Statement of the problem

This study aims to have deeper understanding of the perception and experiences

of men to sexual harassment. It aims to answer the following questions:

1. What is the level of awareness of the respondent about their fellow men being

sexually harassed?
2. Have the respondent experienced being harassed sexually?
2.1 How did the respondent react towards the situation?
2.2 What did the respondent feel during the situation?
2.3 What did the respondent feel after the situation?
3. What can they say about the stigma of men being sexually harassed?
4. What change in laws and perception of the public the respondent wants to

happen?

Significance of the Study

This study will help spread awareness and understanding of sexual harassment

towards male victims. This study will help to see the truth and experiences of male that

encountered being sexually harassed. This study will help the people understand the

perception of male towards sexual harassment to male victims. At the end of this study,

it will help change the perception of the public and the stigma against male sexual

harassment.

Definition of Terms

The following terms are operationally defined in accordance to their used in the study:
Hypermasculinity is a psychological term for the exaggeration of male stereotypical

behavior, such as an emphasis on physical strength, aggression, and sexuality.

Pro-feminist men are considered by some to be a stream of the modern men's

movement sympathetic towards feminism. Pro-feminist men seek to add male voices to

feminism and advocate change by both women and men in their gender relations and

social, political, and institutional structures.

Sexual harassment refers to an act or a series of acts involving any unwelcome sexual

advance, request or demand for a sexual favor, or other verbal or physical behavior that

of a sexual nature.

Sexual orientation is about who you’re attracted to and want to have relationships with.

Sexual orientation describes patterns of emotional, romantic, and sexual attraction—

and one's sense of personal and social identity based on those attractions. Sexual

orientations include gay, lesbian, straight, bisexual, and asexual.

Sigma refers to a strong feeling of disapproval that most people in a society have about

something, especially when this is unfair.

Wolf whistle is a sound made with pursed lips in appreciation of superior beauty,

especially a woman viewed as physically or sexually attractive. While some may claim

that wolf whistling should be taken as flattery, many women argue that it’s a form of

sexual harassment that makes them feel objectified and unsafe.

Catcalling refers to the rude sexual remarks made by men passing women on the

street. Usually “catcalls” are about the woman's body as a whole or a certain feature.

Catcall is one of the forms of street harassment.

Gender roles, also known as a sex role, are roles that include a range of behaviors and

attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for people

based on their actual or perceived sex.

Street harassment is a verbal, physical, or psychological harm done to anyone in

public spaces. It is is among the most common forms of sexual harassment. Sexual

harassment in public spaces consists of the unwanted comments, gestures, and actions

forced on a stranger in a public place without their consent and is directed at them

because of their actual or perceived gender orientation.

 Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter presents a summary, evaluation, and comparison of literature and

studies relevant to the issue of sexual harassment against men. They are cited to serve

as foundation of knowledge on men being sexually violated, as well as to put in place

the value of the study’s main objective, which is to conduct a thorough research

regarding this matter.

Psychology of Men & Masculinity

In a study entitled “Perceptions of the Sexual Harassment of Men” by Berry, et

al., it aims to understand same-sex rejection-based harassment that occurs to police

masculine expressions. This scenario-based study discusses of how men with strong

hypermasculinity attitudes were less likely than others to view such incidents as sexual

harassment but only in rejection-based scenarios. They found out that same-sex

harassment was perceived to be less harassing than opposite-sex harassment in the

rejection-based scenarios.

There are many faces of sexual harassment in the Philippines, according to

Rappler. One report talked about how the netizens debated on Duterte’s explanation

that whistling at a woman is covered by freedom of expression. According to this news

report, Republic Act 7877, or the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995, classifies sexual

harassment as in employment environment, in education or training environment, or

basically in any public places such as around public transportation, restrooms, church,
parks, malls, terminals, restaurants, etc. Not only that, sexual harassment may also

happen by telephone, cellphone, mails, chats, media, etc.

A 2016 study conducted by the Social Weather Stations found out that women

are most vulnerable to sexual harassment and their most experienced cases are wolf

whistling and catcalling. Findings from the study showed that in the Philippines, about

60% of incidents of sexual harassment happen on the streets, major roads, and alleys

while physical forms of sexual harassment occur mostly in public transportations.

Another significant study on men harassment found out that majority of UK

students want their universities to do more awareness about sexual harassment. It was

found that more than 60% of students wanted their university to campaign against it,

56% said they believed that there should be counseling available to the victims, and

70% wanted their institutions to formally discipline perpetrators of it. This study further

highlights that the statistics on the number of male victims are a reality check (Blunt,

2016).

This section of the literature review focuses on the unheard appeal of men on the

rising issue of sexual harassment. It is done in order to assess new knowledge on how

this happened, where it began and what are the contributing factors.

An online journal released by The Conversation contains a series of articles of

how many men are sexually harassed especially in the workplace but are not speaking

out. The journal features emerging evidence that suggest sexual harassment against

men in the workplace exists and is on the rise. In a similar long-term study of 522

workers, up to 58% of women and 37% of men reported experiencing some level of
sexual harassment. This sample seems to indicate that the gap is not as wide as some

believe. Findings from ths study also states that sexual harassment against men

appears to occur in school environments prior to working life. Boys are especially likely

to be victims of verbal sexual harassment.

A similar study revealed that both men and women have experienced similar

levels (61% and 62% respectively) of one or more forms of sexual harassment while at

university. The researcher discovered that men tend to experience sexual harassment if

they turn away from traditional male gender roles and are pro-feminist, regardless of

their sexual orientation. The researcher found out that men tend to experience more

sexual harassment if they worked in places that were more tolerant of such behaviors.

In a 2015 study from Pennsylvania State University, the researchers found that

there was no significant difference between males and females in terms of sexist

attitudes that are known to reinforce gender inequality. Their study further highlights a

shared set of beliefs between the two sexes to justify toleration of sexual harassment.

The researchers have concluded that this shared set of sexist attitudes and toleration of

sexual harassment may serve to enforce or maintain gender roles, for both men and

women.

Another finding from the study on male sexual harassment is that it can cause an

impact on the overall mental health of those male victims. Men who have been sexually

harassed are more likely to experience anxiety, depression and alcohol abuse. This can

lead to education and work problems in the future.

 Overall, sexual harassment against men is not as widely studied as sexual

harassment against women; this has called into question whether the reported figures of

men who have been sexually harassed may actually be much higher than currently

stated. On top of this, men may be more reluctant to report sexual harassment than

women. There are a number of suggested reasons for this – stigma being one of them.

Many men may be too embarrassed to report sexual harassment, or they may consider

it to be “unmanly” to report such behavior.

Another reason may be perceptual differences. What is deemed to be sexual

harassment may differ between men and women. A number of findings indicate that

men can view certain behaviour, deemed as sexual harassment by women, as less

threatening or serious – and sometimes even flattering.

 Chapter 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The chapter presents the process to be utilized by the researcher in conducting

the study, specifically in terms of the research design, respondents, instruments,

procedures for data gathering, and statistical treatment used for data analysis

Research Design

With the focus on the phenomenon experienced by young men who experienced

sexual harassment, the researchers selected the qualitative approach. Specifically, the

study utilized the Husserlian descriptive phenomenological design. Phenomenology is

an approach to qualitative research that focuses on the commonality of a lived

experience within a particular group. Phenomenologists investigate subjective

phenomena in the belief that critical truths about reality are grounded in people’s lived

experiences. They believe that these lived experiences give meaning to each person’s

perception of a particular phenomenon (Polit & Beck, 2003). The fundamental goal of

the approach is to arrive at a description of the nature of the particular phenomenon

(Creswell, 2013).

Research Environment

Data gathering will be conducted in Cebu City National Science High School

(CCNSHS), located in Salvador St., Labangon, Cebu City. The School has

approximately 600 male students in total. Below is Figure 1 showing the location map of

the research environment.

 Figure 2. Location of Cebu City National Science High School

Commonly known as Sci-Hi or Science High, CCNSHS is one of Cebu City’s most

prestigious Science high schools. CCNSHS is known for its commendable academic

training in the fields of English, Science, and Mathematics. Only 175 students (formerly

140) are qualified to pass the entrance exam and interview every year. Teachers and

students in CCNSHS believe that not only intelligence can bring someone to the top, but

character. Thus, CCNSHS was chosen as the research environment because of the

belief of the researchers that the students are capable of answering the surveys well for

them to get the expected results on the said study.