Dr. Bhawana Pokhrel
Times and values are changing rapidly in this intercultural world converted into a global village by the advancement of science and technology. We may not allow all the changes in the flux of time to affect our values. Yet, there are some such inevitable values we have to inculcate and show in our behavior. Of those, the most crucial one is the concept of harassment caused by the behavior of the opposite or different sex and our awareness about it.
Sexual harassment is one of such issues which are always taken for granted not only in our society and the country but also in other South Asian nations like ours, mainly due to the lack of ample knowledge about it. So far, reported cases in our country seem to be of severe and too serious kinds. However, the imperative is to nip it from the bud so that it does not escalate to the level of severity of the reported kinds. For this purpose, we need to be informed and inform others about its subtilities and lighter sides. This write-up explains what sexual harassment is and what are its manifestations than consequences as most of the repercussions here have been due to the lack of awareness about or overlooking of the necessary indices. In the US, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), in “Facts about Sexual Harassment” defined sexual harassment this way:
Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitutes sexual harassment when submission to or rejection of this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment. (1)
The definition above focuses that is it an unwelcome, unsocial, unfair advance of a person towards the other and is primarily sexual in nature. It affects an individual in personal and professional life.
In “Civil Rights Act and Sexual Harassment”, the EEOC puts it as “Socially inappropriate behavior” that creates a “hostile atmosphere” or “abuse” of a position of power in a relationship through sexual behavior or language” (1). The role of power is introduced in this definition in relation to behavior and even the language that is sexual in nature which gives way to a hostile environment of abuse.
Likewise, Mosby’s Medical Dictionary defines it as, “An aggressive, sexually motivated act of physical or verbal violation of a person over whom the aggressor has some power. Sexual harassment in the workplace is illegal because it represents an abridgment of the victim’s right to equal opportunity, privacy, and freedom from assault” (1). This definition mentions verbal violation as well not only physical which is of significance for a society like ours which presumes it to be only physical in nature; so, tends to dismiss all that happens at verbal level which affects a person as much as any other forms. These definitions add the dimension of power and illegality to it. It also annexes the issue of human rights. Along with it come concerns related to an individual’s privacy and opportunity. Human beings are unconditionally entitled to the freedom of privacy, opportunity and from assault i.e., freedom from any kinds of behaviors that do not feel right at any contexts.
Sexual harassment can occur in a variety of places and circumstances. It may be in a family, in public places, public transportation and work places. The grim fact is that the harasser can be anyone i.e., a parent, co-worker, a client, relative, a professor, a student, a friend, or even a stranger. Besides, the victim as well as the victimizer may be a woman or a man. In “Civil Rights Act and Sexual Harassment” it is stated that women more than men are vulnerable to it. It also gives way to a form of mental as well as physical torture:
Evidently, sexual harassment . . . has now unfortunately become a common occurrence for some women. Though government procedure countering this problem has improved considerably over the past few years, as long as there are women in the work force, they will inevitably be subjected to the torture . . . . (1)
It is a grim reality that women are more liable to suffer it as mentioned above. The cases are grimmer in the patriarchal societies like ours where males hold more power in familial and social settings. In “Putting Sexual Harassment on the Social Media Map”, an international week presenter, Rebecca Chiao, confirming women’s utmost vulnerability outside home, shades some light on the occurrence and effect of sexual harassment on women in Egypt.
[E]very woman I know deals with it, every day, from the minute you leave your house to the minute you come back. You hear comments, you get followed, groped sometimes, and sometimes people indecently expose themselves [ . . . ]all the way to sexual assaults. Sometimes you decide to just not deal with it; you stay home and don’t go to work. (1)
Sexual harassment seems rampant not only in the Asian societies but also in Egyptian. As explained by Chiao in the lines above, it hits women hard outside their homes. Within no time as they step out of their homes, they feel obliged to harvest its various forms such as facing comments, finding themselves followed unwantedly, getting groped and having to see indecent exposures of assaulting kinds.
One of the difficulties in understanding sexual harassment is that it involves a range of behaviors. Boland in her acclaimed work Sexual Harassment in the Workplace lists down the various natures of sexual harassment in detail. She says in the advanced countries like the United States Courts have carved out different standards for sexual harassment depending upon the conduct and who is harassing (25). The five modes of harassment as presented by her are: sexist words, sexist behavior, sexual advances, sexual intimidation and sexual criminal conduct (26-28). In our country Nepal, so far only the last one is reported at the cost of the former four being overlooked. It’s an imperative that we show a zero tolerance to these primary modes (sexist words, sexist behavior, sexual advances, sexual intimidation) so that we will be able to eliminated the fifth stage crisis. Introducing the civilians and educating them about these unacceptable mannerisms is of first and foremost importance.
Harassment may surface and resurface in any of the above-mentioned forms and at any time. Sometimes it may be operated through the words that are directed at females in general, they include: “…calling a women doll, babe, sweetie and honey, using sexist phrases like dumb blunders, claiming that women cry more or are too emotional, announcing that women can’t manage or workers not working for a woman, stating that some jobs are just women’s work…” (Boland 26). These names calling, we may be explained as endearments, or cultural care. However, it will be determined by who calls them and where—the person and context. In what pitch, tone and which gesture are they used also can be a clue that with what intentions they are employed. Because non-verbal expressions also tell lot more than the verbal ones in a communicative context. Moreover, sexist claims such as–women cry more or are too emotional, announcing that women can’t manage hard skilled jobs or turning them down for adventurous or dare-devil-deeds also are forms of it. For example: once, many years back, I was driving to Kathmandu, one of my distant cousins said that he was going to walk on foot to Kathmandu if I were going to drive. It embarrassed me a lot. However, I drove and he was on the back seat throughout. For me it was an unaware but a blatant expression of sexual harassment, which I am not sure if he knows it till date too.
Likewise, these behavioral codes and a harasser’s physical conducts may also contribute to a sexually harassing environment. These harassing conducts without words include:
… looking up and down a person’s body, staring at someone, cornering a person or blocking a person’s path, following the person, hanging around a person, intentionally standing too close to or brushing against a person, looking up a skirt or down a blouse pulling a person onto one’s lap . . .displaying sexist or sexual graffiti, massaging or touching a person’s clothing, hair or body hugging, kissing, patting or stroking, touching or rubbing oneself sexually around another person, making facial expressions such as winking throwing kisser or licking lips making catcalls, whistling suggestively or engaging in lip smacking. (Boland 27-28)
As mentioned by Boland above, looking up and down a person’s body, staring at someone, cornering a person or blocking a person’s path, following the person, hanging around a person, intentionally standing too close to or brushing against a person are some of the common and destined to be taken for granted behaviors that every Nepali woman (may be men too?) have faced many times in their lives. It reminds me of the unwelcome dashing of the shoulders while walking along the pavement of Ratna Park while going to Padmna Kanya Campus from Bir hospital quarters. Then, as a defense mechanism, I used to hold an umbrella to mark my space realizing the dire fact that with how many dashers shall we squabble with? On being asked I had a pretentious answer that I have sun allergy so need an umbrella. However, I would carry an umbrella on a cloudy and cool day too, just to mark my space and privacy. Many of us must have developed such mechanisms to spare ourselves from harassment as such, and have been using in silence. Some of our friends used to report the offence of a serious kind too. However, there was nobody to hear and there is none at present too. Therefore, we shall soon have a legal body that allows the victims’ easy and prompt access with a sense of trust and respect to them to address it.
Some cases of harassment may include physical or/and verbal sexual advances towards the victims and its nature will vary accordingly to the field and the situation it takes place at. The following are listed as some reoccurring examples:
… turning discussions to sexual topics, telling sexually explicit or suggestive jokes or stories, asking about sexual experiences, preferences or history, making sexual comments or innuendos, spreading rumors about a person’s sex life, asking personal question about social or sexual life making sexual comments about a person’s clothing, anatomy or looks, repeatedly asking out a person who is not interested or making harassing phone calls or emails. (Boland 29)
As noted by Boland above, I have noticed many a times, people taking sexual innuendos as praise. Making sexual comments are also at times due to lack of knowledge presumed as care which would later bring a shameful consequence. What is of crucial call is people should stop making comments about others clothing, anatomy or looks especially at workplaces; it cannot be acceptable except for in a very familial environment that also on permission. Otherwise, it’s best that people minded their own business. I have heard even the educated, designated people casting such comments on their staff. I guess this is sheerly due to the lack of awareness which is a proof of rusticity and rudeness.
Further, if harassment occurs at a workplace, it may be conditional in a different way. A supervisor may offer benefits like a promotion or wage increase, if the victim engages in sexual activity. These requests may be of one of those kinds: “asking a person to spend the night, asking a person to have an affair, asking a person to have sex or to engage in sexual conduct” as per Boland (29).
The fourth dimension to it is sexual intimidation that is a kind of coercion which occurs when there is a warning that the employee will lose his or her job or benefit unless s/he agrees to engage in a sexual activity. Finally, less common but more violent, sexually harassing conducts may include threats of harm, forced sexual touching, attempted or completed sexual assault which are termed as ‘criminal sexual conduct’ (Boland 29-30).
“Facts about Sexual Harassment” a virtual site presents some of the striking facts about it, in relation to workplace with the help of some data. It says of all cases of the study conducted at various workplaces, 90% involve men who harass women, 9% involve men who harass men and 1% involves women who harass men. It is also said that sexual harassment is generally an abuse of power rather than a sexual attraction (1). Let’s hope that after knowing these facts none would choose to be an animalistic abuser for it affects the other person’s life in various ways.
The numerous adverse effects it casts on the victims manifests in the form of stress and social withdrawal, sleep and eating difficulties and overall health impairments. The consequences to the individuals and society can be varied and serious. Marry P. Koss in “Changed Lives: The Psychological Impact of Sexual Harassment” unfolds that the effects can vary depending on the nature of the individual victimized along with the kind, severity and duration for the harassment. In most of the situations it leads to temporary or prolonged stress. Psychologists and social workers report that severe or chronic sexual harassment may also experience various forms of retaliation, including isolation and bullying (Koss 73-92). As discussed in the above lines, stress, social withdrawal and anxiety can be the most noticed repercussions which if not cured or healed in time may have a long-lasting damage in one’s psyche. My umbrella carrying was an odd behavior which I till date tend to stick to when I have to go somewhere on foot. When I plan a long drive, a question teases me stealthily, who will go in the vehicle driven by me and who will not. If even they do not go for some other causes, my mind presumes that maybe they don’t trust my driving skills. In this way, the small or even a so-called nominal act of harassment can cast very intense effect upon a person’s psyche. We can imagine if many and repeated acts of harassment happen to a person how much of a hell that life would be!
In a nutshell, sexual harassment affects wo/men psychologically, socially and economically by depriving them of active social and economic participation, educational and professional opportunities, obstruction in their progress and disturbance in their overall well-being.
Hence, in Nepal, it’s imperative that we impart awareness about sexual harassment by knowledge sharing through various media, education for example: schools curricula and most importantly families. In long run, human right courts, reporting bodies and legal executive bodies that provide justice are to be established. No one would deny the fact that each human being deserves a fearless environment to live in and thrive.
(Dr. Pokhrel teaches English at Prithvinarayan Campus, Pokhara.)
Works Cited
Boland, Mary L. Sexual Harassment at Workplaces. Sphinx, 2005.
Chiao, Rebecca. “Putting Sexual Harassment on the Social Media Map: International Week Presenter Shines Crowd Sourcing Light on Sexual Harassment in Egypt.” Posted by Geoff McMaster on January 30, 2013.
“Civil Rights Act and Sexual Harassment”. https://www.123helpme.com/essay/Sexual-Harassment-in-the-Workplace-28299.
“EEOC, Facts about Sexual Harassment.” https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/EEOC-Complaint.pdf December 1997.
Koss, Mary P. “Changed Lives: The Psychological Impact of Sexual Harassment.” Ivory Power: Sexual Harassment on Campus, edited by Michele A. Paludi, State Uni New York Press, 1990, pp.73-92. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1991-97140-004
Langelan, Martha. Back Off: How to Confront and Stop Sexual Harassment and Harassers. Fireside, 1993.
Mosby’s Medical Dictionary, 8th ed. Elsevier, 2009. https://www.scirp.org/
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