Sexual Harassment and Gender.

Introduction

Sexual harassment is defined as making unwanted sexual advances, requesting sexual favors, or engaging in any other sexually motivated physical or verbal harassment. For a long time, this was linked with women. Women have long been said to be the victims of such harassment. It is therefore critical to recognize that sexual harassment affects all sexes, and it is unjust to focus solely on protecting one gender from the bad repercussions of the vice in society.

Gender and Sexual Harassment

To begin with, both men and women can be victims of sexual harassment. However, sexual harassment on women is what has been forming the greater part of the current news in media. This is informed by the general notion that women are a weaker sex and therefore vulnerable to being harassed as compared to men (Nielsen et al., 2010). To be honest, this is a misinformed notion that currently holds no water at all. The fact is that both men and women are capable of being sexually harassed and therefore no preference should be taken against a single gender when it comes to dealing and combating of the vice. Equally, just as both genders can be vulnerable to sexual harassment, both can also constitute the culprits, meaning that both men and women can be the harassers. This in a way sounds funny as many questions can be raised as to how women can be harassers or rather how women can sexually harass men. Despite being viewed as a stronger sex, men are still vulnerable to harassment by women and in the current situation; reports have been made of women sexually harassing men.

Rampant Vice Everywhere

It is important to point out that sexual harassment has become a rampant vice everywhere and especially at workplaces. It has become common for women and in some cases men to be asked for sexual favors before they are employed in a given company or organization. Such favors are tied to the chances of one being employed or not as those who comply are guaranteed of being considered for the jobs and those who fail to comply are denied the chance to get a job opportunity. Another place where the vice has become rampant is among the educational institutions. In such institutions, sexual favors are done in exchange for marks and good grades or other favors that the students can have to make them comfortable. It majorly involves the lecturers and the students and as a matter of fact, ladies are the ones who are much on the receiving end (Buchanan et al., 2013). Possibly, this might be the reason why many people are of the opinion that women are the ones who are the victims of such harassment.

Reasons Women Are Victims

Women are more likely to become victims of the vice because of various reasons. To begin with, women are considered powerless as compared to men. This is a notion that is old and originated from our grandfathers who used to consider women as powerless and therefore no say in anything. This is a notion that is still being held today by some men who take that as an opportunity to sexually harass women. Though some women have been taking it upon themselves to report such acts, some of them have decided to remain silent on their harassment cases. This might be because of fear of the consequences in case they do the reporting.

Lack of Confidence

Some of the women also find themselves victims of such a vice because of lack of confidence. This is a very major factor especially to sexual harassment in workplaces and educational institutions. Most women have lacked the mentality that they are important and competent to take up some positions without being sexually manipulated by their bosses or employers. That is why they in most instances fall into such harassment for wanting to be favored or considered for some positions (Leskinen et al, 2011). Women need confidence and strong mentality in competing favorably with men. If such is acquired, then the levels of sexual harassment among women will definitely go down.

Changing Gender Dynamics

Another reason as to why more women have been the ones being sexually harassed is the fact that with time, women are becoming economic competitors to men. Initially, most workplaces or employment opportunities used to be held by men. This was the notion that women were not supposed to work as they were to remain in charge of the house and the children. Men are ones who were supposed to work in order to take care of their families. Tough economic times have since then reversed the notion prompting more women to start getting into the employment sector. Since then, men have felt threatened and are now using sexual harassment as a way of scaring away those women who are determined to take up such opportunities (Taylor & Burden., 2010). It is, therefore, one of the ways to kill the dreams of women who are ready to take up employment opportunities from men or tempering with their self-esteem and confidence.

Men as Victims

After acknowledging that women are the ones who are mostly affected by the vice, it is now important to go back to our earlier assertion that sexual harassment is not only limited to women as many think but also affect men. According to research, the number of men who are being sexually harassed is on the rise. Many reports are being filed by men who are going through the situation. Ideally, the reason as to why such cases may not have been much popular is because most men who were going through the situation had that fear of coming up and speaking up about what they were going through (Taylor & Burden., 2010). It sounded awkward and was also viewed as a sign of being a weaker sex a risk many men would not be ready to take at any given situation. However, the increase in a number of women who are now at leadership positions in most companies and organizations, the reality is now dawning on men that sexual harassment is real.

Factors Affecting Male Victims

In practice, not all men can be subject to sexual harassment. According to research, men who take time off their work to go and assume home duties such as taking care of the children are more likely to experience sexual harassment from their women and workplace in general. This is because people view them as less masculine and therefore less powerful. This is they are more likely to be sexually harassed at their place of work or any other place. Another group of women who are likely to experience sexual harassment is those who are in habit of supporting feminism ideas. Such men are also viewed as less masculine and therefore likely to suffer from sexual harassment too.

Effects on Male Victims

Such harassment to men has the same effect it has on women. Such men are always affected in terms of their confidence and ego. To men, confidence is important as it is what gives men the masculine nature and the authority they purport to have. It is, therefore, important to them and any situation that makes them lose such confidence is detrimental to them. Sexual harassment to men can also make them psychologically tortured (Franks, 2011). Just the same as women suffer from psychological torture due to the harassment, men are also susceptible to the same peril as women. Psychological torture to men can have a very big impact on the kind of family one brings up as many families are heavily dependent on men both for financial and emotional support. If this is not well looked into, then many families are bound to be affected.

Solutions to Sexual Harassment

Since it is now clear that sexual harassment is not restricted to one gender only, it is important to start looking on how it can be dealt with. Since it has caused many problems to families and places of work, something should be done to make sure that the issue of sexual harassment is something of the past. One of the ways companies and organizations can deal with this problem is by coming up with anti-harassment policies at places of work. Such policies should be aimed at providing the way forward as far as sexual harassment is concerned. Those who are found guilty of such acts should be held liable and tough penalties are imposed against them. the policies should ensure that there is no bias in the way they protect both genders as it is now clear that this is a problem that not only affects women but also men. It should, therefore, strike a balance between the genders to ensure equality in protection against sexual harassment.

Another measure that can be taken is to sensitize the public about gender and sexual harassment. Emphasis should be put on the fact that it is a problem that not only affects women but also men are victims. The sensitization programs can involve men have gone through the situation coming up and speaking to the public. If this is done, the public will be able to accept the fact that men being victims of sexual harassment are not just a fallacy but a reality. The sensitization can target most workplaces and educational institutions since they are the places which are much affected by the problem.

Support should also be provided to those who are affected by the situation. Since the victims are always affected psychologically, measures should be taken to ensure that such people are put under counseling programs in order to restore their confidence and ego for men. This can be done through setting up more counseling centres to attend to the ever increasing number of victims of sexual harassment.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the debate about gender and sexual harassment has been biased for a long time. Many people have for long believed that sexual harassment only affects women and not men. Men are termed as masculine people who have a high sense of confidence ergo and therefore not in a position to endure such trauma and torture. Women, on the other hand, are considered as weak and people who lack confidence and therefore not able to resist sexual harassment. This paper, therefore, holds a stand that sexual harassment should not be restricted to women alone but men should also be given attention as they are also victims of the vice.

References

Buchanan, N. T., Bluestein, B. M., Nappa, A. C., Woods, K. C., & Depatie, M. M. (2013). Exploring gender differences in body image, eating pathology, and sexual harassment. Body image, 10(3), 352-360.

Franks, M. A. (2011). Sexual Harassment 2.0. Md. L. Rev., 71, 655.

Leskinen, E. A., Cortina, L. M., & Kabat, D. B. (2011). Gender harassment: Broadening our understanding of sex-based harassment at work. Law and human behavior, 35(1), 25-39.

Nielsen, M. B., Bjørkelo, B., Notelaers, G., & Einarsen, S. (2010). Sexual harassment: Prevalence, outcomes, and gender differences assessed by three different estimation methods. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 19(3), 252-274.

Taylor, B., Stein, N., & Burden, F. (2010). The effects of gender violence/harassment prevention programming in middle schools: A randomized experimental evaluation. Violence and victims, 25(2), 202-223.