To Confront Versus not to Confront: Women’s Perception of Sexual Harassment

Abstract

A B S T R A C TCurrent research has postulated that sexual harassment is one of the most serious social problems. Perceptions of sexual harassment vary according to some factors: gender, context, and perceiver's ideology. The strategies most commonly used by women to cope with harassment range from avoiding or ignoring the harasser to confronting the harasser or reporting the incident. The aim of this study was to explore women's perception of sexual harassment, and to assess the implications of different victim responses to harassment. A total of 138 women were administered a questionnaire where the type of harassment, and victim response were manipulated. Moreover, the influence of ideological variables (i.e. ambivalent sexism and the acceptance of myths of sexual harassment) on perception was assessed. Results show perception of sexual harassment was lower in gender harassment than in unwanted sexual attention and participants believed women who confronted their harasser would be evaluated negatively by men. Furthermore, effects of ideology on perception of harassment were found. The results underscore the complexities involved in defining certain behaviours as harassment, and the implications of different victim responses to harassment.Enfrentarse o no: la percepción del acoso sexual por parte de la mujer R E S U M E N La investigación actual postula que el acoso sexual es uno de los problemas sociales más graves. La percepción de acoso varía de acuerdo a factores como: género, contexto e ideología del perceptor. Las estrategias más utilizadas por las mujeres para hacer frente al acoso van desde evitar o ignorar al acosador hasta enfrentarse a él o denunciarlo. El objetivo de este estudio fue explorar la percepción de las mujeres sobre el acoso sexual, y evaluar las implicaciones de las diferentes respuestas de las víctimas de acoso. A 138 mujeres se les administró un cuestionario en el que el tipo de acoso y la respuesta de la víctima, fueron manipulados. Además, se evaluó la influencia del sexismo ambivalente y la aceptación de los mitos de acoso sexual en la percepción. Los resultados muestran que la percepción de acoso sexual fue menor en el acoso de género que en la atención sexual no deseada y las participantes creen que las mujeres que confrontan el acoso serán evaluadas negativamente por los hombres. Además, se encontraron efectos de la ideología sobre la percepción de acoso. Los resultados ponen de relieve las complejidades involucradas en la definición de ciertos comportamientos como el acoso y las implicaciones de las diferentes respuestas a las víctimas de acoso.Palabras clave: Acoso sexual Mitos Sexismo Percepción social Afrontamiento

Sexism in Adolescent Relationships: A Systematic Review

“…First of all, the small number of studies published between 2005 and 2018 in scientific journals analysing the relationship between sexism and cognitive, emotional, attitudinal, and behavioural variables involved in adolescent relationships should be noted; only 20 articles were found. Sexist attitudes were linked to major social problems, such as intimate partner violence (Bringas-Molleda et al, 2017;García-Díaz et al, 2016;Herrera, Herrera, & Expósito, 2018;López-Cepero, Rodríguez-Franco, Rodríguez-Díaz, & Bringas, 2013;López-Ossorio et al, 2018;Moyano, Monge, & Sierra, 2017) or risky sexual behaviours (Kocken, Van-Dorst, & Schaalma, 2006;Nanda, Schuler, & Lenzi, 2013) in adult population. Therefore, it is contradictory to find little research analysing these relationships in adolescent population, since adolescence is a time when gender identities (Walker & Barton, 1983) that influence affective and love relationships begin to emerge (Duque, 2006;Sanpedro, 2005) and when the first sexual intercourse takes place (Ramiro-Sánchez, Ramiro, Bermúdez, & Buela-Casal, 2018a;Teva, Bermúdez, Ramiro, & Ramiro-Sánchez, 2013).…”

Which Tactics of Sexual Violence Predict Leaving the Relationship? The Role of Dependence towards Partner

“…Regarding hypothetical scenarios, although they have been used extensively because of their usefulness to vary specific features while holding other features constant (e.g., Hammock et al, 2015;Katz et al, 2007;Tamborra et al, 2014) and afforded this advantage in making sexual claims, participants' responses in these situations could differ from real-life responses. Furthermore, previous experience of sexual violence and general attitudes towards violence against women (e.g., rape myths, sexist ideology) should be considered in future studies, since past research has found these attitudes are crucial for understanding reactions and behaviours towards victims and aggressors (e.g., Herrera et al, 2014Herrera et al, , 2018. An additional limitation is that participants were from the general population, so that caution should be taken when generalising the results for professional or applied practice.…”

And justice for all: How organizational justice climate deters sexual harassment

“…Although there is an inherently subjective component, sexual harassment measures vary based on the extent to which they are subjective (i.e., psychological, sex‐based) or more objective (i.e., legal, behavioral) in focus (O'Leary‐Kelly et al., ). Subjective measures (i.e., psychological, sex‐based) focus on whether the target of an act perceives it to be sexual harassment, which is impacted by individual differences and situational factors (Herrera, Herrera & Expósito, ), whereas more objective measures (i.e., legal, behavioral), although still somewhat subjective, assess the occurrence of specific, offensive or unwanted sexual harassment behaviors rather than an individual's reaction to it (O'Leary‐Kelly et al., ). In the EEOC's Study of Harassment in the Workplace (Feldblum & Lipnic, ), 25% of women report being sexually harassed when asked simply whether they experienced “sexual harassment,” but this number increases to 40% when using a behavioral measure because it captures incidents of offensive, unwanted sexually based behaviors (i.e., sexual harassment) that may not always be labeled or reported as such (Bowes‐Sperry & O'Leary‐Kelly, ).…”