How common is workplace sexual harassment?
The Mad Men days of chasing the secretary around the desk may be (mostly) past, but sexual harassment remains common in the 21st century workplace. Even though most companies have explicit anti-sexual harassment policies, the odds an employed female reports ever experiencing it at work are 1 in 5.88. (Women file the majority of sexual harassment claims-1 in 1.19, or 84%.) The board of computer giant Hewlett Packard recently fired the company's CEO, Mark Hurd, on charges of sexual misconduct, and the public sector is far from immune; the executive director of Philadelphia's housing authority was accused in April 2010 of "serial predatory sexual misconduct."
Though high-profile cases like those continue to crop up, many men have become sensitive to the inappropriateness of sexually suggestive behavior, especially towards subordinates. The odds a man will report that he is very careful about not giving others grounds for an accusation of sexual harassment in the workplace are 1 in 1.39 (72%).
But sometimes harassment takes subtle forms. Flirting at an office party. An unwelcome text message. An invitation to drinks or dinner to talk about work. People can get confused, uncertain of boundaries-was that compliment appropriate? Was that comment offensive? Electronic messaging doesn't help, taking away our natural body language cues and thus increasing the chances of a communication being misconstrued.
The buzzphrase of the new century is "hostile work environment." According to one government website, it isn't just inappropriate touching or offensive comments that can create such a situation. Staring, telling lewd jokes, and putting up sexually suggestive posters can all qualify.
Among men, however, there's a widespread perception of unfairness. According to AskMen's Great Male Survey of 2009, 1 in 2 men think most sexual harassment claims aren't justified because too much innocent behavior is deemed sexual harassment. Only 1 in 6.25 men think most sexual harassment accusations are merited. Nearly a quarter (1 in 4.35), asked if they'd ever been accused of workplace sexual harassment, chose the answer "No, but I probably could be." Four times as many men say they've been accused unfairly as say they were guilty as charged.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination based on sex. Over the last half century it and other laws have certainly helped cut down on blatant sexual misbehavior in the workplace. The total number of complaints has dropped even over the past decade.
But a perfect solution to the problem of sexual harassment will probably remain a dream, as the complexities of human behavior continue to dog the issue. Fear, embarrassment, or simply not caring enough keep some victims from reporting incidents. The odds a man will report that he has been sexually harassed in the workplace, but that it didn't bother him, are 1 in 4.17. Meanwhile, a significant minority of women (1 in 3.45, or 29%) think it's okay for a woman to use her sexuality to get ahead in the workplace. What Title covers that?
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