Exploring the organizational drivers of sexual harassment

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate and identify the organizational drivers of sexual harassment (SH).Design/methodology/approachDrawing on data from a representative sample of workers in Spain, this paper sheds light on the likelihood of SH influenced by: organizational environment and climate, organizational forms and structure, and job design parameters.FindingsThe analysis reveals that organizational climates where negative behaviors are tolerated are particularly advantageous for harassers. Furthermore, the profile of the victims of SH is that they work in isolation, are contracted through employment agencies, are not given training opportunities, and have low status in the firm. Analysis also reveals, however, that firms can reduce the risk of SH by empowering jobs and improving time flexibility.Research limitations/implicationsThe use of secondary data implies some constrains: the type of measure and the failure to control for the role of SH perpetrators.Practical implicationsManagers should adopt some organizational policies, such as empower job or improve time flexibility, since they reduce the risk of SH.Originality/valueThis paper identifies some objective organizational settings where SH is more likely and provides some easy to apply solutions to prevent it.