What is Sexual Harassment?

Sexual harassment in the workplace is when one person becomes the subject of unwelcome or inappropriate sexual advances.  These advances can range from mild occurrences of verbal comments all the way to sexual abuse or assault. 

It’s common for a victim of sexual harassment to have been either promised favor in the workplace (promotions, raises) in exchange for allowing the harassment, or being held captive by the fear of being demoted or even fired for not putting up with the harassment.

Work environments that experience higher levels of sexual harassment:

  • Working for Tips – This is a common occurrence for front-end restaurant staff, which includes those that wait tables, or host. 
  • Working in Isolation – Blue collar employees that have positions where they spend a majority of their time working alone – like janitors, hotel workers, cleaning staff, domestic care workers, etc.
  • Undocumented workers – Those employees that don’t have legal immigration status, or only having a temporary work visa.
  • Male-dominated environments – These are generally environments that are more physical in nature, and have included more traditionally male-oriented tasks.
  • Working with people of high power – These are when you’re working with someone with a much higher level of prestige or power within an organization.

 

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