Sex Harassment on the Job: Who’s Sexiest of All?

August 19th, 2009. By AbiK

It’s the quintessential and stereotypical office drama played out in a tabloid: bombshell secretary gets her butt pinched by male higher-up. Or worse. Think that sounds pretty accurate for most sexual harassment cases? Think again. The “sex magnet” isn’t quite who you probably think it is.

A new study just reported that it’s actually not lower level female employees who suffer the most on-the-job sexual harassment. An article at HealthDay.com (8/12/09) shares the findings of the study conducted by University of Minnesota sociologist Heather McLaughlin. Guess what? Turns out female supervisors are more likely to be the target of sexual harassment.

The study looked at 600 men and women aged 29 to 30. The findings indicated that 36% of men and women experienced some form of sexual harassment (in 2004). Sexual harassament, by the way, included offensive material, discussions of sex, staring or leering, invasion of personal space, questions about one’s private life or unwanted touching.

Beyond that, 46% of female supervisors and 33% of non-supervisory women had experienced such harassment. Sadly, though not surprising, effeminate men were also more likely to be sexually harassed at work.

The interesting takeaway from the study though is how it seemingly shatters the misconception that supervisory status serves as some sort of protection against sexual harassment—that a non-supervisory female might be a “safer target”.

While I’m amazed sometimes at how broad the definition of “sexual harassment” is (heck, I’ve certainly zoned out during a meeting or two and who knows what I was staring at and not even conscious of—and gee, maybe I’ve asked a co-worker about their kids, too), this does offer some new food for thought.

And lest you think that sexual harassment is about, uh, sex and desire, HealthDay quotes the author of the study as saying it’s “more about control and domination”. And as such, those who are victimized often can experience anxiety or even depression.

Tags: Sexual Harassment

This was posted on Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 at 2:33 pm and is filed under Employment . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.