Myths About Workplace Sexual Harassment We Need to Leave Behind

Even with the increased general awareness and media coverage thanks to the #MeToo movement, sexual harassment is still a huge problem in the United States. With 1 in every 3 women suffering sexual harassment at work, clearly something more needs to be done to fight this issue.

Legally speaking, what is sexual harassment? The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) defines sexual harassment as verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature that affects an individual’s employment or ability to work, or that creates an intimidating, offensive or hostile work environment.

Even with an official legal definition, sexual harassment is still highly misunderstood by almost everyone. And if you don’t know what something is, you can’t properly identify and address it. Let’s tackle 4 of the most common myths relating to sexual harassment in the workplace:

Men are always the perpetrators

While it’s true that the vast majority of sexual harassment is done by men to women, by failing to see other possible iterations, we underestimate the full scope of the problem.

Sexual harassment is usually more about power than sexual desire or anything else. Historically, men have held most (if not all) of the power in the business world. That reality combined with their socialization as sexually dominant means there are many more male perpetrators than female. But as increasing numbers of women ascend to positions of power in the workplace, there have been some significant cases of female-initiated sexual harassment.

Notably, sexual harassment does not have to occur between members of the opposite sex. Male-male and female-female sexual harassment also happen, as does sexual orientation discrimination. It’s important to be aware of different possibilities to avoid developing a stereotyped view of the problem.

It doesn’t happen to highly educated women, or women in positions of power

We tend to think the employees who are most vulnerable to sexual harassment are female secretaries, retail workers, restaurant servers. While those in low-paid, low-power jobs are certainly vulnerable, a 2019 study suggests that, across cultures, women at the top experience are even more likely to experience sexual harassment.

And educated women aren’t safe either: in one study, 45% of women who said they had been sexually harassed at work had a bachelor’s degree, while 19% had a master’s degree.

Most cases of sexual harassment get reported

No one knows exactly how much sexual harassment takes place at work, and what percentages of it get reported. Why estimates tend to hover around 70% of the harassment going unreported, other studies suggest that the real number is actually closer to 99% of incidents not being reported.

If you report it, your company’s HR team will handle it well

In some companies, HR is seen as a mandatory legal requirement but is not highly valued. And in many cases, HR departments ultimately serve the interests of the company rather than its individual employees. Many victims who have reported incidents of sexual harassment have found that nothing changed after they made their complaint.

If your employer does not take action after you report the harassment to HR, you can take your case to the EOCC. If that fails, you have the legal right to hire a sexual harassment attorney and sue the company.

Ultimately, your employer’s response to your sexual harassment complaint will depend on several factors, including their attitude toward HR matters and company culture. Do they promote a culture of fear, in which upper management clings to their power by maintaining the status quo? Or do they promote a culture of mutual respect and honesty, in which each employee is truly valued as a unique individual?

Now that we have a greater awareness of some common myths of sexual harassment, let’s conclude with a thought from Guardian journalist Claire Potter: If sexual harassment is truly about abuses of power, why don’t we combat it in the same way we do bullying: by punishing the bully?