1. Experienced Sexual Harassment in the Military: Why Soldiers Aren’t Reporting
Jacqueline Jaramillo, Senior, Psychology Major,
Lisa L. Scherer, Ph. D., & Shereen Bingham, Ph. D.,
Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska at Omaha
Presentation for the UNO Research & Creativity Fair, March 1st, 2019

2. The Problem
It is estimated that 40%–75% of women, and 13%–31% of men, have experienced some form of sexual harassment (Foster & Fullager, 2018)
Recent estimates suggest that 26% of female service members and 7% of male service members experience sexual harassment in the military (Bell, Dardis, Vento, & Street, 2018)
Jaramillo, Scherer, Bingham, 2019

3. Why is Sexual Harassment Continuing to Occur?
Reluctance of military victims to report sexual harassment to authorities has been attributed to a wide range of concerns
Being sexually victimized—along with insufficient or deficient responses to it—clearly violates military values which dictate that a fellow service member should never be left behind. This inconsistency may result in feelings of “institutional betrayal” (McCone, Thomsen, & Laurence, 2018)

4. Overview Why sexual harassment still occurring
Definition sexual harassment
Organizational characteristics influencing reporting of sexual harassment
Specific focus of study

5. Why is Sexual Harassment Continuing to Occur?
Unsupportive responses to victims in the military might be related to more adverse consequences of sexual victimization for victims in the military versus elsewhere (McCone, Thomsen, & Laurence, 2018)
Reporting of sexual harassment is very low due to victims’ legitimate concerns and fears of negative consequences
There are many factors, but I will be looking at reporting: Why aren’t military personnel reporting?

6. What is sexual harassment?
Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature that are either a condition of employment or that create an intimidating or hostile work environment (Quick & McFadyen, 2016)
Examples: unwelcomed touching, verbal remarks, jokes, sexual requests, degrading comments, flashing or exposing body parts, displays of sexual materials, or displays of sexual appearances (McDonald, 2012)

7. Forms of Sexual Harassment
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC, 1980) defines two forms of Sexual Harassment recognized by courts:
Quid Pro Quo: Sexual harassment that occurs when an individual in an authority position requests sex, a sexual relationship, in exchange for not punishing the employee, or in exchange for favors, such as promotions or raises (EEOC, 1980)
Hostile Work Environment: Sexual harassment that occurs through the presence of degrading or sexual photographs, jokes, unwanted touching, sexual remarks, requests or threats. This itself, must create an intimidating and offensive work environment (EEOC, 1980)

8. Negative Consequences for People Who Have Experienced Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment is harmful to the well-being of targets, who report increased depression, posttraumatic stress, work withdrawal, intentions to quit, and decreased productivity (Buchanan, Settles, Hall, & O’Connor, 2014)
Considerable decreases in psychological and physical health, job satisfaction, engagement, and organizational commitment and higher occurrences of workplace withdrawal behaviors (Hobson & Swostek, 2017)
Individuals who experience workplace sexual harassment suffer significant psychological, health- and job-related consequence (McDonald, 2012)

9. Organizational Characteristics that Facilitate Reporting
Vijayasiri (2008) found that certain aspects of organizational context, explicitly employee views of the grievance process, the functioning of it, and the fall-out, influence victim response
Organizational grievance policies are rarely used by SH victims
Studies have shown that organizational politics affect reporting process (Vijayasiri, 2008)
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) established lines for what effective sexual harassment policies should contain

10. Organizational Factors that Discourage or Inhibit Reporting
Higher status/rank of perpetrator
Ineffective or outdated sexual harassment reporting policies
Insufficient training or no training at all
Policies alone are not sufficient enough to stop harassment, especially if they are not followed or enforced
High fear of retribution (Pershing, 2003)

11. After reviewing all of this literature, what seems to be more predictive of reporting of sexual harassment is a culture of reporting and fear of retaliation

12. Culture of Reporting
Military culture in general (e.g hostile attitudes towards women, rape myth acceptance, hypermasculinity, and organizational climate condoning sexual aggression)
There are many layers and sources of policy, there can be confusion on how to report (Miller, Farris, & Williams, 2018)
Reporting needs to be stressed to all military participants and a clear plan of action needs to be used in order to do so

13. Fear of Retaliation
When an individual fears reporting sexual harassment due to fears of negative consequences
Examples include: lower performance evaluations, denial of promotions, and termination (Vijayasiri, 2008)
Prior research on the sexual harassment in the military finds that “although all forms of sexual harassment toward women across various ranks has declined, harassment, in general, remains prevalent and is unlikely to be officially reported” (Pershing, 2003, p. 4)
In one study, half of military personnel felt that reporting their sexual harassment experience did not make a significant difference or made it worse (Bell, Street, & Strafford, 2014)

14. Dispositional Fear of Retaliation
Though perceptions of the actual work climate have impact on reporting sexual harassment, individual personalities may also play a role
Dispositional fear of retaliation refers to “proneness to worry about how other people would react and, as a consequence, behavior often changes to avoid another’s retaliatory behavior” (Barlett, Madison, DeWitt, & Heath, 2019)
Individuals differ in their proneness to fear of retaliation, and this may affect their decision to report sexual harassment regardless of the organizational climate

15. Planned Study: Hypotheses
Hypothesis I: Those who have formally reported being sexually harassed in the military perceive the original culture as less tolerant of sexual harassment than those who have not formally reported sexual harassment
Hypothesis II: Those who have formally reported being sexually harassed in the military are less fearful of retaliation than those who have not formally reported sexual harassment

16. Planned Study: Method
Participants: Active and Prior Service Soldiers (15-20 years)
Online, Anonymous Survey
Mixed Methodology: Quantitative and Qualitative

17. Planned Study: Quantitative Measures
Culture of Reporting
Psychological Climate for Sexual Harassment (Estrada & Olsen, 2011)
9 items, measures organizational tolerance for sexual harassment in terms of risks, seriousness, and actions associated with a sexual harassment episode
Ex: “It would be risky for me to file a sexual harassment complaint”
Fear of Retaliation
Dispositional Fear of Retaliation Scale (Barlett, et al., 2019)
7 items on “characteristics of me”, Response on 1-5 scale (1 being “Not at all” & 5 being “Extremely”)
Ex: “In social situations, I do and say what I want because I don’t fear retaliation”

18. Planned Study: Example of Qualitative Items
1. Did they report the sexual harassment? Why or why not?
2. Who were the perpetrators? What organizational power were they compared to you?
3. Did the organization make any changes in regards to reporting the sexual harassment?

19. Thank you!
A special thank you to Dr. Scherer & Dr. Bingham, my research group, and my friends and family!
Any questions?

20. References
Barlett, C. P., Madison, C., DeWitt, C. C., & Heath, J. B. (2019). Dispositional Fear of Retaliation Scale [Database record]. Retrieved from PsycTESTS. doi:
Bell, M. E., Dardis, C. M., Vento, S. A., & Street, A. E. (2018). Victims of sexual harassment and sexual assault in the military: Understanding risks and promoting recovery. Military Psychology, 30(3), 219–228. doi: /mil
Bell, M. E., Street, A. E., & Strafford, J. (2014). Victims’ psychosocial well-being after reporting sexual harassment in the military. Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 15(2), 133–152. doi: /
Buchanan, N. T., Settles I. H., Hall, A. T., & O’Connor, R. C. (2014). A review of organizational strategies for reducing sexual harassment: Insights from the U.S. military. Journal of Social Issues, 70(4). 687–702. doi: /josi

21. References
Estrada, A. X., Olson, K. J., Harbke, C. R., & Berggren, A. W. (2011). Evaluating a Brief Scale Measuring Psychological Climate for Sexual Harassment. Military Psychology (Taylor & Francis Ltd), 23(4), 410–432. doi: /
Foster, P. J. & Fullagar, C. J. (2018). Why don’t we report sexual harassment? An application of the theory of planned behavior. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 40,(3) 148–160. doi: /
Hobson, C. J., & Szostek, J. (2017). The development of a content valid tool to asses organizational policies and practices concerning workplace sexual harassment. The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist, 52, 111–119.
McCone, D. R., Thomsen, C.,J., & Laurence, J. H. (2018). Introduction to the special issue on sexual harassment and sexual assault in the US military. Military Psychology, 30(3). doi: /

22. References
McDonald, P. (2012). Workplace sexual harassment 30 years on: A review of the literature. International Journal of Management Reviews, 14, 1–17. doi: /j x.
Miller, L. L., Farris, C. & Williams, K. M. (2018). Challenges to evaluating US military policy on sexual assault and sexual harassment. Military Psychology, 30(3), 193–205. doi: /
Pershing, J., L. (2003). Why women don’t report sexual harassment: A case study of an elite military institution. Gender Issues 21(4), 3–30. doi: /s x
Quick, J. C. & McFadyen, M. A. (2016). Sexual harassment: Have we made any progress? Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 22(3), 286–298.
Jaramillo, Scherer, Bingham, 2019

23. References
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (1980). Guidelines on discrimination because of sex. Federal Register, 45,
 Vijayasiri, G. (2008). Reporting sexual harassment: The importance of organizational culture and trust. Gender Issues, 25, 43–61. doi: /s