Mental health articles

sexual harassment facts and information Sexual harassment (SH) is a form of gender-based abuse and a violation of
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and of Title IX of the Education Amendment.
Th e legal defi nition of SH refers to unwelcome sexual advances, requests for
sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature where
there is a quid pro quo—i.e., acceptance or rejection of the harasser’s advances
aff ects one’s employment or academic status. In a hostile work environment,
the harasser’s conduct substantially interferes with the victim’s work or academic
performance. Harassing behaviors include repeated unwanted sexual
remarks, suggestive looks, deliberate touching, pressure for dates or sexual
favors, and actual or attempted rape or sexual assault.
Unwanted sexual attention, sexual coercion, and harassment based on
one’s gender are the most common types of harassment. As with other forms of sexual victimization, typically women are victims and men are perpetrators,
although there are exceptions where men are victims and same-gender
harassment occurs. Female students who may be at higher risk on campuses
include students in smaller colleges or small departments, women of color,
women and men in nontraditional fi elds, and students who are economically
disadvantaged (Rabinowitz, 1996). Th e American Psychological Association’s
website on myths and realities of SH describes types of harassment and psychological,
physiological, and career-related consequences (American Psychological
Association, n.d.).
Although sexual harassment is widespread in academia and the workplace,
most victims don’t take direct action when harassed, even though when asked
hypothetically respondents say that they should and would act assertively
(Koss et al., 1994). Very few victims confront their harasser, and even fewer
make formal reports. Th ey fear they will be blamed, will not be believed and
will be retaliated against, the reporting process will make it worse, nothing
will be done, or they will get the harasser in trouble. Magley (2002) reconceptualizes
this seeming inaction as a form of coping, observing that those who
indicated that they “did nothing” reported using numerous tactics to manage
their experiences, such as avoiding or ignoring the off ender. Victims may use
internal (e.g., endure, deny, detach) and/or external (avoid, appease, assert,
report) coping means to manage cognitions and emotions. Counselors must
confront any bias that assertive responses (reporting or confronting) are good
and disengaging responses are weak and inadequate. To be most helpful to
clients, counselors should also be familiar with campus sexual harassment
polices and procedures.
SH victims oft en fi nd themselves harassed by persons who exert some power
over them socially, academically, or on the job; such as faculty or administrators
harassing students or supervisors harassing employees. However, peer
harassment is also common, as when staff harass coworkers or students harass
fellow students. Harassment can even occur when the harasser appears to have
less power than the victim, which is labeled contra-power harassment. Th is
last situation is particularly confusing for victims, who oft en do not recognize
what is happening and blame themselves for being inadequate. In these cases,
ascribed power (e.g., gender) and informal power (e.g., anonymous harassment)
can be used by the off ender.

An alternative to using the formal complaint process is for the victim to
write a letter to the harasser, which objectively describes the off ensive behavior,
includes the victim’s feelings, and calls for the behavior to stop. Mailed to
the harasser with return receipt requested, it puts the harasser on notice that
the behavior is unwelcome. If the behavior continues, the letter is part of the
evidence in a formal complaint process. Additionally, the offi ce of the campus
ombudsperson is typically trained to deal with complaints of sexual harassment
and can be provided as a resource to clients.