Sexual harassment of women in the workplace

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Sexual harassment is a serious problem for many working women and researchhas proven beyond doubt that sexual harassment at work is not an isolatedphenomenon. On the contrary, it is clear that for many women sexualharassment is an unpleasant and unavoidable part of their working lives.Sexual harassment pollutes the working environment and can have adevastating effect upon the health, confidence, morale and performance of thoseaffected by it. The anxiety and stress produced by sexual harassment commonlylead to those subjected to it taking time off work due to sickness, being lessefficient at work, or leaving their job to seek work elsewhere.There are also adverse· consequences arising from sexual harassment foremployers. It has a direct impact on the profitability of the enterprise where stafftake sick leave or resign their posts because of sexual harassment, and on theeconomic efficiency of the enterprise where employees' productivity is reducedby having to work in a climate in which individuals' integrity is not respected.As a first step in showing management's concern and their· commitment todealing with the problem of sexual harassment, employers should issue a policystatement which expressly states that all employees have a right to be treatedwith dignity, that sexual harassment at work will not be permitted or condonedand that employees have a right to complain about it should it occur.An important means of ensuring that sexual harassment does not occur and thatif it does occur, the problem is resolved efficiently is through the provision oftraining. Such training should aim to identify the factors which contribute to aworking environment free of sexual harassment and to familiarise participantswith their responsibilities under the employer's policy.The development of clear and precise procedures to deal with sexualharassment once it has occurred is of great importance. The procedures shouldensure the resolution of problems in an efficient and effective manner. Bothinformal and formal methods of resolving problems should be available.The exploratory study showed that men and women recognised the more seriousforms of sexual harassment as such, but there was less consensus and a greatdeal of ambivalence in employees' use of the term sexual harassment on theless serious, but decidedly more common, interactions. Concerning men andwomen's attitudes towards women in general, women in the workplace, sexualharassment and sexual experiences at work, there do exist some significantdifferences.The major study led to the following findings:The percentage of female employees who have encountered sexual harassment.. accumulated to 55,44 percent. Unwanted sexual teasing, jokes, remarks orquestions, unwanted sexually suggestive looks or gestures, and unwanteddeliberate touching, leaning over, cornering, or pinching were the mostfrequently experienced forms of sexual harassment.The alleged harassers were described as men in the age group 30 to 49 years,married, with a qualification of standard 9 to.1 0 and they were perceived asbeing of average attractiveness.With regard to women's reactions to sexual harassment, objecting was found tobe the most frequently used response, followed by the option to avoid theharasser and thereafter to ignore the behaviour. Reasons given for not reportingthese incidents are that they did not think it was serious enough, they did notwant to make a fuss, and they saw no real need to report it.Among the emotional responses that harassment elicits, anger was experiencedthe most, followed by embarrassment, disgust and insult. The psychological andphysical reactions included. experiencing tension, feeling irritated and. depressed, a sense of powerlessness and fear and anxiety.It does not seem that these experiences interfere too much with the worksituation. It did cause women to be less friendly and affected the way they relateto other people. Eventually this will have a definite impact on the workplace, thepeople's productivity and ultimately the profitability of the company.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University