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The term sexual harassment applies to any situation in which a person feels he or she has been treated in a sexually inappropriate manner, usually in a workplace or other setting where refusal to comply with or raising objection to inappropriate treatment can result in negative consequences. Sexual harassment can take on many forms and result in serious repercussions. Many places of business aim to prevent sexual harassment by educating employees on sexual harassment acts and punishments.
Common types of sexual harassment include unwelcome requests for sexual favors, sexual advances, sexual jokes, lewd acts, talk of superiority of one gender, and verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. It can occur between superiors and their subordinates, among senior or junior employees and between people of the same gender. A sexual harassment victim need not be the actual person to whom the conduct was directed; anyone offended by the behavior can claim harassment. Although most cases of sexual harassment involve men victimizing women, males are not always the perpetrators of sexual harassment; they can also be victims.
Two specific legal types of sexual harassment have been defined: quid pro quo and hostile work environment. Quid pro quo translates to "this for that;" in a sexual harassment case, it is used to define a sexual request that is made suggesting that the victim will be somehow compensated for complying with the request. A hostile work environment created by sexual harassment means that the victim fears going to work because of intimidating or harassing behavior.
The key word in defining sexual harassment is "unwelcome." Sexual gestures, advances, contact or suggestions welcomed by the receiver do not constitute sexual harassment. A person who feels they are being harassed must make it known that they feel uncomfortable with such treatment. Because people often have different comfort levels, what one person may consider a harmless compliment, another may construe as a harassing comment. Similarly, a joke that may be funny in one context may be offensive in another. By making discomfort known, a victim of sexual harassment draws the line between harmless and hurtful, funny and offensive. In workplaces where formal complaint systems are in place, victims of sexual harassment may make their discomfort known without any one-on-one confrontation with the harasser.
A type of sexual discrimination, sexual harassment violates part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and is therefore punishable by federal law. Many states also have laws against sexual harassment, and many companies have their own punishments for offenders of sexual harassment policies. The first step towards ending the treatment is to speak up, first through company proceedings, and second, if necessary, to legal professionals. Thorough documentation of the events will help in any sexual harassment case.
A former employee of the Public Regulation Commission in New Mexico was recently awarded $840,000 in damages in a sexual harassment lawsuit.
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