Effects of Sexual Harassment in the Workplace - Research Paper Example

EFFECTS OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE WORKPLACE People experiencing sexual harassment are shocked at how disturbing it can be and how bad it can affect their lives. Most of the times it is considered harmless and something a person should be able to handle alone, and that it can be avoided or forgotten later on. But harassment is not as simple as it seems. It is very likely for individuals who suffer from sexual harassment to have a disturbed psychological or physiological health. Sexual harassment can be defined as any unwanted sex-related behavior at work that is considered offensive, interfering with lifestyle and the ability to perform well at work. However defining sexual harassment is a major problem because of the diverse perceptions people have about it. Another major issue is the differing view about what sexual harassment actually is among different social groups. For example, men are less likely to consider actions as sexual harassment as compared to women. A hand shake might be a friendly gesture by a male while it may be considered as harassment by a female. Any unwelcome sexual advances or requests or any other verbal or physical conduct of sexual nature used as the basis for employment is referred to as quid pro quo. While sexual harassment can create a hostile working environment, interfering with an individual’s work performance (Gardner & Johnson, 2001). This may include comments about some ones physical appearance or personal life style, or it can be deliberate unwanted physical contact. Sexual harassment can take various forms: gender harassment which includes non sexual gender oriented experiences like sexist comments. Unwanted sexual attention may include uninvited sex based comments or gestures or attempts of physical contact. Work related intimidation or rewards used to induce sexual cooperation or sexual coercion. Being a victim of sexual harassment is often very difficult, painful and traumatic. Harassment and discrimination have profound effects on people experiencing it. Persistent harassment can create a very uncomfortable and disturbing environment which makes it difficult for individuals to survive in the work environment. They are unable to perform well in their tasks which, in return, threaten their job. The severity and duration of sexual harassment has varied effects on people. Although sexual harassment is a type of sexual assault but it can have debilitating effects on the sufferer, as worse as victims of rape. A sexual harassment victim can experience anything from mild annoyance to extreme damage, psychologically and physiologically, depending on the situation. The effects of harassment on a sufferer’s career can be minimal or it may also leave him unemployed. Some of the general effects of sexual harassment at work place include the decreased performance of individuals as they try to focus more on dealing with the harassment. Some of the effects of harassment include absence of the individuals from work place is also common among the sufferers. This may be done in attempt to avoid the harasser. Sometimes people have to drop courses or apply for a transfer when they fail to cope with such situations. In some cases, people leave jobs which results in their loss of income and they fail to build a successful career from then on (Sexual Harassment Support, 2009). Sexual harassment produces an array of psychological and physical symptoms in victims, and mental health care help. Victims of sexual harassment may suffer from physical symptoms like headaches, digestive problems and neck and backaches. Frequently reported physical symptoms by victims include gastrointestinal disturbances, jaw tightness and teeth grinding, nervousness, headaches, nausea, loss of appetite and spells of crying. Sexual harassment affects the psychology of an individual the most and persistent harassment and stress taken from it can take the shape of a psychological disorder. The most common psychological disorders that people may develop include mood disorders, of which major depression takes the lead. Anxiety disorders like panic attacks, social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder or post traumatic stress disorder are commonly developed disorders in victims of sexual harassment. Similarities have been marked between the aftermath of sexual harassment and characteristic symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as defined by the American Psychiatric Association (American Psychological Association, 1987). Taking in view the gender differences from researches, we conclude that sexual harassment seems to be independent of gender. Men and women seem to suffer equally from the negatives of sexual harassment like bad physical and mental health. It is amazing to know how different individuals suffering from the same strength of stress respond in pretty much the same way. It is observed that men seem to suffer more from sexual harassment as compared to females. Females consider harassment as a hazard at work and something they can’t do anything about, so they just live with it. But for men, sexual harassment is much unexpected which leads to negative consequences. The varying effects of sexual harassment can actually lead to major losses in a person’s life. Decreased productivity at work seems to be the most common as the first thing that gets affected by stress in an individual’s work. Low productivity can lead to a lot of other negative consequences like lack of increments, lack of good reference letters or demotion etc. If an individual doesn’t recover from the stress and the work keeps suffering, it may eventually lead to a person loosing the job. If an employer asks for sexual favors from an employee and if outright rejected the employee may suffer from negative consequences. Losing one’s job is one of the most negative effects of sexual harassment. For people who need running expenses to feed their family and educate their children, not having a job is a serious issue for them. Sometimes the relationship between losing a job is clear and direct. But there are times when it is not so direct but it happens in relation to other events taking place. For example degrading an employee’s work because of an incident, and then using the employee’s complaints for such demotion as a means to fire him or her is a sound example of indirect sexual harassment. Sometimes it so happens that people are forced into a new office or they are reassigned to another department in response to any complaints of sexual harassment. For instance a person may be transferred to a distant office and it is hard for the employee to manage transport. If the situation gets severe and intolerable, people quit from their jobs. It is not possible for them to cope with the strain and not given any help from the organization. If an employee is being harassed by his/her boss, then surviving in such an organization would rather be impossible. Or in other situations, complaining about a harassment incident may lead to being fired from the job (Jenin, 2009). Complaining for sexual harassment may create environmental changes for the victim. The individual may start feeling conscious and thinking about what people might be thinking about him/her. There is a chance of the victim’s social support to be threatened. In order to avoid such situations, the victim might remain absent from workplace. Sexual harassment not only affects the individuals but it also affects the organization. It can damage business performance, damage the company’s public image through adverse publicity, and cost money through potential personal injury claims (Hunt, Davidson, Fielden & Hoel, 2010). The organization on the whole may also suffer the negative psychological and physical outcomes of sexual harassment. Not just the victim of harassment, but other employees witnessing the incident might suffer as well. They may lose faith in the organization and their management for not doing anything for such victims. If women are disrespected in an organization, it may have an impact on fellow workers. Loss of trust in the organization and lack of loyal workers eventually may result in low staff. No one would like to work in an organization where employees are not given enough safety or their complaints are not entertained. This would result in a bad reputation of a company or an organization. In educational institutes, there may be loss of good teachers because of uncontrolled harassment incidents. There is a lot of female turnover because of sexual harassment from workplace. We can say that sexual harassment and employee turnover have a positive relationship between them. References: American Psychiatric Association (1987) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental disorder, (4th Ed.) Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved November 11, 2010, from prr.hec.gov.pk/thesis/2345.pdf C.M. Hunt, M.J. Davidson, S.L. Fielden, H. Hoel, (2010) Reviewing sexual harassment in the workplace – an intervention model, Personnel Review, Vol. 39 Iss: 5, pp.655 – 673. Retrieved on November 11, 2010, from EMERALD database. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1876319 Gardener, S. & Johnson, P.R. (2001), Sexual Harassment in Healthcare: Strategies for employers. Hospital Topics, 5-11 Archived at How to recognize and respond to sexual harassment in the workplace. (2010, January/February). Massachusette Nurse, 81(1), 20. Retrieved November 11, 2010, from EBSCO database. http://www.massnurses.org/files/file/News/newsletter/2010/JanFeb.pdf Jenin, J. (2009, June 2). The Effects of Sexual Harassment [Your Rights in the Workplace blog]. Archived at http://yourworkplaceright.blogspot.com/2009/06/effects-of-sexual-harassment.html Sexual Harassment Support Organization (n.d.) The Effects of Sexual Harassment, Retrieved November 11, 2010 from http://www.sexualharassmentsupport.org/index.html Read More