Sexual assault in workplaces has been dramatically rising in recent years. In 2016, the EEOC released an In-depth study of workplace harassment in the United States, which concluded that “anywhere from 25% to 85% of women report having experienced sexual harassment in the workplace”. This census increased dramatically in the past 4 years and is rapidly increasing to this day (Stoeki 1). To be more specific, what does it mean to sexually harass someone? According to the EEOC, sexual harassment is defined as, “unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature.”(EEOC 2) Recently, an uprise of sexual assault allegations has surfaced, with actors, influencers, athletes politicians, and even students being accused of sexual harassment and making headlines. For example, Matt Lauer, the esteemed “Today Show” host was fired when,” NBC had received a complaint from a colleague about “inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Matt Lauer,”(Usbourne 1) NBC did not bother to do an investigation before firing the host who began working at NBC 66 years ago. Because sexual harassment claims are often settled behind closed doors, there’s little opportunity to understand and learn from what’s happened. Even if details are shared, people tend to focus more on the salacious detail than any lessons that can be learned. In this research paper you will find out why sexual assault occurs in a workplace, how it affects the victims and perpetrators, and resolutions created by influencers and ways to prevent this from occurring.
What is Sexual Assault?
Sexual assault in work-based areas has become an epidemic affecting many workers, with 91% of females getting assaulted and only 9% of men getting assaulted. As women gain greater equality in the workplace, it might be assumed that the instances of sexual harassment in the workplace would diminish. However, the causes of sexual harassment are complex and hard to identify, and sexual harassment remains prevalent in modern society. Women’s increasing presence in the workforce has meant that men and women work together more closely in the twenty-first century than at any other time in history. In fact, there are fewer and fewer ‘male only’ professions as women become much more fully integrated into all corners of the workforce. According to one researcher, ‘one effect of the breakdown of the sexual division of labor is the expansion of opportunities for sexual conflict in the workplace’ (Browne 145). As workplaces become more co-ed, the environment itself can also amount to unlawful sexual harassment where it’s sexually permeated or hostile. This could include a workplace where pornographic materials are displayed or a culture where offensive jokes, sexual banter, and crude conversations are the norms. According to a survey done by Phillips and Associates, nearly ⅔ of workers claim to have seen or experienced something inappropriate in a workplace ( Phillips 1). For example, Two women — former NBC journalist Linda Vester and an unnamed woman who previously worked as a production assistant at the network — accused Tom Brokaw of making unwanted sexual advances. Vester said the veteran NBC News anchor tried to forcibly kiss her twice and groped her once, while the production assistant said Brokaw suggestively invited her to his office to discuss her career. This behavior is very common amongst colleagues in the workplace and often goes unnoticed.
Impact of Sexual Assault
When sexual assault occurs in a workplace, many victims tend to be quiet about the situation. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reports receiving 12,000 allegations of sex-based harassment each year, with women accounting for about 83 percent of the complainants. That figure is believed to be just the tip of the iceberg. In a study issued last year, the co-chairwoman of a commission task force said that roughly three to four people experiencing such harassment never tell anyone in authority about it. Instead, they said women typically “avoid the harasser, deny or downplay the gravity of the situation, or attempt to ignore, forget, or endure the behavior.”(Engel 1) Another case may be that one of the primary reasons women don’t come forward to report sexual harassment or assault is emotion. Emotion is at the core of the intense emotional wounding women and men experience when they are sexually violated. As an expert on shame Gershen Kaufman aptly stated in his book Shame: The Power of Caring, “Emotion is a natural reaction to being violated or abused. In fact, abuse, by its very nature, is humiliating and dehumanizing.”(Kaufman 123) This is especially true for sexual violations. The victim feels invaded and defiled, while simultaneously experiencing the indignity of being helpless and at the mercy of another person. A question to ask is, when do victims come out? Just because a victim doesn’t come forward right away about sexual assault doesn’t mean the accusations are untrue, said Yolanda Moses, a professor of anthropology at the University of California, Riverside and a consultant/trainer for preventing sexual harassment and sexual assault. Indeed, there are many reasons why victims of sexual assault may hesitate to speak out immediately after an incident. Society tends to blame victims — female victims, in particular — for what happens to them. ( Moses 11). In several recent rape cases, for example, the victim was accused of ‘ruining’ the man who committed the assault ( Moses 14). In September and October of 2018 Brett Kavanaugh, an American lawyer and jurist was accused of sexually assaulting Christine Blasey Ford, who came out during the time of Kavanaugh’s inauguration into the Supreme Court, stating that 36 years ago Kavanaugh assaulted her at a high school party claiming that “ it drastically changed her life” (BBC 1). This shows how an alleged victim may take a long time in order to come out and may need a trigger such as being exposed to the perpetrator online, or even in person again.
Resolutions
As sexual assault continues to become more frequent, many influencers created unions and movements to help bring to cause this problem and find ways to prevent it. A new movement called TIME’S UP, where more than 300 women in film, television, and theater joined together to forge this movement, with aims for a “unified call for change from women in entertainment for women everywhere.”(Krovosky 2) Led by women, TIME’S UP not only aims to raise awareness of sexual harassment across industries but also to provide the tools to systematically eliminate it. Partnering with advocates for equality and safety, the effort strives to “improve laws, employment agreements, and corporate policies. Furthermore, they aim to help change the face of corporate boardrooms and the C-suite and enable more women and men to access our legal system to hold wrongdoers accountable.”(Krovosky 7) Another movement that has become popular among victims is the #MeToo movement, where victims of sexual assault spread the hashtag in order to raise awareness. In December of 2017, the hashtag was retweeted more than 1.2 million times, and in January of 2018, it was retweeted almost double (Noal 1). But ‘Me Too’ dates back to long before 2017 and 2018: Coined by community organizer and activist Tarana Burke more than a decade ago, the phrase originally had a particular focus on the stories of young women mostly girls of color. The goal of the movement, more largely, is to create change in our culture regarding how we prevent, and respond to, sexual harassment and sexual violence. As more and more people are beginning to discover the dilemma that is occurring, there is more push towards resolving it.
Conclusion
Sexual assault in a workplace has become a huge epidemic in recent years, with renowned politicians, actors, anchors, and influencers being accused of sexual assault and gaining a ruined reputation including Lauer, Brokaw and many more. Victims often do not come out immediately, hoping to forget about it. When they do come out, the predator, especially famed people, are put under fire and often resign or are let go. As sexual assault becomes more and more prominent, movements have surfaced such as the Time’s Up and #MeToo movements, advocated by actors and influencers who have experienced some type of sexual assault. While more cases of sexual assault occur, whether it be a well-known influencer or not, many are taking precautions and are taking steps towards diminishing and prosecuting those who commit these crimes.
