Coping Mechanisms Used By Victims

After being constantly harassed either at work or by a stranger, victims learn different ways to manage the harassment, however, these coping mechanisms which are used by the victims might rarely differ base on the context of the stranger and/or sexual harassment. One of the most common coping mechanism used by victims is to ignore the harasser and/or the harassment which is also a very passive way of handling the harassment (Spitzberg & Cupach, 2003). An example of ignoring the harassment and the harasser is, when the victims are walking down the street and the harasser makes a comment about their outfit and tires to engage them in a conversation, however, instead of saying anything or doing anything to the harasser, the victims continue

The problem with this particular coping mechanism is that the harasser will continue this type of behavior because he does not learn that these type of behaviors are inappropriate and the victims continue to suffer throughout the harassment. One of the reason why many victims choose this type of coping mechanism is because they believe that if they ignore the harasser and the harassment long enough that the harasser will leave them alone. However, this form of coping might only work for those who are victims of stranger harassment but not for those who are in a work setting because the victims might have to interact with the harasser on a daily bases, and they might not be able to ignore their harasser because of their

One example of this is when a female chooses to wear less fitting clothes instead of clothes that show her figure or she might choose to wear male clothing in hope of disguising her body and sex. However, if the harassment happens in the workplace then there is a possibility that the victims might not have the option of changing their appearance or clothing, especially if the workplace has a dress code which will limit the options that the victims will have. But the victims of stranger harassment do not have as much limitation placed upon them compared to the victims of sexual harassment. The victims of stranger harassment can still wear loose fitting clothes or male clothes to avoid people from looking and/or making comments about their body which is what Attenberg did in her journey throughout Europe. Before Attenberg changed her appearance and clothes she described how she was harassed by men who asked her if they could have sex, and then there was another time when she fell asleep on the train and she woke up to an elderly man fondling her breast. But after Attenberg changed her appearance by wearing a motorcycle jacket and a baseball cap to hide her body and hair she was no longer subjected to any forms of harassment. She did not experience any males making kissing noises at her, asking her for sex, or even