Gender, Age, and Sexual Harassment

Abstract

Research has found both age and gender to be significant factors in howemployees evaluate sexual harassment policies. The presence of different perspectives on sexual harassment amongmen and women of different age groupsmay have significant implications for the implementation of sexual harassment policies. To the extent that older employees aremore likely to be in positions of authority or supervision, they are a critical link in the design and implementation of effective policies. Using a survey of 595municipal employees, this article concludes that there are significant age group differences amongmale and female employees regarding perceptions of sexual harassment, attitudes about model policy and procedure, and evaluations of workplace policies. Specific policy recommendations are posed to address these critical employee and supervisor differences.

The influence of sexual harassment frequency and perceptions of organizational justice on victim responses to sexual harassment

“…Perpetrator status was entered as a covariate in step one of the analysis as research has demonstrated that the status of the harasser significantly predicts sexual harassment reporting by the harassed (Gruber & Smith, 2005;Reese & Lindenberg, 2005;Welsh & Gruber, 1999). The centred variables-DJ and SEQ-were entered in Step 2 and the interaction term created from these two predictor variables was entered in Step 3.…”

“…Researchers have found that age, the severity of the harassment experienced, and the organizational status of the harasser (e.g., supervisor) all affect how a woman chooses to respond when harassed (Baker, Terpstra, & Larntz, 1990;Gruber & Smith, 2005;Reese & Lindenberg, 2005;Welsh & Gruber, 1999).…”

Sexual Harassment: The Nexus Between Gender and Workplace Authority: Evidence from the Australian Public Service

“…The literature confirms that age has an effect on sexual harassment (see for instance Ohse and Stockdale ). It is established that the perception of sexual harassment is strongly shaped by age; more specifically, younger employees seem more unaware or are more accepting of sexualized behavior in the workplace, and are therefore less likely to define behavior as harassing (Reese and Lindenberg ). Mortimer () argues that this is the result of a learning process, whereby employees learn the meaning and acceptability of various workplace interactions, including sexual harassment.…”

“…Although age is linked to power and gender relations (Connell ; Thorne ; Ohse and Stockdale ; Reese and Lindenberg ; Sally et al. ; Blackstone et al.…”

Continuity Amid Discontinuity? George W. Bush, Federal Employment Discrimination, and “Big Government Conservatism”

“…We also hypothesize that older workers, regardless of gender, will be more likely to perceive that they have been victims of sexual harassment (Reese & Lindenberg, 2005) and have experienced retaliation for whistle-blowing (Parmerlee et al, 1982). These experiences include feeling direct retaliation for refusing to obey an unlawful order; reporting unwanted sexual attention or sexual harassment; disclosing health and safety dangers, and witnessing and reporting unlawful behavior or fraud, waste, or abuse; and testifying for or otherwise assisting any individual in the exercise of whistle-blowing, equal opportunity, or appeal rights.…”