Male Sexual Harassment in the Term Paper

Just like with other forms of sexual assault, sexual harassment brings a set of impacts and consequences such as having physical effects, emotional effects, job and school related effects and current and future financial penalties. Harassment also has harmful costs on the environment that victims are in and can lead to an aggressive and less productive work and school surroundings. It costs businesses and schools due to the damaged morale, lawsuits and absenteeism that occur because of it. It permits for the degradation of women and men and the continuation of gender inequalities (Anderson, 2006).

The psychological brunt on the victim of sexual harassment can be huge. Understanding the psychological effects of harassment is difficult because very often the victim's reactions are masked or minimized. Sexual harassment has negative impacts on the victim, often reporting that they are distracted during the day and do not perform to their potential. They are emotionally stressed and suffer from feelings of anxiety, fear, anger, guilt, embarrassment, and lower self-esteem. Damage that occurs because of sexual harassment is often very severe, and includes things like humiliation, loss of dignity and harm to both professional reputation and a person's career. Victims also often experience physical stress including headaches, sleeping problems, and other physical ailments (Dealing with Sexual Harassment, 2002).

Individuals respond to sexual harassment in a variety of ways depending upon the nature of the harassment, the individual's particular defenses, their emotional maturity, life viewpoint, the supportive nature of the work environment, and management. An individual's perception of the number of options also affects how they experience a situation and how they might respond or act in a specific situation. Some fear for the victim is reduced if a specific procedure for dealing with complaints of sexual harassment is available (Dealing with Sexual Harassment, 2002).

The incidence of male sexual harassment appears to be on the rise and the phenomenon of sexual harassment no longer just encompasses women. Men are more and more becoming the victims of the dreadful actions that seem to be rampant in the workplace, among other places. The psychological effects that sexual harassment has on its victims are numerous. Taking into account the fact that this is not necessarily a sex crime but more of a power trip the effects are astounding.

References

Anderson, Janet. (2006). Sexual Harassment. Retrieved April 27, 2010, from Web site:

http://www.wcsap.org/advocacy/PDF/8_2SexualHarassment.pdf

Dealing with Sexual Harassment. (2002). Retrieved April 27, 2010, from Web site:

http://www.womenscommission.state.nm.us/Publications/sexhbrochre.pdf

Gesaman, Krista. (2010). Abuse of Power. Retrieved April 27, 2010, from Newsweek Web site:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/230677

Male Sexual Harassment in the Workplace on the Rise. (2007). Retrieved April 27, 2010, from Associated Content Web site:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/175980/male_sexual_harassment_in_the_work_pg2.html?cat=3

Tahmincioglu, Eve. (2007). Male sexual harassment is not a joke. Retrieved April 27, 2010,

from MSNBC Web site: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19536167/