities, bearing in mind their cultural values. This paper explores the intrigues of sexual harassment and cultural diversity and the debate surrounding the concept.

Sexual harassment can also prevail in educational institutions. The amendment of the Hong Kong’s Sex Discrimination Ordinance (SDO) law that was adopted on 3 rd October 2008 witnessed the incorporation of educational settings as one of the areas where sexual harassment offense can take place (the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, 2009).

According to the amendment, sexual harassment in educational institutions entails the creation of an antagonistic and threatening learning environment. The new law further specifies that the leadership of schools has the responsibility of making sure that students and the rest of the school community are co-exist in a school environment that is free of any form of sexual harassment.

These guidelines have also been emphasized by the Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC) reiterating that schools should take pragmatic measures in providing a favourable atmosphere suitable for learning. According to the commission, this can be achieved by developing work contracts for employees as well as discipline code of conduct for students in written form.

The schools should ensure that the stated rules and regulations are stated to the letter. Besides, all complaints arising from sexual harassment cases should be dealt with decisively by the school administration.

As a business hub in the world, Hong Kong is an important centre for conducting international business. Most of the inhabitants of the country are people of Chinese origin. The tourist flow in and out of Hong Kong is relatively impressive throughout the twelve calendar months, qualifying the nation as an equal opportunity employer in Asia.

In spite of the Chinese dominance, the cultural values and practices of Hong Kong people are distinct from the Chinese ones. The Hong Kong constitution and other by-laws are largely influenced affected by the legislation derived from its former colonizer, Britain as well as what is referred to as common law.

The Sex Discrimination Ordinance (SDO) piece of legislation describes the sexual harassment law with respect to Hong Kong culture (Adler & Towne, 2003). According to SDO, sexual harassment of whatever nature has been made a tort. Hence, whoever feels that he or she has been injured by a given act of sexual harassment is allowed to sue the offender.

The Hong Kong law on sexual harassment is perhaps one of the perfect examples of legislations in the world that do not only embody cultural diversity, but also applies the existing laws to the latter.

However, there are still open loopholes in the implementation of the sexual harassment Act since the judiciary has been reported several times to be lax and have not proved themselves to be tantamount to the uphill task of effecting the legislation to the latter (Luo, 1996).

Worse still, this piece of legislation may not be putting into consideration other diverse cultures and how they perceive sexual harassment. The legislation seems to dwell so much on the sexual injustices meted on a female person by a male offender. It is however vital to note that modern day sexual harassment offences may originate from either gender contrary to the popular belief by most conventional literatures.

The Hong Kong legislation also specifies that all acts of sexual harassment are illegal not just at workplace but also in other areas. This is good enough for the country since the harassment offence is broad and several categories through which the crime can be conducted have been addressed. Nonetheless, we are yet to find clauses within the legislation that offer relevance to culture.

As mentioned earlier, the SDO Act has myriad of attributes as far as the protection of sexual dignity of individuals is concerned. Nevertheless, in spite of the far-reaching description of sexual harassment as contained in the document, the law fails to cover certain areas of interest. It is imperative to note that SDO mainly concentrates on sexual harassment outcomes emanating only from specified areas such as employment or at workplace (Dank & Refinetti, 1998).

Hence, some areas where sexual harassment cases can arise are not catered for. This is a serious omission in view of the fact that even before the concept of sexual harassment could be visualised; it already existed in the fragile culture. Unfortunately, the society and governments in particular seem to contemplate sexual harassment only on the basis institutions, ignoring the grim reality that family units in well established marriages also encounter the ordeal though in varying degrees.

Furthermore, women are wholly protected by SDO and not their counterpart males. Therefore, the Hong Kong legislation does not cover sexual harassment cases emanating from same sex. This may be quite tricky owing to the fact that same sex relationships have never been societal norms across the globe although such unique affairs are increasingly taking shape in the contemporary society.

In some cultures, it is definitely unacceptable to discuss same sex affairs. A mention of lesbianism or gay relationships is strictly a taboo and perhaps this is the reason why the SDO Act is not touching on it. Nonetheless, throwing a blind eye on same sex sexual harassment cases is not helpful either.

The bare reality is that the society has undergone through a series of dynamic transformations and as a result, new and perhaps strange forms of sexual encounters are on board. Failure to address the need and concerns of same sex affairs is unwarranted since they too are part and parcel of the society.

The third shortcoming of the Hong Kong legislation lies on the verity that the burden of proof that the plaintiff is supposed to shoulder is extremely heavy. According to the court, only an objective test is applied to ascertain the truth by the claimant on sexual harassment. This test is not straightforward and may complicate the process of seeking justice.

There are multiple claims that have been thrown away due to the problematic nature of this test method (Kennedy & Gorzalka, 2002). For instance, how can the courts rule out that a given complainant was highly responsive to physical touch and so that cannot account to sexual harassment?

Or how do we justify that the claimant failed to resist sexual harassment? These are just some of the concerns on the weakness portrayed in the SDO Act that need to be amended if justice will finally be meted on the victims. It is unimaginable to see how the very judiciary entrusted with the onerous role of discharging justice failing with impunity to play their part.

Moreover, judges presiding over sexual harassment cases under the SDO legislation may sometimes dismiss some of the complaints presented to them arguing that the female might have flaunted herself to an extent of being sexually harassed (Saguy, 2003). In some cases, the complainant is said to have reached a consensus at an earlier date with the wrongdoer and therefore any allegation of sexual harassment may be ill directed.

There are also instances when the courts will argue that the claimant delayed to report the incidence. All the aforementioned bases used by judges to ignore cases presented to them are serious loopholes in the Hong Kong legislation. It is quite ambiguous for the existing laws on sexual harassment to fail in terms of clarity.

Although it may be quite cumbersome to undertake reforms in the anti sexual harassment laws or better still changing the deeply rooted attitude of offenders, there are quite a number of modalities that can be instituted in place to assist in the process of rightful interpretation and application of the law.

The challenge of sexual harassment in relation to culture is enormous. In spite of this, the Asian countries and the world at large are yet to embark on a holistic perspective in resolving the challenge. It is not just enough to declare the illegality of sexual harassment; there are myriad of issues surrounding the offence and which require a thoughtful approach.

In addition, decisions endorsed by the judiciary in regard to compensating the claimants are still not sufficient in curbing this growing societal challenge. Similarly, situations whereby complaints committees are formed to penalize offenders cannot curb this growing heinous act.

The war against sexual harassment will only be won if all stakeholders are involved. We need the entire society, not just to participate but be proactive in shielding all the possible avenues of this demeaning practice (Lee, 2001).

One likely explanation why the Hong Kong law on sexual harassment is not comprehensive in spite of its highly esteemed and elevated status is that the cultural view point and its significance on controlling the offence has not been factored in the current campaign against the act.

We need the active and concerted effort from religious reformers, politicians and social scientists. The broad agenda should be to change the mindset of offenders rather than relying on the problematic legal process. However, this does not imply that the courts are done away with in this matter. The legislations enacted to curtail the activities of harassers should by far and large, considerate of the diverse cultures.

The media is yet another powerful tool that can be used dispatch the right messages as part of changing the mentality of potential and upcoming offenders (Parish, Das & Laumann, 2006). There is also the delicate balance in terms of gender equity and presentation in various commissions, equal opportunity commissions, committees that deal with complaints as well as the judiciary.

No single country can adequately deal with incidents of sexual harassment without encompassing the effort from both genders. It is a common experience of males dominating most of these bodies formed to oversee sexual harassment. This is erroneous and it is also the likely point where the society diverted or lost track in the fight against sexual harassment.

Women should equal players. The Sexual Harassment of Women Bill in India provides that the complaints committee dealing with sexual harassment should be headed by a female and 50% of its membership should also be made up of women (Berryman-Fink, 1997). This is a remarkable step that ensures comprehensiveness in incorporating culture and gender in solving the problem.

The Hong case is also limited by the fact that the coverage of the legislation has a narrow scope in the sense that it addresses only a few situations the offence is perpetrated. It is worth noting that sexual harassment is multi-faceted and cannot be approached from a single viewpoint.

Before the final verdict can be reached by the courts, thorough investigation using variety of tests is necessary. There are conspicuous uneasiness in proving an incidence of sexual harassment according to the current Hong Kong legislation. The theory that the courts are left to prove each case as objectively as possible is not welcome.

This is in fact the major setback when following up cases related to sexual harassment. A better alternative to this fiasco will be to leave the claimant to shoulder the burden of proof just like other ordinary cases. The innocence of the wrongdoer should only be proved by the offender and not the courts.

Further still, the Hong Kong courts do not award adequate damages to the complainant. This implies that the wrongdoer does not feel the pinching impacted of undergoing conviction and as a result, such light penalties may not deter the offender from committing the crime again. Unfortunately, the Hong Kong judges have never stuck to the letter on the direction given by anti sexual harassment legislation to advance exemplary damages.

For example, much of what is awarded as damages in Hong Kong is not commensurate with the per capita income of the area which is quite high. A case look at United States reveals that when sexual harassment disputes are settled out of the court, an average sum of 300,000 US dollars is awarded to the victim. This is a lot fair and sincerely speaking, the economic culture of the region has been put into consideration before compensating the claimant.

There are some other working environments that do not culturally make use of working contracts that encompass sexual harassment clause. This is due to either the ignorance of the fact that such harassment is not commonplace or employers and managers are pre-occupied with maximizing returns for their companies at the expense of employee welfare (Canary & Spitzberg, 1987).

Restraining sexual harassment at workplace will demand the institution of employment contracts that clearly stipulates terms and conditions of working. One of the most important elements of this agreement should be the termination of employment after due investigation of a sexual harassment case surrounding the concerned individual. Such a step will have deterrent effect on the wrongdoer.

Victims who have undergone sexual harassment may develop psychological problems either at a personal or family level. Dealing with such an aftermath requires proper integration of culture. A near perfect way is the use of women organisations with counselling experts to offer guidance and counselling to the affected persons.

Culturally, women are generally known to offer the best consolation compared to men. Indeed, when this natural ability is integrated with expertise knowledge, the process of recovery can really be hastened.

The patriarchal norms of the society need to be reformed. There are certain standards that have run deep into the societal fabric. Unfortunately, some these norms and standards are not beneficial while they have been adopted as part and parcel of the acceptable culture. In order to uproot what is not desired, women groups are well placed to act proactively in derailing the misleading norms.

In any case, there are countless instances of sexual harassment that are primarily caused by our own deteriorating norms. Women are also the best agents in championing the much needed change since they are also the group that is culturally susceptible to this form of abuse. Hence, all stakeholders involved the fight against the growing sexual harassment against women should understand that respecting, honouring and dignifying women is the highest duty.

Both intensive and extensive investigations have been carried out on differences in gender in regard to sexual harassment as compared to cultural differences. Limited research studies have been conducted in this area in spite of the potential effect of culture on sexual harassment.

At this juncture, it is paramount to distinguish between the component that deals with understanding culture and a hostile environment that has been subjected to an environment that is not conducive. Hence, the definition of a subjective standard for an environment that is considered hostile is necessary.

Before concluding on any particular judgment on sexual harassment it is imperative to bear in mind the cultural differences which may have influenced the wrongdoer in committing the offence. The explanation for this is simple and straightforward; the world today has become more globalised than before and the thought of hiring employees definitely brings in the issue of cultural diversity.

In any one particular workplace, it is highly likely that employees will be made up of people from diverse backgrounds, subscribing unique values and standards. Therefore, diversity in culture is a phenomenon that managers and employers have to wrestle with from time to time. It is also interesting to note that all individuals have a strong personal appeal for their own original cultures.

The very individuals who are also in working capacity can also identify quite well what is meant by a hostile working environment in as far as sexual abuse in concerned. Indeed, they can do this better than their fellow workers who are residents in a particular country simply due to the unfamiliar environment they are in.

To this end, there are limited studies that only report on cases of sexual harassment that are not yet proved. This is a common feature of United States. Although we can take such studies seriously and use them for further valuation, it is still not adequate to rely on the data obtained from one country like US for a well thought out empirical study (Clair, 1993).

Notwithstanding these evident weaknesses, both the existing data that is also readily available that attempt to compare various cultures within their original locations can be used as an eye opener in understanding how differences in culture and sexual harassment compare and contrast.

There are countries that are patriarchal in nature whereby not many women are employed in occupations dominated by males. In such countries, conducting research study on sexual harassment is not accepted since it can endanger the career of respondents (Lott, Reilly & Howard, 2002). Even in the event that we have to generalize on some ideas due to lack of sufficient data, it is still not easy; the process is quite cumbersome.

Brazil, a South American country, is well endowed both politically and economically. By 1988, the country had already enshrined gender equality in its constitutional document. Another law enacted in 1991 illegalised all forms of sexual harassment (Adler & Towne, 2003). It is interesting to learn that recent research surveys conducted in the North and South American college students revealed quite an astounding disparity.

The cross-cultural research concluded that the Brazilian concept of sexual harassment is unique compared to North American definition in spite of the fact that no difference exist between the students in the north and south.

From the study, it was evident that students originating from German, Australia and most countries in North America were highly likely to link sexual harassment with discriminating against gender, abuse of power as well as other harmful societal practices. According to these students, the aforementioned factors are the likely causes of sexual harassment.

On the contrary, college students from Brazil were highly likely to comprehend or link sexual harassment to demanding for sex without mutual consent from both partners or seeking romance from unwilling partner. There was nothing to do with power abuse or gender inequity at all in their perception.

The study of sexual harassment cases is done in a different way in Europe compared to countries in South America. As a result, it becomes quite difficult to draw vivid comparisons. Nevertheless, there are noticeable similarities with those results obtained from US. Incidences in northern European countries are reported more than those in the south.

This can be explained from the fact incidences of sexual harassment are more pronounced in the north than the south (Dodd, 1998). In spite of such brilliant reporting, the society should develop a culture of even reporting whether such cases are prevalent or not. By so doing, the immediate community will be adequately educated and be made aware of this societal ill-act.

In the southern European countries, researchers have unanimously concluded that the tradition of the church as well as family values have been found to shape behavioural patterns of the society. Hence, the southerner’s culture is heavily shaped by the two factors.

The case of Russia is rather unique. The laws of the country regarding sexual harassment are rather dormant and hardly enforced. In some cases, the legal process of apprehending offenders is not followed at all. Thus, a culture of ignorance has been cultivated for long leading to both poor reporting of the same as well as lack of concern and compensation for complainants.

The Russian women have had to bear the brunt of this don’t-care attitude. Additionally, the Europeans tend to conceptualize sexual harassment in variety of ways even in those regions which average almost the same in terms of responding to the offence. The doctrines of ordered liberty and cultural defence

In all the cases examined above, it is evident that variance in culture plays a significant role in either reporting or dealing with incidences of sexual harassment.

In most researches carried out, communication breakdown has been cited as a serious loophole in an attempt to deal conclusively with this form of crime (Landy & Conte, 2010). Further, the distortion of information by either the complainant or perpetrator of the crime is a major setback. These are also values that are socially and culturally derived.

Policy makers and law enforcers alike should come to the understanding that in order to address the missing link in trying the perpetrators of sexual harassment, language which is part and parcel of culture is significant. For instance, an utterance in one language translated in another language might transform into a verbal sexual harassment and therefore influence the final outcome of the case.

Different ethnic groups have their own way of understanding, interpreting or even evaluating verbal cues. An interesting example is that derived from the Malaysian community. This group perceive a touch on another person’s shoulder to be tantamount to sexual harassment.

The same action might imply nothing close to harassment in other cultures such as the American society. This is the point where law enforcers handling multi-ethnic cases should not only be keen non cultural differences but also critically evaluate each sexual harassment incidence brought to them before giving their final verdict.

Moreover, cultural sensitivity across the wide ethnic divide cannot be ignored. A case study of the Caucasian community reveals that commenting that someone appears sexy is sexual harassment. The spread of globalisation will occasion more sensitivity in the manner in which multicultural issues such as sexual harassment are handled.

There are myriad of socio-economic and political issues that must have been addressed with cultural perspective in mind. The swelling number of immigrants across the globe should indeed be a wakeup call for governments and in particular the legal fraternity to prepare in handling multi-cultural issues that are embedded from diverse backgrounds.

In fact, the concept of sexual harassment is in itself facing cultural collision n different parts of the world especially when more than one ethnic group is entangled in the case. Both the civic tradition and con conventional legal practices should embrace change by putting into consideration the values and beliefs of other cultures (Limpaphayom, Williams & Fadil, 2006).

In any case, sexual harassment incidences as perceived by different cultures is fast becoming a global problem due to ignorance of the issue and in some cases static legal practices by the judiciary which do not conform to the divergent cultures.

A look at the American law reveals that there has been growing tension between the need to harmonise culture and tolerating other global cultures. However, a civilised society should always endeavour to accommodate opposing views and perhaps work harder to improve them instead of discarding them into pieces (Brase & Miller, 2001).

Instead, any other global society should apply the principle of ordered liberty. According to this principle, different cultures should be accommodated in what is generally referred to as cultural pluralism. However, this can only be effective if it is applied within the confines that can be endured by the majority. This does not imply that personal liberty cannot be applied.

The main requirement should be such that whatever liberty is in force, it should not contravene social order, peaceful co-existence or conventions that the majority can tolerate with much ease (Neher, 1997). Although this doctrine appears appealing, it has been challenged by the left wing multiculturalists.

According to the argument put forward by this group, each cultural group should pursue its own unique traditions, values and practices even if it does not fall within the boundaries of the majority. This may be quite erroneous bearing in mind that the will of the majority matters a lot. In fact, contemporary governments have been built successfully based on democratic force where the majority vote carries the day.

How then should we dispute the glaring reality on the importance of unifying cultural values with sexual harassment in due regard of the majority? It is high time the left wingers changed their tact or better still, follow suit by embracing the doctrine of ordered liberty.

The doctrine of cultural defence was in fact the creation of the left wingers. The latter should however propose the need of judging sexual harassment offenders according to their cultural backgrounds instead of the prevailing legislations.

One major weakness assumption of the culture defence doctrine is that it is only sensitive to one culture thereby disregarding the interests of other ethnic groups. In line with this, there are some legal scholars who argue that the cultural situation of the defendant should be permitted as a mitigating element when judgment is being offered.

This may sound appealing but there are underlying assumptions that should be keenly scrutinized (Itzen & Newman, 2003). The cultural defence doctrine proposes that the cultural background of the offender can be used for purposes of defending a criminal offence on sexual harassment.

However, rarely has it been applied as a defence mechanism in court hearings. The missing link remains to be lack of its application despite of the fact that both doctrines have been used multiple times when reporting cases related to sexual harassment.

Well, it is quite vivid that there are some cultures that are more rigid than others and above all extremely sensitive on matters of sexuality. Worst of all, cases revolving around sexual harassment may never be given a ‘considerate’ hearing, by perhaps applying the principle of ordered liberty (DeFrancisco & Palczewski, 2007).

In the event that there is a gross cultural difference between the complainant and the victim, it is appropriate to make referral to such cases to the country of origin of the wrongdoer. This is especially necessary if no consensus can be reached between the two parties out-of-court or the existing laws are strictly applied as outlined in the clauses.

It is vital to reiterate the various challenges inherent in the application of cultural defence when resolving sexual harassment disputes in courts. Firstly, the purported wrongdoers from other countries do not receive fair share of the justice process since there is eminent disparity in the standards being used to discharge justice.

Both the plaintiff and the defendant should be treated on a common legal platform regardless of the cultural background (Berdahl, Magley & Waldo, 1996). Secondly, the cultural defence doctrine is a healthy ground for breeding cultural stereotyping from minority groups. Rather than the doctrine solving the conflict, it widens the divide between or among different cultures living in one country (Chae, 2007).

Consequently, the smaller cultural groups are adversely alienated. Third, the doctrine markedly fails to promote the women and children’s rights. This is owing to the reinforcement of patriarchal cultural norms that are repugnant or ignorant of the welfare of sensitive groups.

Sincerely speaking, when women and children are removed from the societal equation, it will be a recipe for social stratification and disintegration. Why then should we depreciate their worth at the pretext of defending culture when handling incidences of sexual harassment?

Fourth, the victims do not secure their rightful justice when the offender belongs to a different culture. This is even worse considering the fact that the victim cannot make any referral or appeal the case against the defendant from the same country.

Furthermore, the deterrent value that is supposed to be attached to punishment is limited especially when cultural cues are incorporated as part and parcel of mitigating for the case at hand. As a consequence, the accused may not see the sense in the entire verdict of the presiding jury and is more likely to repeat the offence with impunity within a foreseeable future.

Finally, the doctrine of cultural defence sometimes fail to acknowledge the grim reality that the justice system equally permits the integration of cultural background as a mitigating factor when delivering judgments and therefore the defendant still has the right to plead for reducing the judgment instead of receiving the full sentence.

Notwithstanding these limitations of cultural defence, proponents of this doctrine persist that it is only the application of this principle that individualized justice and fair rule can be enhanced. They continue to debate that there is no other better way of advancing cultural pluralism apart from applying the doctrine to the letter.

Besides, the advocates of this principle maintain that the mind of the wrongdoers when committing the alleged crime can be ascertained in a better way only through the doctrine of cultural defence.

Although the proponents of this unfavourable doctrine are quite outspoken on why they support it, there are notable assumptions that might result in grievous consequences if they are not addressed. It is conspicuous that the doctrine of ordered liberty has no constrictions in its application. It has no need to be backed up with mountain of explanations on why it is acceptable.

It is also a live example on how multicultural conflicts such as those arising from sexual harassment can be resolved in a fair and justified manner. Moreover, proponents of the doctrine of cultural defence should rise to the occasion and understand the fact that there is no higher duty than giving due respect to all the diverse cultures across the globe especially when handling disputes cutting across cultures.

Yet again, the doctrine of ordered liberty can indeed support the viewpoint that the concept of sexual harassment can be elaborated and discussed along culturally acknowledged practices provided that the very application does not supersede the generally accepted norms of the society.

Common knowledge per se cannot be adequate in quantifying sexual harassment cases. This is almost similar to the Hong Kong SDO legislation that employs certain objective tests in determining the validity of sexual harassment cases presented to the courts. Common knowledge is uniform or standard to all users and therefore its application might be significantly different.

For this reason, the much desired greater accuracy cannot be obtained. Let us consider this scenario. It is common knowledge and general perception that those who are powerfully superior at workplace often instigate sexual harassment to their subordinate victims. In contrast, evidence-based research has conclusively established that a higher percentage of sexual harassment incidences are prevalent among peers or colleagues.

Another observation has been empirically obtained notes that individuals who have never gone through sexual harassment in the past are highly likely to point an accusing finger to the purported victim. Unfortunately, common perception may not bring this on board, limiting the justice process further (Adler & Towne, 2003).

In yet another empirically researched report, the length of time a complainant will endure sexual advances before eventually filing a case is paramount. Common knowledge may not consider this as an important parameter when passing judgments on offenders, let alone the cultural background.

Sexual harassment and culture are two different concepts yet interlinked and inseparable. The societal impacts brought about by the influence of globalisation cannot be overstated; it is all evident in our day to day lives. When we mention diversity, multiple cultural backgrounds also come into play.

This form of harassment is mostly common at workplaces although the vice can permeate other domains in the society such as family set ups and institutions. Hence, employers and managers can no longer ignore the significance of cultural diversity when hiring workers.

To this end, it worth to note that the concept of sexual harassment is quite complex especially when the process of seeking justice is encompassed. As clearly as it stands, sexual harassment is a criminal offence although culture is very instrumental in fully defining the concept. This implies that the derived meaning of the concept may be as diverse as the existing traditions and cultural values among different ethnic groups.

Empirical-based research studies conducted on sexual harassment and culture from different locations in the world reveals it all. While touching the shoulder of a woman whom one is not intimately related with may be considered sexual harassment among some of the Caucasian ethnic groups, the very act may simply be interpreted as a way of seeking attention in the American society.

Such variance in culture and perception indeed calls for the application of ordered liberty doctrine that attempts to address and account for cultural differences when passing judgments on wrongdoers.

Needless to say, the doctrine of cultural defence is by far and large a bitter pill to swallow since it largely overlooks other cultures when delivering judgments and sentencing defenders.

As globalisation continues to take its toll on our traditional systems and structures, we should equally be compatible with the changing times. Moreover, proponents of the latter doctrine should reconsider their stand and allow multi-cultural approach to incidences surrounding sexual harassment.

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Sexual Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Academic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2018)

FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS

Chapter 3: Sexual Harassment in Academic Science, Engineering, and Medicine

Chapter 4: Outcomes of Sexual Harassment

Chapter 5: Existing Legal and Policy Mechanisms for Addressing Sexual Harassment

Chapter 6: Changing the Culture and Climate in Higher Education

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