1. Sexual Harassment as a Communication Phenomenon
Creating Understanding as a Basis for Prevention

2. Sexual Harrassment
EEOC definition--unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature if 1) submission is made a condition of employment, 2) submission to or rejection of conduct is the basis for an employment decision, or 3) the conduct seriously affects an employee’s work performance or creates a hostile, intimidating, or offensive work environment

3. Types of Sexual Harassment
Quid Pro Quo--offering a reward or threatening punishment in return for sexual favors
Hostile environment--sexually suggestive, intimidating, or offensive conditions
Typical targets--college educated women under 35 working in predominantly male work areas

4. Sexual Harassment as Communication
Can be verbal or nonverbal
May result from differing communication styles (Tannen)
May result from an expression of power in relationships
May result from attempts at intimate interpersonal relationships in the workplace

5. Dealing with Sexual Harassment: Victim Strategies
If you believe the conduct is wrong, say so. Tell the perpetrator in clear terms that the conduct is inappropriate
Report the incident following workplace procedures
Document incidents in written form
If witnesses are present, have them verify the details of the incident

6. Organizational Responses to Sexual Harassment Charges
Take the complaint seriously, listen carefully
Conduct an investigation (outsourcing?)
Maintain objectivity, be sympathetic but don’t make promises of action prior to investigation
Suspend judgment--perpetrators have rights too
Have a policy in place and follow it

7. Sexual Harassment Policies for Organizations
Zero tolerance--commitment from the top
Make punishment consistent with the behavior--don’t specify first offense penalty
Consistent enforcement--same rules for all
Multiple reporting options
Can’t cover it just once, need updates
Organizations with a cultural of accepting upward communication will be more successful at preventing SH

8. Solomon and Williams Sexual Harassment Study
Vast majority of SH is hostile environment type--social-sexual communication often the key (sexual and relational advances)
1/3 of all relations people have are initiated in the workplace
Highlights the importance of third party observations in cases of SH…but, what factors influence third party observations?

9. Solomon and Williams cont.
Distinguishing romantic interest and sexual harassment
perception of constrained behavior
perceived desirability of sexual advances
Study results
Explicit advances seen as more constraining than implicit (ambiguous) ones
Supervisor’s behavior is more likely to be seen as harassing than peer or subordinates

10. Solomon and Williams Study, continued
Perceived severity of SH increases with the position power of the message initiator
Attractiveness related to perceived SH
unattractive men are more likely than attractive men to be perceived as harassers
individuals charged with sexually harassing attractive targets are more likely to be found guilty with harassing than when targets are less attractive persons

11. Solomon and Williams cont.
Gender differences in harassment:
social-sexual communication initiated by males is seen as more constraining than females
Males are more likely to welcome social-sexual communication than females and hence women view it as more explicit and harassing
Females initiating social sexual communication were seen as less harassing than if the same messages were initiated by males

12. Solomon and Williams, conclude
Observer sex as key to perceptions of SH
women: are more negative on org. romances, view SH as more of a problem, show less tolerance for harassing behavior
males: more likely to view women as complicit
“Sexual harassment should be understood in terms of the power structures and gendered positions of males and females, which shape the meaning of social-sexual communication at work.”