SEXUAL HARASSMENT in the WORKPLACE is a GLOBAL ISSUE

Abstract

Sexual harassment is a worldwide issue in many firms, companies, and countries. The main cause for sexual harassment in the workplace is the firm culture, values, and motives. With a permissive and hostile work environment more negative expose is being welcomed into the working environment with ease. Once again, the firm culture is the problem, if positive and motivational values are instilled within the employees from the start then fewer women would give upon their field of choice decreasing the economic market and tarnishing their reputation.

Many women face sexual harassment at work and do not mention it and leave. According to sociologist Heather McLaughlin, about 80% of women who’ve been harassed leave their jobs within two years (Merchant, 2017, para. 4). In some cases, women won’t leave because the company has quietly settled the case by increasing the woman’s income or giving her a promotion so that the company wouldn’t receive any negative backlash from the public; this is called “whisper networking”. The fact that whisper networking is going on displays the dominance that men have in the workplace (Merchant, 2017, para. 12). Being silenced or opting out of their desired field, only affect the economy because the development for new ideas and company growth is decreased because people aren’t interested in the field anymore or don’t feel comfortable sharing their thoughts with a company who allows power to liberate and/or limit ideas (Merchant, 2017, para. 7-9) his will only make the productivity markets tumble.

Companies that contribute in sexual harassment are based on the workplace dynamics, culture, values, and morals that are being practiced and taught. If there are not any ground rules and values that are established and enforced in the work environment then this would create an open-minded, which bad behavior can be overlooked (Faraday-Brash, 2018, para. 14). Also, the environment can be intimidating or hostile because many some victims are too scared to mention what’s going in the workplace. Overall, the company is to blame for the mistreatment of women and sexual harassment because management set the tone of the environment and how the employees should act, and the company’s reputation.

In conclusion, the overall issue, in addition to being a human dignity issue. Being honest about the single claims and publically defusing the claims with equal settlement will display that the company faced challenges and can still move forward (Shih, 2018, para. 5-8). This would improve the economic market for the business.

Sexual harassment is a form of discrimination in which sexual advances or requests for sexual favors constitute a condition of a person's employment or advancement in the workplace between a male and a female, often instigated by a person in power such as a manager. While many countries are starting to have laws against such discrimination, it is often reported that the laws are not enforced which is why most victims choose to remain silent or anonymous by leaving the firm (“Sexual Harassment Prevention Course”, 2003-2012, para. 1-2).Sexual harassment occurs in workplaces worldwide. Many of the laws that specifically prohibit sexual harassment have been enacted in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Mexico, Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States, but there are still many other countries that are still in the process of studying sexual harassment in the work environment and why it’s going on there(“Sexual Harassment Prevention Course”, 2003-2012, para. 1). Those studies proves that many women are afraid to speak up and how global firms have many advantages then just a competitive market that they can get away with at any time.

The most famous types of sexual harassment in U.S. law: quid pro quo and hostile environment. Quid pro quo is when an employee is asked to perform sexual favors in order to get a promotion. An aggressive environment is defined as certain acts and situations, or items that can hinder an individual's (victim) productivity of in the workplace. This could be through pictures, sexual suggestions and language (“Sexual Harassment Prevention Course”, 2003-2012, para. 2). If employees experience any of kind of mistreatment, harassment, sexism, discrimination then they must report in to their manager or whoever higher up whom they feel most comfortable speaking with.

My personal point of view of sexual harassment in a corporation is it’s just another form of bullying. After reading these articles and hearing about women not standing up for themselves because someone has more power and authority not only displays the bullying aspect that I thought of but how quick people are to give up their interest/ desires because of someone else foolery. I understand that it’s hard for some women/ people to speak up about sexual harassment; it can be embarrassing, but walking away and leaving things kinds of situations aren’t acceptable. Mention what's going on at the firm/operation to the public or some with connection to the public to help get your story out could potentially save another woman's dignity.

Women are often manipulated in the workplace into thinking that their thoughts and beliefs are invalid due to their emotions and ability to overthink (Merchant, 2017, para. 13).Men are secretly intimidated by women (at least that what I believe) we’re smart and have the ability to think and connect to situations that some males cannot and will not understand. Women being in the office could be intimidating because now they have competition and many people dislike that so why not as a men try to use to power and dominance to belittle the brilliant woman and make her feel less than what she is because she may be better than you; potentially taking your position. The best way for a man to feel like he’s won is through sexual acts or encounters between a man and woman.

In closing, a positive cultural background and awareness in needed in every organization pertaining to sexual harassment in the workplace and if not their business deserves to fail economically and publically.

References

1. Merchant, N. (2017, November 29). The Insidious Economic Impact of Sexual Harassment. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2017/11/the-insidious-economic-impact-of-sexual-harassment
2. Sexual Harassment Training Courses. (n.d.). Retrieved from Sexual Harassment Training: https://www.sexualharassmenttraining.biz/sexual_harassment_training_Sexual-Harassment-and-Discrimination-in-International-Business-Part-1.html
3. Shih, S. D. (2018, June 13). Research: How Sexual Harassment Affects a Company's Public Image. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2018/06/research-how-sexual-harassment-affects-a-companys-public-image
4. What your company needs to know about sexual harassment. (2018, June 07). Retrieved from https://psychlopaedia.org/work-and-performance/what-your-company-needs-to-know-about-sexual-harassment/

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