What You Need to Know About Sexual Harassment at Work
No one should face unwanted gender bias in the office.
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Understanding Sexual Harassment - Thanks to Being Mary Jane, the important issue of sexual harassment in the workplace is being brought to the forefront. While many women face this mistreatment, a lot of us don’t know what it is or what to do if it happens to us. Let us help you break it all the way down. By Kellee Terrell (Photo: BET)
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What Is Sexual Harassment? - According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), sexual harassment is unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature that if you reject these advances could mean you are fired. This conduct can interfere with your work and performance, or the treatment creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment. (Photo: JENNIFER LAW/AFP/Getty Images)
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Keep in Mind the Word 'Unwelcome' - Whether you submit to the sexual requests out of fear or other reasons, if the advances are unwelcome from the jump, that’s what matters the most. Your own participation doesn’t take away the fact that what is being done to you is problematic and illegal. (Photo: JGI/Jamie Grill/Blend Images/Corbis)
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What Does It Actually Look Like? - Sexual harassment can be verbal, non-verbal and physical. Examples include unwanted pressure to go on a date, kissing and hugging, whistling at someone, asking about sexual fantasies, making facial expressions, winking, throwing kisses, licking lips, making sexual comments about a person's body, blocking a person's path, giving personal gifts and touching the person's clothing, hair or body to name a few. For more concrete examples of what sexual harassment can look like, go here. (Photo: Radius Images/Corbis)
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What’s the Difference Between Harassment and Flirting? - Look, office romances are common practice. But you have to ask yourself, does the flirting make you feel good? Is it wanted, flattering and reciprocated? Then fine. But if the behavior is one-sided, unwanted, makes you scared, degraded and powerless, then it’s harassment. (Photo: Corbis)
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But Isn’t This Typical 'Men Being Men' Behavior? - While women can be harassers, too, many women face this treatment from men. Sexual harassment should never be tolerated out of a belief that this is how men are supposed to act. Would we say that about racism or homophobia in the workplace as being normal, expected and acceptable? No. Therefore sexism and sexual harassment isn’t any different. (Photo: Pete Riches/Demotix/Corbis)
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Hold the Harasser Accountable - It’s not easy to speak out, but the harasser is banking on the fact that you will keep quiet as silence breeds more harassment. One way to get the behavior to stop is to let your harasser know that what they are doing is inappropriate and that it needs to stop. (Photo: Corbis)
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Never Blame Yourself - Being sexually harassed is never about what you were wearing or how you were behaving. You did not ask to be treated this way, so do not beat yourself up — ever. (Photo: Wavebreak Media Ltd./Corbis)
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Always Ask HR What Their Policy Is - Every employer is responsible to ensure that its employees work in a bias and harassment free environment at the hands of managers, co-workers or outside vendors that come into your workplace. Make sure to ask what policies they have in place and what the procedures are for reporting. (Photo: Roberto Westbrook/Blend Images/Corbis)
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Document Everything - With harassment, it can be a lot of “he said, she said,” so when it first happens, it’s important to record the incident. Make copies of any offensive material at the workplace, write down detailed info about the times that you were harassed, tell other people so you have someone who can corroborate the harassment and if possible you should consider filing an official complaint with human resources. (Photo: Roberto Westbrook/Blend Images/Corbis)
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You Don’t Have to Tell Your Boss - While telling your boss that you are being harassed at work might be helpful for some, it may not be that way for everyone. What if your harasser is friends with the boss or what if the boss is the one harassing you? If you are going to tell someone, make sure you report this to a colleague, someone in HR and/or a union rep so they can deal with it. (Photo: Tony Garcia/Corbis)