Sexual Harassment and Human Rights Commission Research

Sexual Harassment
Name
Affiliation/Institution
Date
Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment has had numerous definitions, but all these definitions share the same idea. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, sexual harassment is any “uninvited and unwelcoming verbal or physical behavior of a sexual nature especially by a person in authority toward a subordinate (as an employee or student).” The Australian Human Rights Commission defines it as “an unwanted or unwelcoming sexual behavior, which makes a person feel offended, humiliated or intimidated.” The World Health Organization (WHO) defines it as “any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, unwanted sexual comments or advances, or acts to traffic or otherwise directed against a person’s sexuality using coercion, by any individual regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting, including but not limited to home and work.” The idea that all definitions have including the two above is that sexual harassment involves directing one’s sexual desires towards a person of either the same or the opposite sex without mutual consent. However, WHO’s definition goes further and even makes it clearer that sexual harassment can happen anywhere and is not limited to either workplaces or homes. No one is safe from sexual harassment. According to Spector, Zhou, and Che (2014), cases of this malaise have spread to even hospitals and nurses have been the latest victims. The three researchers discovered that sexual harassment is spreading, and if not curtailed, it could spread to even the most revered offices.
According to Boghani (2015), “nearly 1 in 5 women and 1 in 71 men have been raped in their lifetime.” This data is incredibly shocking and troubling because by doing the simple math involved, one gathers that millions of people who have undergone a form of sexual harassment. The impact of the act on oneself as well as on the entire community warrants quick action. The most shocking revelation of all is the fact that the perpetrators do not have an age limit not that having it would be a good thing. The main point here is that no one is safe including the young toddlers and the society’s grandparents. The above make the easiest of targets due to obvious reasons, and this means that if the community does not collectively work together, many people will keep falling victim to the claws of this malaise. The statistics are shocking and the moral police of today’s society need to partner with the community to help structure the most effective response measures.
Currently, cases of sexual harassment have become rampant and coupled with the fact that numerous cases go unreported, extra effort is indeed needed. According to the United States Department of Justice (USDJ) (2012), from 2006 to 2010, sexual assault and rape crimes were among the highest regarding unreported crimes in the United States with 65%. As per the USDJ, many victims fail to report as a result of “fear of reprisal” and this means that many suffer in silence. Numerous reports have emerged of young girls and boys being sexually harassed by their relatives or students being sexually harassed by their teachers. The aftermath is that these children grow up in fear and eventually blame themselves for what they are going through. The society needs to stretch a helping hand towards them and make sure that the scourge is dealt with accordingly.
The victims of sexual harassment are not the most outgoing people, and if they initially were, they tend to withdraw into themselves, and this makes the attributes of sexual harassment invisible to the majority. Ignorance has also played a huge role in the spread of this malaise because as it has emerged, most victims are not aware of the attributes of sexual harassment. The result is that many victims are sexually harassed but never realize it. According to an article by Stanford University (2016), sexual harassment could be verbal, physical, as well as non-verbal. Some of the most common attributes or characteristics to look out for include unwanted sexual jokes, remarks or questions, making suggestive sexual gestures with one’s body parts, attempted rape or sexual assault, sending one’s nude pictures or videos to other people, etc. The above are the most common, but unless people get well informed, then the world is fighting a losing battle. This information should be propagated all over the world and in every social gathering (churches, schools, and any other group), people need to be sensitized...