Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Research Paper

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace - Research Paper Example The author of the paper states that sexual harassment consists of any unwanted sexual behavior including suggestive look, words, gestures, sexual jokes, physical touching or pressure for sexual favors. There are two types of sexual harassment: quid pro quo harassment and hostile environment. The quid pro quo harassment occurs when sexual favors are requested or demanded in exchange for tangible benefits like advancement and pay increase or to avoid tangible harm viz., loss of job, demotion and so on A more subtle and possibly more pervasive form of sexual harassment is "hostile working environment". It occurs when someone's behavior in the workplace creates an unexpected environment that makes difficult for someone of a particular sex to work." (Bhuyian and Rabbani, p 1). It has been a serious concern in the contemporary work-environment that the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace has not been efficiently dealt with and there are several cases of unwanted sexual behavior in the modern business context.  Although there have been several steps to deal with this social evil, various studies, as well as media reports, confirm that the issue is still a serious concern in the United States. According to Barry S. Roberts and Richard A. Mann, On-the-job sexual harassment has been an important problem affecting the industrial and business sectors of the country. "Despite widespread publicity about the perils of sexual harassment," they maintain, "surveys demonstrate that many businesses operating in the United States have yet to address the problem. Moreover, recent news reports indicate that sexual harassment has reached the highest levels of management. Although businesses know it exists, they appear unsure of what to do about it. As a result, the specter of employer liability for sexual harassment continues to loom over the workplace." (Roberts and Mann) It is essential to realize that the failure to adopt a pro-active and aggressive stance on this issue c an damage employee morale, apart from various kinds of financial and legal liabilities. Importantly, the number of sexual harassment cases filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), as well as in federal and state courts, has increased dramatically in the recent years and on-the-job sexual harassment remains a serious threat to social justice today. Therefore, sexual harassment in the workplace presents a continuing and mounting risk to businesses operating in the United States and it is fundamental to check the rising problem of sexual harassment in the workplace.