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Sexual harassment within the workplace
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In her magazine article, “No, #MeToo Isn’t McCarthyism,” found in the January 2018 issue of The Atlantic, writer Sophie Gilbert refutes various criticisms targeting #MeToo, a recent social media campaign created to spread awareness of the frequency of sexual harassment and assault. She distinguishes serious sexual assault and harassment allegations from claims against men who are merely unpleasant by noting that the former is comprised of rape accusations, while the latter is only “a collection of misconduct allegations and rumors” (2). Critics of #MeToo have attempted to undermine the movement by arguing that it is a facade to allow people to falsely accuse others of sexual harassment and assault. As a result, the accused usually suffer from
Today, gender inequality in the workplace still remains a popular discussion within institutional and social realms. In Just One of the Guys? by Kristen Schilt, through a variety of methods she shows how transmen are susceptible to systemic gender inequality even if they go through different experiences. Schilt performs in-depth interviews with transmen in the workplace to show how the types of experiences transgender people go through, good or bad, can be influenced on what race or social class they are in. She uses informational tables showing yearly statistics, real life examples of transmen’s stories, and her own observational data to provide an explanation of how individuals participate in the reproduction of gender inequality within
In Zoë Heller’s Rape on the Campus, She advocates how sexual assault happens often on campuses, and that it needs to be significantly more addressed; as it is scarce for women to bring the college’s attention to the assault. Heller asserts that, “20 percent of women are sexually assaulted during their time at college and as few as 5 percent of these assaults are ever reported to police” (185). Noting that ninety-five percent of sexual assault cases are dealt by the college, colleges can take advantage and handle its reputation by outputting false information to cover any potential negative reputation. While colleges are forced to obey the rules of title IX, I believe this is an inadequate effort to remove bias teachers and workers from colleges.
Sexual harassment in the workplace takes many forms, and could result in a system of assault that could perpetuate continually. In the Frontline Documentary Rape in the Fields (2013), the power dynamics of undocumented female field workers and their male co-workers or bosses creates a dynamic in which these women must consent to unwelcome behavior, and many must engage in regular intercourse with these men for fear of being deported along with their entire family. Thus, these men have a leverage and can blackmail these women into agreeing to engage in a sexual relationship with these men, crossing the line between consent and force. In one case, one of the male farm owners insisted that a female subordinate engage in intercourse with him, and threatened her with a gun. This is an
In general, people labeled as victims often feel guilty for being a victim and do not report the offense. In cases of sexual harassment between students, both classmates and administrators often victim blame the female in the situation. Victim blaming claims that women caused the harassment by dressing and acting inappropriately. “[These] judgements create an environment in which it becomes unlikely that the target of harassment will feel justified and supported in claiming her rights” (Chamberlain). However, sexual harassment “is a part of the larger framework of oppression that subordinates females to male in a complex, deeply enculturated patriarchal system of compulsory heterosexuality” (Chamberlain).
Radford had explained that Robin was afraid of what her grandmother would have thought if she knew the truth. This case made it easy for the officers to find out that her accusation was false, but it also provides an example of how easy it is to make a claim, and how hard it can be to disprove it. There is only one appropriate circumstance in which an accusation of sexual assault is appropriate, and that is when an actual case of sexual assault happened. Inappropriate circumstances would be, a way to get back at someone you're upset with for other reasons, and a way to cover up risque photos that were found by a family member like Robin did. False accusations are also demeaning to actual victims of sexual assault.
The guidelines for a Title IX suit can be filed basically immunize the school from liability in all cases of sexual harassment except the most extreme cases. “The individual must be able to show that her school (1) received federal funds, (2) had actual (as opposed to constructive) knowledge of the harassment, (3) responded to such known acts of harassment with indifference, and (4) deprived her of equal access to educational opportunities through its “clearly unreasonable” response to “severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive” harassment” (Walker 2010). The largest issues of these standards is proof of actual knowledge of the harassment. This give the school an incentive towards ignorance and the ability to avoid knowledge of what is going on and face no disciplinary action (Walker 2010; Silbaugh 2015). In addition, Title IX settlements, while give some sort of compensation to a survivor, allows schools with grossly negligent policies to disclaim any liability or fault for the underlying event (Walker
In their opinion piece published in the New York Times, Miriam Gleckman-Krut and Nicole Bedera, two students from University of Michigan, claim that students being accused of sexual assault on-campus should not be the ones providing the definition of sexual assault because more victims will stay silent. Their article tackles the research question “how does allowing the accused to define sexual assault affect the victim?”. The piece was written in response to Betsy DeVos, Secretary of Education, who claimed that former President Obama’s policies on on-campus rape stripped the accused of their liberties because less evidence was required from the victims, who often struggle to create concreate evidence due to trauma or difficulty remembering.
Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, businesses have a right to provide a work environment that protects employees from sexual harassment. In addition, even though federal law, Title VII is known predominantly for prohibiting workplace discrimination and harassment on the basis of an individual’s race, religion, color, national origin and sex; however, over the years, Title VII extended to include sexual discrimination such as sexual harassment. In view of that, managerial employees and supervisors should take immediate action when complaints of sexual harassment are brought to their attention so as to prevent further harassment and other preventable actions such as physical force to address unwelcomed sexual attention. Furthermore,
Canada is often referred as one of the lowest crime rated countries in the world and it’s also considered one of the safest countries in the world, but there are crimes that often happens but they are not reported one of those crimes is sexual harassment and assault. Case law in Canada pertaining to sexual assault and harassment are not capable to act as a punishment since these laws often favoured the perpetrator because most of the victims are ashamed to speak out therefore these acts continue to be pervasive in Canada. The Ontario human rights code states that everyone has the rights to be free from sexual discrimination based on sex which includes sexual assault/harassment. However, history has shown that people have overlooked it. One of the most
William Bainbridge Ethics Paper Abstract: This brief but informative paper will cover the ethical aspects and implications of sexual harassment in the Military. Sexual harassment is a form of gender discrimination and often displayed in the form of unwanted attention or unwanted sexual advances or unwanted sexual actions. Specifically, this paper will focus intently on sexual harassment in the Army and the problems that entails. The ethical problems regarding sexual harassment are significant because of the unique environment that the Army conducts its self.
Department of Education provides what is called an “Interim Guidance,” which addresses obligations of how all schools must implement the statute. The guidelines are not law, but aid institutions in understanding how the Department will enforce and review Title IX cases. According to the Interim Guidance, regardless if a student files a complaint of alleged sexual misconduct or not, it is the responsibility of the schools Title IX coordinator to respond appropriately to investigate and understand what occurred and then act accordingly. All federally funded schools are required by law to respond and mediate any possible hostile situations in educational environments. If a reported complaint is investigated and revealed that sexual harassment or violence has created a hostile setting, the institution must take immediate and effective steps to eliminate the conduct, prevent the recurrence, and appropriately remedy its effects.
This thought totally wrong and hurtful because it will makes the victims difficult to speak out and more likely to blame themselves. The examples of sexual abuse are rough sexual activity, rape and forcible sodomy either oral or anal sex. Sexual harassment may be verbal, non
Sexual harassment and sexual assault are very serious issues happening today in the workplace. Women or men have suffered from unsolicited sexual behaviors that are typically provoked by someone “higher” in position. “Sexual harassment especially has been a fixture in the workplace since women began to work outside their homes” (Fitzgerald, 1993). It is solely the responsibility of the employer to ensure that all employees within are aware and are very cautions of laws, misconduct, and liabilities. Employers must enforce the Policy Prohibiting Discrimination and further extend those laws and guidelines to their employees.
Sexual harassment is identified as any unwelcome and unwanted sexual advances, verbal or physical behavior of sexual nature and requesting for sexual favours due to which a worker’s performance is affected, he/she suffers from psychological trauma or an offensive/hostile atmosphere is created at the workplace. The occurrence of workplace sexual harassment is linked with several risk factors. The nature of job and particularly the gender ratio at a workplace and traditionally male oriented jobs are among the significant ones. These pose an increased risk for women to face situations of getting sexually offended or harassed.
