Sexual Harassment: The Era of Brushing Issues Under the Rug
Sexual harassment is a very prominent issue in many workplace and team environments. I feel like because of the abundance of even little harassment stories this issue has become very normalized and thus brushed off by many HR systems and people in a position of authority. I think that with the rights accountability systems harassers can be held accountable and victims can be able to feel comfortable sharing their experiences.
I researched and carried out this project in the Boise State Analytics for Design course as part of the College of Innovation and Design. I moved forward with this topic because as a female college student and server at a sports bar I feel like I have experienced many different forms of sexual harassment that are portrayed as normal. I feel like many others my age give or take experience the same thing and I wanted to shed more light on this topic.
What is Sexual Harassment and what forms does it come in?
Sexual harassment can come in many forms but can be defined simply as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. Unwelcome is a keyword here because the victim may agree to certain conduct in many situations even if they believe the actions or words are offensive or objective.
Sexual harassment includes many things… · Actual or attempted rape or sexual assault. · Unwanted pressure for sexual favors. · Unwanted deliberate touching, leaning over, cornering, or pinching. · Unwanted sexual looks or gestures. · Unwanted letters, telephone calls, or materials of a sexual nature. · Unwanted pressure for dates. · Unwanted sexual teasing, jokes, remarks, or questions. · Referring to an adult as a girl, hunk, doll, babe, or honey. · Whistling at someone. · Catcalls. · Sexual comments. · Turning work discussions to sexual topics. · Sexual innuendos or stories. · Asking about sexual fantasies, preferences, or history. · Personal questions about social or sexual life. · Sexual comments about a person’s clothing, anatomy, or looks. · Kissing sounds, howling and smacking lips. · Telling lies or spreading rumors about a person’s personal sex life. · Neck massage. · Touching an employee’s clothing, hair, or body. · Giving personal gifts. · Hanging around a person. · Hugging, kissing, patting, or stroking. · Touching or rubbing oneself sexually around another person. · Standing close or brushing up against a person. · Looking a person up and down (elevator eyes). · Staring at someone. · Sexually suggestive signals. · Facial expressions, winking, throwing kisses, or licking lips. · Making sexual gestures with hands or through body movements.
Why should we care?
Everyone deserves to feel comfortable and safe in their workplaces or in public settings. Situations that can make someone feel unsafe should be dealt with and those harassers should be held accountable. I think the fact that there are millions of stories from harassment situations in which victims don’t feel comfortable enough to report should make anyone mad.
From a professional standpoint increased instances of sexual harassment in a workplace can negatively impact the employee moral and in turn productivity can decrease. With better understandings of sexual harassment and its harmful effects, people can work together to greatly reduce this workplace problem.
Interviews and Surveys
Over the course of this seven-week course, we were given the task of researching a topic, and to understand it more thoroughly we performed interviews and created surveys to reach a wider audience. I got to interview my friend and fellow college student. She requested to remain anonymous throughout the process but described for me an instance where a superior would consistently make comments and advances of a sexual nature. Listening to her talk about this situation she was in really put it in perspective for me how normal an instance of sexual harassment can be.
From the survey portion, I was able to see the depth of stories from many different demographics of people. I was able to see the numbers on if people think sexual harassment is an issue or not which is helpful when compared with the stories that correlate. A large part of the results showed me that each person had a story and felt uncomfortable but most did not feel safe enough or uncomfortable enough to report and it was brushed under the rug.
The Findings
One of the main findings I was trying to gather from the survey was what actions people took after an incident happened to them and if they felt they could speak up about it to anyone. Most responses ranged from doing nothing to merely talking to a friend or family member.
I had an idea that this would be the results of a survey like this because quite honestly I would respond the same. There are so many reasons to not report that for many reporting an incident seems like too much work especially if it is something minor. I wanted evidence that too many people feel like it is more normal to do nothing and move on rather than reach out and say something to someone.
I also found that most people held a lower position at their job or organization. I wanted to ask this question just because I feel like this contributes heavily to whether or not a victim decides to report. This was also reflected in my interview from earlier where a superior harassed a subordinate which contributed to the reasons why they felt they could not report past venting to family and friends.
Link to Survey:
Link To Responses
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1oXHruFzws9ECn_TRWabrPpJLpjVXx_96i60HUdR5xcw/edit#responses
Solution
I originally had to idea to create an app or interface that is based upon an anonymous reporting service. It would have requirements for employees to register when hired. The app would allow you to report small instances where you felt unsafe and would allow you to chat with people in the same workplace that have had similar experiences. This would give you an outlet to talk to people with similar mindsets as well as possibly have an ally if you chose to report anything to HR.
My original idea of having an app where you can report sexual harassment linked with your workplace or organization can be changed a bit to a more talking-oriented app. I was thinking I could have everyone in those organizations help you subscribe to a chat and report service anonymously so you can talk to another employee or superior at your same organization anonymously so you can chat with people who’ve had the same experiences and feel safe to maybe team up and report it so you are not alone.
This idea is going to more of a message board with your organization for your employees to vent about experiences and others can anonymously message you about your post to confide in you if they have had similar experiences.
Mock up Landing Page:
Conclusions:
One of the biggest things I learned from this process was the breadth of different sexual harassment instances that exist. Most people including myself before diving more into it don’t fully understand what is and isn’t sexual harassment. I think this links really well with my survey findings for the reason why most people decide not to report as well. Since this topic is normalized and happens way too often victims often don’t even know they are receiving unwelcome advances or comments. A lot of times victims feel like they may have done something to warrant this type of harassment thus decide it is not worth it to report.
I think that spreading around the anonymous responses I got of reasons why people did not report was also very eye-opening and important for people to see. I think the more that stories and situations like this are spread around the more people will care especially if, like these survey results it is happening in the same town as you and maybe even to people you know.
Emma Ouzounian
Boise State University
