Sexual Harassment at Work

Workplace harassment is a serious problem, which rapidly emerges and expands in many organizational spheres. The distinctive feature that influences its growth is the fact that a lot of people do not consider the problem as anything worth paying attention to and leave it be. The difference between the legal determination and personal perception is the factor that aggravates the issue even more. Sexual intimidation is legally defined as the objectionable sexual attacks, demands of sexual service or any other behavior of a sexual nature that intervenes with the victim’s task performance, or provokes an inimical, threatening work environment. Nevertheless, the sexual harassment act is rather an apprehension of the supposed victim than the purpose of the probable violator. It appears that women apprehend various actions not in the same way as men do: what is considered by men as an entrance may be perceived by women as an exit. The paper deals with the analysis of closely related works, which understand sexual persecution as a serious challenge for the administration of any organization since it destroys the worker’s morale and influences their career, as it results in a high level of failed attendance, low productivity, and the employee circulation.

Summary 1

The article by Ellen Peirce “Sexual Harassment: Why Brokers Trade in It, and What Can Be Done to Stop It” mainly focuses on the problem of sexual persecution in brokerage firms. Although the securities industry is not the only place of its occurrence, the article provides the examples and reasons why it is more evident in this industry rather than in others. It concentrates not on the gender harassment in general, but on the violence over the female representatives of the industry. One of the main reasons of its extreme popularity in the brokerage industry is that nobody forbids it.

The report explores the legal and moral background of the issue and offers suggestions, directions for coping with the problem. Ellen Peirce mentions that it is of a prime importance to refer to the following factors when one speaks about the reasons of an overwhelming persecution of women in the industry:

• The settlement of disputes about the sexual harassment charges is conducted by the industry controlled adjudication;
• The vivid predominance of male representatives in the industry;
• Women’s self-sufficiency can be considered inappropriate by some men;
• Сontest, thirst, and exploitation of power are in the men’s nature.

Moreover, women mainly occupy less powerful positions than men, representing an easy target for those who possess more rights and power. It states that the problem is not that men do not understand the distinction between acting morally and immorally, but that they know there will be no punishment for their actions while sexual harassment in the industry is considered as something normal.

Review 1

The article is a well-composed work representing facts, reasons and even historical background of the current situation of sexual harassment in the industry. The industry’s principal purpose is making money, to be more specific, making a lot of money. As a result, it attracts mainly the kinds of men who have established their priorities, mainly basing them on historical cultural norms and would not want to give way to women. As a rule, the atmosphere in such industries is hostile and inhospitable to women who would not understand inappropriate, cruel or discriminatory jokes. As these are usually taken for granted by male representatives, it becomes clear why the members of broker firms do not pay appropriate attention to the complaints about such cases.

Furthermore, the author also makes some assumptions about the purpose of cruel attitude towards women from two different angles. On the one hand, they behave in such manner because of the power they possess allows them to humiliate weaker members of the organization for self-assertion. On the other hand, they simply may not recognize their behavior as abusive or offensive while the industry’s culture, being shaped predominantly by the male appreciation of such behavior as acceptable, allows it.

All in all, the author clearly states that the hostile and abusive environment created in the brokerage industry does not allow woman work efficiently and productively. On the contrary, it affects the woman’s moral and physical health and the company’s reputation. In order to avoid cases of discrimination, the industry has to reconsider its policy and invent the rules equally applicable to all members of the organizations regardless of any gender, age or race preferences.

Summary 2

The article “Sexual Harassment in Organizations” written by Paula Popovich concentrates on the concept of sexual intimidation, paying particular attention to the misconceptions that may occur when recognizing the term. According to the author, the problem has gained exceptional interest while it mainly results in emotional and financial consequences as for the organization as for the members involved. The victims of sexual harassment usually undergo a number of serious emotional and physical sufferings (headaches, fatigue, low self-esteem, lack of concentration and motivation) that immediately influence the productivity of the organization and the victim’s position in the organization, as they even may be discharged.

The article provides an insight into the various aspects of the matter. Moreover, it keeps the reader’s mind on the difficulties of recognizing, defining the characteristics, and coping with the sexual harassment behaviors.

Review 2

The article provides a clear definition of the problem, including its peculiarities, dominant features and the main reasons of occurrence. What is more, the author mentions the gender direction of the argument, its dependence on the type of organization and the industry in general. He states that the majority of victims are women due to their weaker constitution. The interesting fact mentioned in the article concerns the discussion of the gender’s discrimination responsibility, where, regardless of the victim’s gender, the responsibility for the harasser should be equal. Regardless of the reasons for sexual violence at work, the organization has to create a climate where every member will feel safe and protected.

Summary 3

The article “Social Organization and Social Ties: Their Effects on Sexual Harassment Victimization in the Workplace” by Jamie Snyder, Heidi Scherer, and Bonnie Fischer concentrates on the connection between the social working relations and harassment cruelty. In order to analyze the problem, the authors extend the social disarrangement theory to the working surroundings. The results show that, regardless of the numerous efforts conducted by the companies to decrease the sexual harassment rate, it is still rather high.

The article uses the results of the surveys conducted by the General Social Survey on the Quality of Working Life module. The surveys were conducted in 2002 and 2006 years and contained the answers of 3,530 male and female employees of the United States. Moreover, the article produced the logistic examination separately for male and women representatives in order to evaluate the influence of the working environment characteristics on the chances of sexual victimization. According to the research, the workers who had experienced unpleasant relationships on a workplace were more inclined to undergo sexual harassment. The article defines the factors that are likely to increase the risks of an employee being harassed, as they include a low efficiency, a lack of reasonable time management, and inappropriate managerial support. The surveys observed no distinction between genders, claiming that the sexual harassment’s indications are the same for men and women.

All in all, the authors of the article came to a conclusion that the workplace environment and its characteristics have direct relevance to the risks of sexual harassment at work. The article also provides the suggestions and the administrative and organizational action plans for the prevention of the problem, such as: reasonable time management courses (educating the workers on how to use their time productively), administration structuring, supervising the tasks, modifying and improving the relationships between the administration and the employees.

Review 3

The article’s main purpose is to show that the working environment and the relationships between the members of the organization are the main factors that influence either the problem’s development or regression. Regardless of the type of organization, the responsibilities for behaving inappropriately should be the same. Moreover, it is not only the administration of the company who has to take care of the problem, but the workers should not neglect the problem, but try solve it on the local level. Among the company’s main functions a considerable part must be devoted to informing and discussing the members’ rights and obligations, especially the moral ones. All in all, such issues should not be taken for granted and have to be suppressed at once.

Compare/Contrast 1+2+3

While the first article concentrates on the manifestation of the problem in one particular industry, the last two articles demonstrate general reasons, factors of influence, and backgrounds. Moreover, the first article pays considerable attention to women’s sexual harassment while the rest of the articles makes no gender distinction. In particular, the second article focuses mainly on the concept of sexual harassment, pointing out its types, characteristics, and overall solutions. Despite the differences, all articles analyze one and the same present-day challenge, presenting their suggestions and advice on its salvation. The solutions, even though expressed differently have one meaning, which lies in the reformation of the organization’s policies on the issue and inventing the rules and penalties for those who disobey.

Conclusion

Having analyzed the articles on the sexual harassment, it becomes evident that this problem is evolving and needs immediate reaction and elimination. If companies aim to ensure no cases of sexual harassment happen within their surroundings or remain unanswered to, they should follow specific rules, in particular:

• Have a written and printed policy on sexual harassment.
• Provide and secure not only the establishment of the policy, but also the process of complaint filing, acquiring of the complaint forms and discussing the issue with the senior administrator.
• Inform the employees about what sexual harassment represents and with the help of the discussion/information meetings train the employees in the handling of such cases.

Furthermore, the administrators would not only rely on the rules provided above, but also regard all cases of sexual harassment seriously and responsibly. They have to attend to every complaint under the heavy penalty for mismanaging a complaint.

All things considered, for further reduction of the sexual prosecutions companies have to create the working environment that denies the inadequate behavior and abusive language as well as improper parodies, pictures, photographs, etc. The only possible way to get rid of the problem is to involve every member of the organization into the cause. Sexual harassment is an eventual problem for every employer or employee. It represents incongruous, unsociable behavior, and it is the obligation of each individual to answer for such situation to be allowed or ignored in the workplace.

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