DiPatrizio reports that, though his research will not specifically investigate cannabis-tobacco interactions, it is eligible for the program’s funding because type 2 diabetes is a tobacco-related disease.Sexual harassment continues to endure as a public health problem through its persistence in everyday life, but especially in the workplace. Recently, thanks to efforts of the #MeToo movement, issues of sexual harassment and assault in the workplace have become significantly more visible in the public sphere. As defined by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission , sexual harassment is defined in terms of “unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment” and “when such conduct has the purpose or effect unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance, or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment” . The EEOC also notes that sexual harassment in the workplace is classified as a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights act of 1964 as it is a form of sex discrimination. Workplace sexual harassment is further distinguished into two categories. First, quid pro quo sexual harassment occurs when a supervisor with the ability to impose rewards or disciplinary actions onto employees uses their position to coerce victims to oblige them with sexual favors . Second, a hostile work environment harassment exists when an employee regularly experiences sexual harassment because co-workers and/or supervisors frequently engage and allow such behaviors to occur in the workplace. Lastly,drain trays for plants with the advancement of social media and virtual communication, sexual harassment does not require in-person interactions as harassment can occur virtually .
Although men and women are both victims of sexual harassment, women are most often burdened by such behavior. Studies indicate 15% of men experience sexual harassment at their work compared to one in four women who report experiencing some form of sexual harassment in the work place and in 2018, 84% of charges alleging sexual harassment while at work were filed by women . Additionally, men more often perpetuate sexual harassment against women. The United States Merit Systems Protection Board regularly conducts a survey to capture instances of sexual harassment among employees in the federal government. Their most recent report indicates men are perpetuators of sexual harassment in the workplace in 68% of all cases . Yet, despite a greater prevalence of female victimization by males, it is important to remember men can still experience harassment perpetuated by either men or women. In addition to understanding the prevalence of sexual harassment, it is important to be aware of how harassment is perpetuated in order to understand the severity and frequency of such behavior. Behaviors that constitute sexual harassment can range from nonverbal behaviors such as staring, verbal harassment including jokes and remarks of a sexual nature to unwanted physical contact and assault . The most common forms of sexual harassment reported by employees include unwanted verbal asides as well as nonverbal behaviors including sexually suggestive looks and gestures of a sexual nature . Other commons forms of sexual harassment experienced in the workplace include showing explicit material and persistently pressuring someone for a date . Although least reported, intense instances of assault and coercion are often acted out by supervisors as opposed to co-workers or customers .Sexual harassment can have debilitating effects on victims both personally and interpersonally.
For instance, negative psychological outcomes spurred by sexual harassment include stress, lower self-esteem and depression . Regardless of the severity of the incident, frequent experiences with harassment at work can negatively affect a victim’s psychological well-being and attitudes surrounding their job . For example, in more severe cases of sexual harassment, one in ten women develop symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder . A longitudinal study investigating sexual harassment experienced by young adults at work found that such experiences early in one’s career can have long term effects such as depressive symptoms in adulthood among male and female victims . Such findings indicate that the mental health consequences of sexual harassment are not only immediate but can have a long lasting impact on victims. Specifically, researchers propose that the stress caused by harassment can affect not only work, but other domains in one’s life such as family relationships and friendships . Therefore, stress proliferation serves as a mechanism for linking sexual harassment to an increased risk of depression among victims . In addition to effects on psychological well-being, sexual harassment also negatively affects an organization via a worker’s ability to fulfill their work responsibilities. The aftermath of such an experience can affect a worker’s ability to function in the very environment where they experienced and are at further risk of harassment. Sexual harassment can cause female workers to become withdrawn from their job, through their avoidance of tasks and refusal to show up to work altogether . Studies have also found that harassment by supervisors leads to lower employee satisfaction with their job, supervisors, promotions as well as lower job commitment by both male and female workers . Trauma and stress invoked by harassment can also cause workers to become distracted on the job and increases the risk of accidents occurring .
Harassment in the workplace significantly increases employee turnover, despite mediation of work satisfaction, particularly in studies focused on female workers . As women are forced to leave their jobs because of harassment, they experience financial stress in the form of career disruption and wage loss . Career disruption further results in loss of specific job-tenure and access to the social network provided by one’s workplace . Although it is difficult to assign a monetary value to injury , long-term wage loss resulting from workplace harassment can be explained by gaps in employment and reduced hours; both are actions taken by workers to reduce their exposure to an unsafe work environment . Furthermore, harassment in the workplaces can create a hostile work environment for all employees. Although fellow co-workers may not be the target of harassment, their exposure to it nonetheless can have a measurable impact as a workplace stressor. Co-workers can become exposed to sexual harassment by either directly witnessing the behavior or indirectly learning about it through a peer. Glomb and colleagues found that as the prevalence of harassment increased in the work environment, women who were not directly targeted were more likely to report lower job satisfaction and higher distress. Researchers have also found that as workers report greater instances of sexual harassment through personal experience or observation, these experiences are positively associated with greater team conflict among employees . Thus, the ramifications of sexual harassment in the workplace burdens not only targets of sexual harassment but their peers as well. Lastly, individual and interpersonal consequences of sexual harassment also have repercussions for organizations and companies. USMSPB’s report found that in 1994 the costs of lower employee productivity, sick leave, and higher turnover rates related to sexual harassment cost the federal government approximately $327 million , equivalent to $578 million in 2020 when accounting for inflation. Organizations may also be forced to absorb the financial costs of fees and settlements resulting from legal battles that ensue because of the inappropriate behavior. The possible news coverage tied to an instance of abuse and harassment in the workplace can consequently cost the organization its reputation and particularly in industries such as retail, this can ultimately impact a company’s the bottom-line.Sexual harassment in the workplace is dependent on several factors within an organization that allow for such behavior to occur. In their review of the literature on sexual harassment, Pina and colleagues conclude that the occurrence of harassment in the workplace can be explained by power differentials between victims and perpetuators, sexual permissiveness of the work environment, gendered occupations,4 x 8 grow tray as well as the policies that govern the likelihood of harassment and the consequences that follow . Organizational theory of sexual harassment primarily argues that harassment is the result of hierarchical structures created within organizations. The stratification of roles in the work environment and the authority attached to these roles allow supervisors, for example, to sexually coerce their subordinates who are vulnerable to work related consequences if they resist .
Vulnerable populations especially who are low-ranking employees face a greater risk of being exploited by a supervisor . Additionally, societal norms attached to power differentials within hierarchies create an expectation that an exertion of power between the powerful and powerless is normal and tolerable . An exertion of power can take many forms including but not limited to sexual harassment. Likewise, power differentials can help explain sexual harassment committed by subordinates as a means to gain power or eliminate the inequality in statuses . In a study on workplace authority, researchers found that female supervisors were more likely to experience harassing behaviors than female employees, particularly from male co-workers , suggesting that sexual harassment was motivated by a threat to traditional gendered power differences. Thus, hierarchies and differences in power are further affected by gender. Although men are more likely to hold leadership positions in their place of work and act as perpetrators of sexual harassment , the introduction of women into leadership positions does not necessarily deter harassment. Although power differences are often gendered, it is important to acknowledge that despite research findings pointing to men as common perpetrators of harassment against female subordinates , abuse of power in the form of sexual harassment occurs regardless of gender and is bidirectional within a hierarchy. When discussing power differentials and harassment as the manifestation of abuse within organizational theory, researchers cannot ignore the intersection power, gender and race as factors influencing the experience of sexual harassment , as not all victims experience or are targeted for harassment equally. Particularly for women of color, their experiences of harassment are not only rooted in gender discrimination but racial discrimination as well as is evidenced by studies indicating women of color are more often targeted compared to their White counterparts in the workplace . Furthermore, women of color are also more likely to internalize their experiences with harassment and are more hesitant to report such instances . Organizational theory also posits that a work environment’s permissiveness serves as a predictor of workers falling victim to sexual harassment . Such a permissive environment is created through a lack of workplace policies, such as a sexual harassment training, procedures for reporting harassment, protection for workers who report and a no tolerance policy . These policies, when enforced, ideally aid in minimizing the prevalence of sexual harassment. Without them, perpetuators in the workplace are left unchecked, and likewise, victims are left more vulnerable. Permissive work environments are also characterized by a high tolerance for flirting, sexual jokes, and obscene language . Studies investigating sexual harassment through an organizational approach have found that if workers perceive their organization to be tolerant of sexual harassment in the workplace, they are more likely to experience instances of harassment . Studies find that workers weigh the efficaciousness of their actions against the authority of their employer as the sexual permissiveness in a workplace is usually maintained, if not promoted, by managers and higher ups . Contributing to a sexually permissive environment is also the idea of working in an overly sexualized work environment. Through the lens of sexualized labor, Warhust and Nick separate sexualization that is inherent to certain workplaces from work that becomes sexualized at the organizational level. They argue that organizations utilize the aesthetics of workers as a marketing strategy which then gives rise to sexualized labor and consequently gives perpetuators a sense of justification to enact inappropriate behaviors towards employees. Sexualized labor begins to take form when organizations specifically recruit employees who they consider to be handsome or beautiful as the archaic idea that sex sells remains prevalent. Although the sexualization of workers in no way justifies sexually abusive actions taken against them by co-workers, managers or clients, workers are nonetheless expected to endure unwelcome comments, stares and actions as inevitable consequence . Work environments that lend themselves to becoming overtly sexualized are those that rely heavily on customer interaction and satisfaction such as retail, food, hospitality and casinos .