Framing sexual harassment through media representations

McDonald, Paula; Charlesworth, Sara

doi:10.1016/j.wsif.2012.11.003

Cited by 46 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Indeed, variations in individual SH complaints within the different groups examined illustrate the difficulty in attributing specific yet consistent explanations for different manifestations based on sex dyad. The study does, however, redress the lack of empirical attention to and community recognition of atypical SH, including by the media which tend to emphasize salacious sexual conduct by high profile men against female subordinates (McDonald and Charlesworth, 2013). In this way, the studycontributes to a more nuanced characterization of SH that may be useful for guiding individual responses and organizational practices that more effectively prevent and redress SH in its various guises (Dubois et al, 1998) and for informing future research and changing public discourse.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Workplace sexual harassment at the margins

McDonald

Charlesworth

2015

Work, Employment and Society

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Men are overwhelmingly responsible for sexual harassment against women in the workplace. However, the literature also points to less typical manifestations, including sexual harassment by men of other men and by women of men or other women. This article examines these atypical forms of sexual harassment, drawing on a census of all formal sexual harassment complaints lodged with Australian equal opportunity commissions over a six-month period. The analysis reveals some important distinctions and similarities across groups of atypical complaints, as well as between atypical groups and 'classic' sexual harassment complaints where men harass women. The article contributes to the relatively undeveloped literature on these less visible forms of sexual harassment and highlights both theoretical and pragmatic challenges in better understanding workplace sexual harassment 'at the margins'.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Workplace sexual harassment at the margins

McDonald

Charlesworth

2015

Work, Employment and Society

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“…This article builds on that approach by considering not only the contextual structures of the experience but also the agency of employees who have experienced customer‐perpetrated sexual harassment, allowing for an understanding of the nuances of employee response, as well as the contextual and normative factors that influence, shape and frame this. In doing so, the article attempts to address the call for more qualitative research into employees’ experiences of sexual harassment and customer‐perpetrated harassment in particular (Handy, ; McDonald, , p. 11), and responds to the exhortation of key researchers for the need for more research on extra‐legal responses to sexual harassment ‘below the tip of the iceberg’ of litigation through the court system (McDonald et al , ). The article attempts to understand the gendered nature of service work and how this impacts employee responses to a gendered employment issue, sexual harassment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘But It's Your Job To Be Friendly’: Employees Coping With and Contesting Sexual Harassment from Customers in the Service Sector

Good

Cooper

2016

Gender Work & Organization

105

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This article analyses how employees in the service sector respond to sexual harassment from customers and attempts to explain why this is so. There are only a small number of previous studies examining the issue of customer-perpetrated sexual harassment. Those that have been conducted have detailed the nature and prevalence of sexual harassment from customers, but this research lags behind employee experience and some emerging policy responses to this issue. The extant literature, whilst growing, remains largely limited to documenting the phenomenon. In this article, we attempt to create a deeper analysis of customer-perpetrated harassment by conducting a new review of the literature to develop propositions about how employees respond to it and the factors that influence their responses. These propositions are analysed in relation to a qualitative pilot study with 15 interviewees who had experienced sexual harassment from customers to understand how they reacted and why. The article shows how the social norms and precarious working conditions of the service sector constrain employees from seeking formal redress, leading to the enactment of informal coping strategies and temporary contestations of the situation. This research is important for building our understanding of the influence of workplace context for framing employee responses to customer sexual harassment.

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“…Almost one in five respondents indicated that they had not been sexually harassed when read the legal definition of sexual harassment, but reported experiencing behaviours likely to constitute unlawful sexual harassment (AHRC, 2012a: 18). Despite dominant media framings of sexual harassment as involving harassment of a particular individual by an employer or manager/supervisor (McDonald and Charlesworth, 2013), the AHRC survey indicated that more than half of the harassers identified by survey respondents were co-workers (AHRC, 2012a: 35).…”

Section: Sexual Harassmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unfortunately such an extensive and resource-intensive review of other large employers is unlikely. However, the ADF Review underscores the importance of framing sexual harassment not just as an issue of an aberrant individual behaving badly, but as systemic sex discrimination (McDonald and Charlesworth, 2013).…”

Section: Sexual Harassmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Women, work and industrial relations in Australia in 2012

Charlesworth

2013

Journal of Industrial Relations

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The year 2012 saw a number of initiatives and debates around measures that directly and indirectly affect women's working conditions. This article first considers the extent of women's workforce participation, an issue that has informed both policy debates and legislative changes over the last year. It then briefly assesses the potential of the Fair Work Act Review and the ongoing Modern Awards Review to improve women's working conditions, before turning to action on a number of fronts. Pregnancy discrimination and sexual harassment have remained a constant in Australian anti-discrimination jurisdictions for many years. However, in 2012, there was also strong enforcement action by the Fair Work Ombudsman in cases of pregnancy discrimination, a new sexual harassment prevalence survey and the second phase of the Treatment of Women in Defence Review. Apart from the Social and Community Sector equal pay case, finalised in February 2012. Action 'outside' formal equal pay provisions also saw potential gains for the predominantly female and low-paid workforces in aged care and childcare.

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Framing sexual harassment through media representations

Cited by 46 publications

References 35 publications

Workplace sexual harassment at the margins

Workplace sexual harassment at the margins

‘But It's Your Job To Be Friendly’: Employees Coping With and Contesting Sexual Harassment from Customers in the Service Sector

Women, work and industrial relations in Australia in 2012

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