Sexual harassment: Rights and responsibilities

Abstract

This article briefly reviews the development of a philosophy about sexual harassment at work and legal protection for victims of harassment. It then focuses on the rights and responsibilities of three groups affected by sexual harassment: the target of harassment, the alleged harasser, and the employing organization. A discussion follows regarding the current status of the rights and responsibilities of the relevant parties as well as opportunities for abuse of rights and abnegation of responsibilities.KEY WORDS: sexual harassment; rights of victims of sexual harassment; legal rights and responsibilities.

Situational and Individual Influences on Judgments of Hostile Environment Sexual Harassment1

“…Specifically, more severe behaviors were rated as more inappropriate and were more likely to be called harassment. This finding is consistent with previous research (e.g., Gutek, 1993). The results also indicate that the frequency with which the harassing behavior occurs also influenced the ratings of the appropriateness of situations, such that behaviors that happened more frequently were rated as more inappropriate.…”

“…Many researchers have demonstrated that quid pro quo behaviors are considered more severe, and hostile environment behaviors are considered less severe by most raters. Quid pro quo behaviors are judged to represent sexual harassment by the vast majority of raters, while hostile environment behaviors are judged to represent sexual harassment by smaller percentages of raters (Bremer, Moore, & Bildersee, 1991;Charney & Russell, 1994;Gutek, 1993;Jones & Remland, 1992;Popovich, Gehlauf, Jolton, Somers, & Godinho, 1992;Tata, 1993;Terpstra & Baker, 1987). The difference between these two types of harassment is that quid pro quo behaviors are more clear-cut, consisting of unambiguous requests for sexual favors in return for occupational favors.…”

“…Some behaviors, such as physical imposition, need only happen once for harassment to have occurred. Other behaviors may seem inconsequential or merely annoying until they happen several times (Gutek, 1993). It has generally been found that the more frequently the behavior has occurred, the more likely it is to be deemed harassment (Ellis, Barak, & Pinto, 1991;Popovich, Licata, Nokovich, Martelli, & Zoloty, 1986;Thomann & Wiener, 1987).…”

Improving Managerial Effectiveness in the Workplace: The Case of Sexual Harassment of Navy Women1

“…Gutek and Koss (1993) state that organizations have the responsibility to provide a harassment-free environment. Those who are well-versed in organizational change know that this movement must be led by those at the top of the organization (Gutek, 1993). Organizational policies and practices regarding sexual harassment must be developed, published, and modeled by leaders.…”

Factors Influencing Women's Perceptions of a Sexually Hostile Workplace

“…Sexual harassment became illegal in 1980 when the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) deemed it a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on gender (Fitzgerald, 1993;Gutek, 1993). Therefore, it was not until 1980 that a legal definition of sexual harassment was implemented.…”