Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

Background
The goal of this position statement is to denounce workplace sexual harassment and to engage
people about their rights and ethical obligations when it comes to sexual harassment allegations. In the
healthcare industry, sexual harassment is a serious issue. It is a widespread, demeaning, social, legal, and
ethical issue. It is a type of sex discrimination that impacts everyone in the workplace, regardless of
gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation.

The majority of sexual harassment instances include men as perpetrators and women as a victims.
According to a research, roughly 30% of female respondents said they had been subjected to pervasive
sexual harassment. However, by 2017, the percentage had risen to 16.5 percent (EEOC, 2018).
Complaints of same-sex harassment are also on the rise. It's possible that this is due to an increase in the
number of events or better reporting.

Sexual harassment is categorized as a form of discrimination in the United States under Title VII
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) interprets and
enforces Title VII’s sex discrimination rule as prohibiting any employment discrimination based on
gender. The EEOC has broadened the types of discrimination claims it will pursue to include
discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation (EEOC 2018). Sexual harassment is
defined as sexual behavior that is undesired and undesirable by the recipient. When behavior is neither
welcomed or solicited and is thought offensive and undesired, it is considered unwelcome. Sexual
harassment in the workplace is a form of power abuse. The harasser utilizes his or her position of
authority or power to disparage, humiliate, refused to promote, or demote others (Hamlin & Hoffman,
2002). Harassing behaviors can include, but aren’t limited to:
 Deliberate unwanted physical contact
 Offensive behavior such as leering, ridicule or insinuation
 Display of offensive visual materials
 Verbal sexual advance determined by the recipient as unwelcome
 Sexually-oriented comments about someone’s body, appearance and lifestyle

From 2005 to 2015, Jocelyn Frye, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, examined
sexual harassment complaints filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and
discovered that the Health Care and Social Assistance category had one of the highest rates of complaints
– 11.48 (Frye, 2017). Only situations in which formal complaints were lodged are included in this
number. Nurses frequently report higher levels of sexual harassment when asked. According to a study of
international studies on nurse violence and sexual harassment, around 25% of nurses had been sexually
harassed (Spector, Zhiqing, Xin, 2013). The number of incidences of sexual harassment that do not result
in formal complaints is very certainly far larger. According to a 2016 EEOC report, three out of every
four people who are sexually harassed never register a complaint. Fear, disbelief of their claim, inaction
on their claim, blame, social or professional reprisal are among reasons for not reporting (EEOC, 2016).

In 1980, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which is responsible for enforcing
federal anti-discrimination laws, issued rules that define sexual harassment in two ways:

Quid Pro Quo – “something in exchange for something else” (Garner, 1999). In the context of sexual
harassment, quid pro quo harassment occurs “when submission to or rejection of such conduct by a
person is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting that person” (Fiedler, Hamby, 2000). This
include promotions, demotions, terminations, scheduling changes, and so on. Quid pro quo harassment is
when someone in a position of power or authority over another perpetrates it.

Hostile Work Environment - “Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal
or physical conduct of a sexual nature that has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an
individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment”
(Gardner & Johnson, 2001).

Despite the fact that there are several legal precautions in place to protect employees from sexual
harassment and to prevent retaliation against victims who file sexual harassment complaints, many
victims do not report their harassment. Due to the existence of numerous legal precautions, many cases go
undiscovered due to the hierarchical character of many employees and the victims’ concern that their
complaints will not be taken seriously, or that they would lose their positions or have their careers
harmed. Many incidences of sexual harassment are either covered up or quietly settled, with the victim
receiving compensation, signing a confidentiality agreement, and being reassigned or resigning. This
structure also protects employers from sexual harassment charges.

Sexual harassment victims frequently suffer considerable psychological, emotional, and

occupational effects in the short and long term. Anxiety, sadness, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),
and substance misuse are all examples of emotional distress. Increased absenteeism, fatigue, job change,
interpersonal conflict, or reduced intimacy and sexual functioning are all common occurrences for
victims.
Primary safety suffers as a result of a dangerous work environment. When the harasser is a
coworker, for example, important patient care information may withheld. A disturbed person may also
have trouble concentrating, causing them to miss critical patient information. Sexual harassment has a
major financial impact on health-care businesses, including lost productivity, increased absenteeism,
lawsuits, and claims. According to the United States Department of Labor, sexual harassment costs
businesses $1 billion every year in absenteeism, poor morale, and new employee training. This figure is
continuing to increase.

Position
 Employees have a right to a sexual harassment-free workplace.
 Employers must adopt sexual harassment policies that ban all forms of sexual harassment and
prevent retaliation against employees who report harassment.

Conclusion
For workers, sexual harassment remains a pervasive and pernicious problem. Although the
employer may be responsible for enforcing an effective sexual harassment prevention program, the key to
successfully reducing harassment in the workplace is to include all employees in the development and
improvement of these programs. Employees can and should play an important part in ensuring that they
and their coworkers can pursue their trade in an environment free of humiliating and abusive behavior.
“We cannot be passive spectators and expect our workplace cultures to alter themselves,” the co-chairs of
the 2016 EEOC Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace assert.