Sexaul harassment in the workplace - Assignment Example

Research Paper on SEXUAL HARASSMENT AT WORK XXXXXX YYYYY MODULE: ZZZZZZZZ WWWWWW SEXUAL HARASSMENT AT WORK Sexual harassmentcan be considered as old as the organisations could be. But it has been less than three decades that the issues arising out of this form of harassment have started getting addressed (Berdahl & Raver, 2011). Sexual harassment can be defined from two perspectives a) legal b) socio-psychological. United Nations (United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women, 2008) defines Sexual harassment as ‘any unwelcome sexual advance, request for sexual favour, verbal or physical conduct or gesture of a sexual nature or any other behaviour of sexual nature that might reasonably be expected or be perceived to cause offence or humiliation to another…’ Researchers have posited that powerlessness, low relative status, being in minority class are key determinants of victimisation (Lopez, Hodson, & Roscigno, 2009).

The victims are mostly females, and these victims respond in different manners, researchers and practitioners have posited that the following are the common responses displayed by the victims (Cortina & Berdahl, 2008): reporting, confrontation, social support-seeking and denial. Furthermore, reporting as well as confrontation are common amongst the victims those belong to lower occupational strata and responses like avoidance and denial are common amongst victims from affluent families. It is worth inclusion that victims of sexual harassments have been from the same sex as well.

Numerous studies (Pina, Gannon, & Saunders, 2009) have been carried out to understand learn more about perpetrators of sexual harassment, the harassers have been found to be lacking social conscience, they engage in immature as well as irresponsible behaviours and as regards their personality measures they are irresponsible, and insensitive towards women. Still the researcher community feels that a significant amount of efforts need to be made in the direction to understand the basic typologies of harassers.

Peer-reviewed literature suggests that working less hard, feeling devalued, being unhappy, using alcohol and drugs may also cause employees to be exposed to more sexual behaviour at work or to recall their experiences more easily (Berdahl & Aquino, 2009). As mentioned earlier, sexual harassment was not on the agenda of many countries till 1980, even the countries like USA and Japan had not included sexual harassment in their respective laws (like the equal employment laws). But in last three decades significant efforts have been made to curb this nuisance.

Countries like India have introduced Protection of Women against Sexual Harassment at Workplace Bill, 2010 (Bar & Bench News Network, 2011). Every employer in the country is expected to comply with the proposed Bill and in case of violation, the employer will be punishable with a fine to the tune of over USD 1000. Even though the results of a study (Berdahl & Aquino, 2009) indicate that some women and many men do not mind sexual behaviour at work but invariably it is associated with non-productive and leads to negative psychological outcomes, regardless of whether it is enjoyed or disliked.

References: Bar & Bench News Network. (2011, November 8). Retrieved April 15, 2011, from Bar & Bench: http://www.barandbench.com/brief/2/1092/parliament-gives-its-nod-for-sexual-harassment-at-workplace-bill Berdahl, J. L., & Aquino, K. (2009). Sexual Behavior at Work: Fun or Folly? Journal of Applied Psychology , 94 (1), 34-47. Berdahl, J., & Raver, J. L. (2011). Sexual Harassment (Vol. 3). (Zedeck, Ed.) Washington DC, USA: American Psychological Association. Cortina, L., & Berdahl, J. L. (2008).

Sexual harassment in organizations: A decade of research in review. (L. Cortina, J. L. Berdahl, C. L. Cooper, & J. Barlings, Eds.) Lopez, S. H., Hodson, R., & Roscigno, V. J. (2009). Power, Status, and Abuse at work: General and Sexual Harassment Compared. The Sociological Quarterly , 50, 3-27. Pina, A., Gannon, T. A., & Saunders, B. (2009). An overview of the literature on sexual harassment: Perpetrator, theory, and treatment issues. Aggression and Violent Behavior , 14, 126-138. United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women. (2008). Harassment Policy including sexual harassment.

Retrieved April 15, 2011, from United Nations: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/fpsexualharassment.htm