Has it ever happened to you or to someone you know? How much do you know about sexual harassment?
Are these statements true or false?
- Sexual harassment is a form of abuse that occurs in the workplace and school.
- Men/boys can be victims of sexual harassment.
- Sexual harassment can occur between people of the same sex.
- Sexy clothes do not cause sexual harassment.
- Ignoring sexual harassment or saying "NO" may not be enough to make the harasser stop.
- Sexual harassment that occurs in a school is illegal. A school may be liable if it does not try to stop it.
- Most victims of sexual harassment never report it to their employer or school officials.
- What is teasing or flirting to one person may be sexual harassment to another.
- Sexual harassment can be a criminal offense and/or a cause to sue.
All of the above statements are true!
Adapted from Sexual Harassment and Teens by Susan Strauss
Sexual harassment includes unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. Sexual harassment can occur anywhere, but the law governing sexual harassment applies only to the workplace or school. Here's what the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) says about sexual harassment.
- The victim as well as the harasser may be a woman or a man. The victim does not have to be of the opposite gender.
- In the workplace, the harasser can be the victim's supervisor, an agent of the employer, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or a non-employee. At school, the harasser might be a teacher or other school staff member, a fellow student, or a contractor who comes into the school but is not a school employee.
- The victim does not have to be the person harassed but could be anyone affected by the offensive conduct.
- Unlawful sexual harassment may occur without economic injury to or discharge (firing) of the victim.
- The harasser's conduct must be unwelcome.
A supervisor who tells his secretary that she can keep her job (or get a raise) if she starts wearing shorter skirts to the office, the factory worker who pats a colleague on the butt, the fifteen year old who sends sexually explicit pictures to another student via pix messaging - all might be considered guilty of sexual harassment.
The law recognizes two general types of sexual harassment. The first type, quid pro quo ("this for that") harassment, refers to situations in which the harasser has some kind of power over the victim. The victim (a student or employee), for example, may feel pressured to behave in a certain way or accept the harasser's behavior because of the harasser's ability to punish or reward.
The other type of sexual harassment is called "hostile environment" harassment and typically occurs among peers - coworkers or fellow students who may not have the power to control what happens to the victim on the job, but can certainly make the victim's work or school life miserable.
In either quid pro quo or hostile environment harassment, the employer or school administration is ultimately responsible for addressing the situation.
It is important to note that "I was just kidding around" is not an acceptable excuse. Whether any given language or behavior is considered offensive is in the eyes of the victim, not the harasser. Whether the behavior rises to the level of sexual harassment under the law, however, depends on the details of the circumstances.
It is one thing to share a joke or remark within a group of friends or co-workers; it is another thing to direct that joke or remark at someone who doesn't welcome it or feels uncomfortable with it, or to start a rumor.
What counts in determining sexual harassment is not how it was meant, but how it affected the victim. Sometimes the person doing the harassing will try to excuse his/her behavior by claiming to be "just flirting." But it's not flirting; it is harassment if the other person feels demeaned, inferior, unequal, and powerless.
While sexual harassment does not always include physical acts, it is nevertheless considered to be a form of sexual assault and can take a serious emotional toll on the victim.
For more information, contact:
PA Human Relations Commission