How To Approach Sexual Harassment In The Work Place

You would think that with all of the advancements we’ve made as a society throughout our countless years on planet earth that the concept of sexual harassment in the workplace would be a thing of the past. The unfortunate truth of the matter is, there will always be creeps, no matter how advanced our society becomes.

This, of course, sucks, to put it lightly. It’s annoying, uncomfortable and even scary that there’s the possibility that you will go to your office everyday with the chance of being harassed by one of your co-workers or superiors. One would think that the woman would instantly stand up for herself, but a new study from the University of Notre Dame has determined that many women keep quiet about being sexual harassed in the workplace. Many women are more passive about sexual harassment than one would think.

Now sexual harassment has many different meanings. It doesn’t necessarily mean that a man is touching you or forcing himself upon you, even though that is a sad reality. Sexual harassment could be constant comments or really, anything that makes you feel uncomfortable.

Because of this, many women are not even sure if they’re being sexually harassed. They keep quiet because they don’t want to put their job or work place comfort in jeopardy by starting a big deal over a few snide comments. So how do we handle a situation like this?

For one, you absolutely know if a comment makes you feel uncomfortable or not. The first step is to say something. Speak up. Tell the person to stop, and if they continue, go to the next higher up authority. Your boss or HR should be well versed (through job training) on how to handle sexual harassment. They will speak to your harasser, and hopefully that does the trick.

Don’t be passive to the situation. Chances are you’ll continue to be harassed if you don’t stand up for yourself, because the harasser will see himself getting away with it. If you’re going to let someone walk all over you, they’re going to do it. But if you stand up for yourself and demand respect, you’ll either get it or you won’t, and at that point, you’ll know what kind of person you’re dealing with. Worst comes to worst, the law is always on your side.

Ally | Elite.

Photo Credit: Getty Images