Background on Sexual Harassment
Development of the Concept
The concept of sexual harassment is relatively new; the term was coined in the 1960s. Of course, sexual harassment existed prior to the sixties, but people had no way to talk about it since there was no term by which to name the experience. While thirty years is a relatively short time for the development of a body of scholarship, this topic has drawn a great deal of interest from academic scholars as well as legal scholars.
Academic scholars studying sexual harassment are often working at cross purposes with legal scholars; the traditions, methodologies, assumptions and conclusions of academic scholars are different from those used by legal scholars. Feminist scholars in particular argue that the legal system, being male dominated, does not understand or honor the perspectives of women who have been harassed.
Catherine MacKinnon, a professor at the University of Michigan Law School, and Susan Brownmiller, an activist, are credited with initiating the study of sexual harassment as an issue of power instead of an issue of sex. Prior to their early work, sexual harassment had been interpreted largely as an instance of males' sexual pursuit of women in the workplace or classroom, a normal biological attraction of males to females. MacKinnon, Brownmiller, and other scholars argued that sexual behaviors in the workplace or the classroom were not normal, but were instances of discrimination against women. They noted that the women receiving these unwelcome sexual advances were in inferior positions and roles and that the behaviors served to "keep women in their place."
Research
Researchers have found that women and men interpret sexualized behavior in the workplace differently. Women are much more likely than men to label a given situation as harassing. Men report that they would be flattered by sexual attention at work, while women report that they are annoyed by similar behavior. Scholars point out that the power dynamic between male bosses and female employees may account for such differential interpretations. Some scholars have theorized that since women are more likely to be subject to sexual violence, they are more sensitive to sexual behavior in the workplace.
One study presented women and men with a series of hypothetical scenarios and asked them whether or not they would label the behaviors as sexual harassment. In one scenario, a male supervisor invited a new female employee to lunch to discuss her work. He focused the conversation on her personal life. On another occasion, over drinks, he attempted to fondle her. Most of the women said that the sexual harassment began with the lunch, while most of the men thought it began later when he attempted to fondle her.
Researchers are beginning to turn from studying sexual harassment as a problem between individuals to a problem of organizational climate. Harassment is more likely in an environment in which employees perceive that management does not take victims seriously or takes punitive measures against women who speak out, or where administrators inadequately enforce anti-sexual harassment policies against offenders. Factors like the status of women in the organization, the perception of women as an out group, and the general acceptance of nonprofessional behavior may contribute to pro-sexual harassment norms.
Definitions
Harassment in the workplace can range from subtle things that create an unfavorable environment sometimes called a "chilly climate" to sexual assault and rape. A "chilly climate" might consist of such things as not being appointed to important committees, not receiving information about training opportunities, not being considered for promotion because of family responsibilities. This type of sexual harassment is difficult to document but still can significantly affect women's work and career paths.
Blatant sexual harassment such as the incidents summarized in the Navy's Tailhook 91 Report document the severe end of the spectrum of harassment in the workplace. The Tailhook scandal, in which 83 women were molested at a Navy convention in 1991, is a classic example of the reprisals women face when they dare to speak out. Not only did a top admiral manipulate the investigation to shield his own involvement in the incidents, but Lieutenant Paula Coughlin was forced to resign because of continued harassment over the scandal.
Recently the focus on sexual harassment has moved from "sexual" to "harassment," and the concept has been extended to same-sex harassment. All sexual behavior or references inappropriate to the workplace are being labeled harassment. Additionally, people are questioning all harassment in the workplace, no matter what the context or focus. Finally, the concept of sexual harassment as been extended beyond the workplace to schools and other contexts. Why should behavior that is illegal in the workplace be legal in the street or in other public places?
Reporting Harassment
Because most victims of sexual harassment don't speak out, we don't really know how pervasive or how serious the problem is. The causes for this silence are not really hard to find. Research indicates three reasons women do not report sexual harassment:
| Reason One: |
The women did not believe anyone would do anything about it. If women are harassed in an organization and the leadership of the organization does not speak out against that harassment, does not institute procedures for reporting harassment, or does not act quickly on reports of harassment, most victims will be discouraged from acting. |
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| Reason Two: |
The women were afraid they would be blamed. "Blaming the victim" has historically been a strategy in countering rape charges. Women are told they "invited" the rape or harassment by their dress or demeanor. Because women see this happen to others they have good reason to believe it will also happen to them. The treatment of Anita Hill by the Senate Judicial Committee was a strong lesson to women that not only won't they be believed, but they will also be blamed. |
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| Reason Three: |
The women didn't want to hurt the harasser. This reason derives partly from the "boys will be boys" excuse for inappropriate behavior by males. Girls are taught to keep silent and to overlook bad behavior by boys. "Just ignore them, dear," their mothers and teachers advise. "Give him another chance," priests and counselors recommend. Carol Gilligan's research indicates that women think about the possible negative consequences to all persons involved. The negative consequences to the harasser may not be inconsequential. |
Since many women have no choice about where they work, they find it necessary to put up with a situation that they feel they cannot change. "What can't be cured must be endured" is too often the case with victims of sexual harassment.
Extent and Effects of Harassment
It is difficult to document the extent of sexual harassment. Many studies indicate that sexual harassment is widespread and that it takes a serious toll on women's lives and careers. On the other hand, critics point out that many studies elicit responses only from those persons who have experienced sexual harassment and that such incidence rates may be inflated. For example, if a magazine asks readers to return a questionnaire, it is unlikely that women who have not been sexually harassed will take the time to return the questionnaire.
Other critics counter that rates of sexual harassment may actually be underreported, because many women are conditioned to accept harassing behavior as joking or compliments, and they don't report it either in questionnaires or at work. Increasingly, however, women are recognizing harassment as illegal, reporting it and seeking remedies. Finally, men as well as women are coming to agree on the definition of harassment, a fact which is encouraging.
Even taking into account the methodological concerns described above, the surveys and other studies leave no doubt that sexual harassment is a widespread and continuing problem in workplaces and schools. It transcends occupational and professional categories, age groups, educational backgrounds, racial and ethnic groups, and income levels and affects us all.
*In 1991, around the time of the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas hearing, the New York Times reported the results of a poll which asked women if they had ever been "the object of sexual advances, propositions or unwanted sexual discussion from men who supervise you or can affect your position at work." The question thus focused on the quid pro quo type of harassment, which is generally characterized as being the more serious and less common form of workplace harassment. Surprisingly, 38% of the women responded yes, and 33% of those stated that they did not report the incident to anyone. Five out of ten men polled said that they had said or done something at some point at work that could have been construed by a female colleague as harassment.
*The number of discrimination charges alleging sexual harassment received by the EEOC has grown from 6,883 in 1991 to 15,2222 in 1999. Corresponding to the increase in sexual-harassment charges, the amount of money employers paid as part of related settlements --before litigation -- also has jumped from $7.1 million in 1991 to $34.3 million last year. Statistics for complaints to the EEOC are available here.
*During the 1999 fall semester, Pennsylvania State University 5-25 students complained of computer-based harassment and misuse per day. Students and faculty report being "stalked" over e-mail, receiving death threats, or even having their personal computers "hijacked" with disturbing and gruesome images automatically popping up on their screens.
Computer-based harassment can create a hostile environment. Students who receive an anonymous e-mail message with racially inflammatory or sexually harassing remarks may not know who sent the message, or whether the sender is someone who knows them or selected them as a random target. If messages persist, the environment may become so hostile that students' ability to work, learn, or participate in day-to-day activities may be in jeopardy.
*Reports of anti-gay harassment in the military more than doubled in 1999, according to Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. This group, which provides legal aid for gay service members, stated in its yearly report that they received reports of 968 incidents of verbal abuse and physical assaults in 1999.
*Almost 35% of female college students experience sexual harassment on campus, according to a recent study by the Minnesota Public Research Interest Group. The group surveyed 873 students from private and public schools throughout Minnesota. They found behaviors such as pinching, cornering, verbal abuse and assault occurring on campus. Less than 20% of harassed women filed formal complaints with their schools.
*The Association of American University Women (AAUW) found that about 1 in 5 girls reported sexual violence, rape, pressure to have sex, or harassment as a major issue or struggle. Previous studies have shown that about 80 percent of girls and 60 percent of boys have experienced unwanted sexual attention. One teenager said, "You always try to pretend that what people say about you doesn't affect you, but it does. You slowly start to believe what's being said about you."
*A study of sexual harassment and assault and their effects on 1,037 female undergraduate and graduate students at a large Midwestern university found that about 40% of undergraduate and graduate women experienced harassment in their first year at the university, as did 60% of undergraduate students and more than 70% of graduate students beyond the fourth year. Only about 20-25% of women students recognized and labeled sexually harassing behaviors when they experienced them. Of the 50% of women who faced harassment, about two thirds reported more than one or two incidents. Lesbians and bisexuals were more likely to report sexual harassment, with nearly two thirds reporting gender harassment. More than 10% of female undergrads reported being sexually assaulted while on campus.
Being sexually harassed was associated with negative views of the campus climate. Victims perceived faculty members more negatively and felt less respected, less accepted and treated less fairly on campus than other women. Increases in harassment frequency were associated with increased doubts about their own self-efficacy and fear for personal safety on campus.
* Nearly two-thirds of female lawyers in private practice and nearly half of those in corporate or public agency settings reported either experiencing or observing sexual harassment by male superiors, colleagues, or clients during the two years prior to the 1990 survey. Female lawyers who had experienced or observed sexual harassment by male superiors or colleagues reported lower overall job satisfaction than did those who had not, as well as a greater intention to quit. Employers and coworkers may sometimes be able to sexually harass female employees in ways or degrees that are not illegal but that induce the victims to quit.
Harassment as Violence
The analysis of sexual harassment as a form of violence toward women points up the similarities in attitudes toward sexual harassment and rape. Several generalized assumptions about women inform social attitudes toward both rape and sexual harassment.
Attitude: "Women ask for it"
Rape victims are often accused of having "seduced" the rapist by the way they dressed or talked. Victims of sexual harassment are likewise accused of having "invited" the harassment by their behavior. This defense is known as "blaming the victim."
Attitude: "Women say no but mean yes"
Rapists often argue that women secretly need and want to be forced into sex. They say women don't know what they want. This is a very common male fantasy. Sexual harassers likewise claim that women secretly like the attention they get from the harasser. In fact, harassment usually continues or escalates when the victim has given no positive or negative response. Harassers often offer the excuse, "I know her better than she knows herself."
Attitude: "The woman didn't fight so she wanted it"
Activists have had a long, hard struggle to convince legal authorities that women sometimes don't fight their rapists because they fear they will be killed if they resist. Rapists use victims' lack of resistance as an argument that the woman really wanted it. Similarly, if victims of sexual harassment don't report the behavior because they are afraid of losing their jobs, the harassers can argue that the women must have liked the behavior or they would have resisted or objected.
Attitude: "Women lie"
Rapists often charge that the woman is lying about being raped. They way she was a willing participant but changed her story afterward. Similarly, accused harassers often argue that women lie about sexual harassment in order to get men they dislike in trouble.
Impact on Employers
WR Grace & Co agreed to a $1 mil settlement in a sexual harassment suit. Managers at a food processing facility in Maryland were charged by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission with the harassment of 22 female workers from Central America. The violations included the demanding of oral sex, touching of the women and exposing themselves. According to commission officials, two pregnant women who refused the men's advances were fired.
The amount of money employers paid as part of related settlements --before litigation -- has jumped from $7.1 million in 1991 to $34.3 million last year.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reported a $500,000 settlement of a sexual harassment lawsuit against Burt Chevrolet and LGC Management on behalf of 10 former salesmen who alleged persistent same-sex harassment by male managers. In addition to the monetary benefits for the aggrieved individuals, the agreement requires Burt Chevrolet to provide mandatory training on sexual harassment to its executive and sales staff and report sexual harassment complaints to the EEOC for three years. The Consent Decree, signed by U.S. District Judge Clarence A. Brimmer of the District of Colorado, represents the largest settlement ever by EEOC's Denver District Office for a same-sex harassment case, and one of the biggest settlements ever by the agency on this issue.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and George Junior Republic (GJR) have settled a lawsuit filed alleging that at least six female employees were paid lower wages than their male counterparts and then were retaliated against and subjected to a hostile work environment because they complained about the wage discrepancy. Six female counselor parents at GJR, a residential home for boys between the ages of eight and eighteen who have been committed by the courts for rehabilitation, were denied the same opportunities to work overtime and to obtain additional assignments as were provided to male counselor parents. Five of the women were forced to resign because of intolerable working conditions. As a result of the settlement, all females affected by the alleged discriminatory actions will share a total of $280,000. GJR also will be required to post notices affirming its obligation to comply with the provisions of Title VII as well as provide EEO training to its personnel director and managers and supervisors.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reported a $625,000 settlement with London International Group, LLC (LIG) in a lawsuit charging the Eufaula-based plant, which manufactures condoms, with subjecting a class of employees to a hostile work environment in which they have been subjected to numerous racially and sexually derogatory cartoons and comments since 1995.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reported a $1 million settlement of a class action lawsuit against Grace Culinary Systems, Inc. and Townsend Culinary, Inc. alleging egregious sexual harassment of 22 Hispanic women at a food processing plant in Laurel, Maryland. The suit charged the companies with routinely subjecting the female workers, all recent immigrants from Central America who spoke limited English, to unwanted groping and explicit requests for sexual favors by male managers and co-workers over several years.
The governor of Osaka was ordered to pay $ 107,000 to a university student in Japan's largest sexual harassment verdict, a ruling described as revolutionary in the size of the award and one that is expected to lead to more court cases. Japan has seen a growing number of lawsuits since a revised labor law prohibiting sexual harassment and sex discrimination took effect last April. In July, a court awarded $87,000 to a woman who said she was harassed and forced into a sexual relationship by a piano teacher while she was a university student.
