At School:
Sexual harassment is unwelcome behavior of a sexual nature that interferes with a student’s ability to learn, study, work or participate in school activities.
Sexual harassment involves a range of behavior from mild annoyances to sexual assault and rape.
The definition of sexual harassment includes harassment by both peers and individuals in a position of power relative to the person being harassed.
In schools, though sexual harassment initiated by students is most common, it can also be perpetrated by teachers or other school employees also. And the victim can be a student, a teacher, or other school employee.
Sexual harassment of students by teachers or other school employees can cause particularly serious and harmful penalty for the victim.
American Association of University Women (AAUW) reported in their 2002 survey on 2064 students in 8th through 11th grade that:
§ 83% of girls have been sexually harassed
§ 78% of boys have been sexually harassed
§ 38% of the students were harassed by teachers or school employees
§ 36% of school employees or teachers were harassed by students
§ 42% of school employees or teachers had been harassed by each other
§ 35% or more of college students who experience sexual harassment do not tell anyone about their experiences.
§ 39% of students who experienced sexual harassment say the incident or incidents occurred in the dorm.
§ 51% of male college students admit to sexually harassing someone in college, with 22% admitting to harassing someone often or occasionally.
§ 31% of female college students admit to harassing someone in college.
In the "Report Card on Gender Equity," the NCWGE that 30 percent of undergraduate students, and 40 percent of graduate students, have been sexually harassed. (NCWGE, 1997)
Sexual Harassment: At Work
Sexual harassment is not only limited to schools but also expanded to work field.
Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.
Sexual harassment can occur in a variety of circumstances, including but not limited to the following:
- The victim as well as the harasser may be a woman or a man. The victim does not have to be of the opposite sex.
- The harasser can be the victim’s supervisor, an agent of the employer, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or a non-employee.
- The victim does not have to be the person harassed but could be anyone affected by the offensive conduct.
- Unlawful sexual harassment may occur without economic injury to or discharge of the victim.
- The harasser’s conduct must be unwelcome.
It is helpful for the victim to inform the harasser directly that the conduct is unwelcome and must stop. The victim should use any employer complaint mechanism or grievance system available.
When investigating allegations of sexual harassment, EEOC looks at the whole record: the circumstances, such as the nature of the sexual advances, and the context in which the alleged incidents occurred. A determination on the allegations is made from the facts on a case-by-case basis.
Prevention is the best tool to eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace. Employers are encouraged to take steps necessary to prevent sexual harassment from occurring. They should clearly communicate to employees that sexual harassment will not be tolerated. They can do so by providing sexual harassment training to their employees and by establishing an effective complaint or grievance process and taking immediate and appropriate action when an employee complains.
It is also unlawful to retaliate against an individual for opposing employment practices that discriminate based on sex or for filing a discrimination charge, testifying, or participating in any way in an investigation, proceeding, or litigation under Title VII.
Statistics
In Fiscal Year 2007, EEOC received 12,510 charges of sexual harassment. 16.0% of those charges were filed by males. EEOC resolved 11,592 sexual harassment charges in FY 2007 and recovered $49.9 million in monetary benefits for charging parties and other aggrieved individuals (not including monetary benefits obtained through litigation).
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