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What is sexual harassment?
Sexual harassment is a serious social problem that affects millions of Americans. The American Psychological Association estimates that 71 percent of working women will be subjected to sexual harassment during their careers. Sexual harassment can also happen to men.

Sexual harassment includes comments on a person's appearance or dress, sexually suggestive or explicit jokes, unwanted sexual overtures, staring and other behavior designed to make someone uncomfortable, and unwanted touching anywhere on a person's body, including bumping into them and brushing up against someone.

Sexual harassment can happen in many settings, including schools, and the information below may be helpful to any victim of sexual harassment. Victims of sexual harassment in the workplace are in a particularly vulnerable position. They may hesitate to report the harassment because they fear losing their jobs, compromising their careers, not being believed, and being considered "difficult."

Based on judicial decisions, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has defined sexual harassment as unwelcome verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature where 1) an individual's rejection of such conduct - or submission to it - is used as a basis for employment decisions that affect the employee, or 2) the unwelcome conduct is a term or condition of the individual's employment (quid pro quo), either implicitly or explicitly, or 3) the unwelcome conduct interferes with the employee's work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.

Sexual harassment can be verbal and include:

  • comments about your body, clothing, or sexual activities
  • sexual jokes, remarks, or teasing
  • requests or demands for sexual favors that come with hints or stated threats about your job.

    • Sexual harassment can also be nonverbal and include:

  • insulting sounds
  • leering or staring at your body
  • obscene gestures
  • displays of pornographic or sexually suggestive materials
  • creating a hostile work environment

    • Finally, sexual harassment can be physical and include:

  • touching or pinching
  • brushing up or bumping against your body
  • sexual assault
    • Sexual harassment can occur in the workplace.

    Sexual harassment may also take the form of a quid pro quo -- an offer of advancement if a coworker will agree to sexual contact or the threat of job loss if a coworker refuses to engage in sexual contact. Someone experiencing this form of sexual harassment may be suddenly fired or demoted for refusing the harasser's advances.

    Sexual harassment can take the form of ongoing unwanted sexual attention of several kinds- verbal, nonverbal, or physical that, over time, creates a hostile work environment for the target of such harassment. Someone experiencing this type of sexual harassment may or may not face firing or demotion, but the harasser creates an atmosphere in which the coworker suffers from the effects of sexual harassment on a daily, hourly, or almost constant basis resulting in an intolerable working environment for the victim.

    What can you do about sexual harassment?
    • Don't ignore it. It won't go away!
    • If you're unsure whether a certain type of behavior is sexual harassment or want more information, contact Bridges for more information.
    • Learn your rights. Contact your supervisor, personnel manager, or Employee Assistance Program and learn about your employer's policies on sexual harassment.
    • Speak up about sexual harassment you experience or witness. Encourage your employer to have a strong policy in place and offer trainings on sexual harassment.
    • Keep detailed records, documenting and incidents of harassment you experience. Enlist witnesses. Keep copies of all written materials, including e-mails.
    • Let the harasser know, verbally and in writing, that his or her behavior is unwelcome and unacceptable. Be specific about incidences of unwanted sexual attention.
    • Report incidents of sexual harassment to administrative personnel, verbally and in writing.
    • If your workplace has an official policy for filing grievances, start a grievance procedure. If you're a union member, notify the union representative, too.
    Sexual harassment facts and statistics

    In cases of sexual harassment, the victim as well as the harasser may be male or female. 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 coworker, 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 firing of the victim. (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, "Facts About Sexual Harassment, " 1997)

    In a 2001 national survey of 2,064 public high school students, 83% of girls and 79% of boys in grades 8 through 11 reported having experienced sexual harassment. More than one in four students reported experiencing it often. (American Association of University Women Educational Foundation, "Hostile Hallways: Bullying, Teasing, and Sexual Harassment in School, " 2001)

    In a 1995 survey administered to the entire Department of Defense, 78% of active duty military women and 38% of active duty military men reported that they had experienced one or more behaviors considered harassment by the survey administrators in the previous 12 months. However, 52% of the women and 9% of the men both indicated such an experience and considered at least one such experience harassment. (Department of Defense, Sexual Harassment Survey, 1995)

    Girls were more likely than boys to feel "self-conscious" (44% versus 19%), "embarrassed" (53% versus 32%), and less confident (32% versus 16%) because of an incident of sexual harassment. Girls were also more likely than boys to change behaviors in school or at home as a result of sexual harassment. Examples of modified behavior include less talking in class (30% of girls and 18% of boys), and avoiding the harasser (56% of girls and 24% of boys). (American Association of University Women Educational Foundation, "Hostile Hallways: Bullying, Teasing, and Sexual Harassment in School, " 2001)

    In a 1994 national survey of more than 8,000 Federal workers, 44% of women and 19% of men reported that they had experienced sexual harassment in the past two years. About 6% of respondents who had experienced sexual harassment took formal action in response. 44% ignored the behavior or did nothing. Of the 6% who took formal action, 44% of the men and 22% of the women said that management's response was to do nothing. (U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, "Sexual Harassment in the Federal Workplace, " 1994, pp., vii, 29,38)

    35% of students who had been sexually harassed reported that their first experience of sexual harassment was in elementary school. (American Association of University Women Educational Foundation, "Hostile Hallways: Bullying, Teasing, and Sexual Harassment in School, " 2001)

    The proportion of men who categorized uninvited sexual remarks by coworkers as sexual harassment rose from 42% in 1980 to 64% in 1994. For women, the figures were 54% and 77% respectively. The percentage of men who believed that pressuring a coworker for sexual favors is sexual harassment rose from 65% in 1980 to 93% in 1994. For women the figures were 81% and 98% respectively. Researchers believe this increase is due to sexual harassment education. (U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, "Sexual Harassment in the Federal Workplace, " 1994, pp. 5, 7)

    69% of students in a 2001 survey said that their school has a policy on sexual harassment, compared to 26% in 1993. (American Association of University Women Educational Foundation, "Hostile Hallways: Bullying, Teasing, and Sexual Harassment in School, " 2001)

    In a 1994 survey, 1% of female victims and 21% of male victims had been sexually harassed by someone of the same sex. 79% of male victims and 77% of women victims had been sexually harassed by coworkers or other employees without supervisory authority over them. 14% of male victims and 28% of female victims had been sexually harassed by someone in their supervisory chain. (U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, "Sexual Harassment in the Federal Workplace, " 1994, p. 18

    Web links & book resources:
    Directory of sexual harassment school trainers from the NH Commission on the Status of Women

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