Sexual Harassment In The Workplace

Sexual harassment is one incident in the office that can affect the social,emotional, psychological health and eventually the performance of an employee. It should not be taken lightly and proper structures should be put in place to aid free flow of complaints and handling of this issue.


Sexual harassment simply doesn't go away on its own. It may begin as something small, but it is an issue that rapidly develops into a large problem. For example, imagine one day your boss makes an inappropriate comment to you one, and you simply ignore it. By ignoring it, your boss may think that it doesn't bother you, so she/he will continue it. Since she/he already has boundary issues, she/he may then take it to the next step, touching you in subtle ways, such as standing closer than you're comfortable, rubbing your back, or brushing his or her hand across a part of your body. Without doing something to put a stop to this behavior, it will only continue to get worse because the harasser will believe that you don't have a problem with it. 


The longer it happens, the greater the risk of moving from sexual harassment to sexual assault or rape. This example clearly shows how vital it is to stop sexual harassment before it gets out of control.


If an employee feels sexually harassed there are some things that can be done to make the situation better:
Keep a journal:Begin writing the events down as soon as they begin happening.
Talk about it :Let people you trust know what has happened to you. 
Confront the harasser


Every employee should be aware of what sexual harassment is, and should be alert to its presence in the workplace, trusting their feelings about the issue, and not being afraid to take action to resolve it if it is present.




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