Social Aspects of Women’s Experiences of Sexual Harassment in Public Places in Iran

Abstract

Sexual harassment in public places is a forbidden form of sex discrimination that includes both verbal and nonverbal behaviors—such as wolf whistles, leers, winks, grabs, pinches, catcalls, and street remarks—and is often overlooked by social science researchers. The present study, using mixed methods and “exploratory design-instrument development method” was conducted to investigate the aspects of Iranian women’s experiences of sexual harassment in public places using a student sample. Using the grounded theory method, the qualitative part of this study was conducted by face-to-face, in-depth interviews with 16 female students of Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran, which resulted in seven axial categories and one core category. The results of the qualitative part of the study were used to develop the instrument of the quantitative part, the questionnaire. Using the survey technique, the quantitative phase of this study employed a sample of 369 female students of Shiraz University, selected by stratified sampling. Data analysis procedures included a theme analysis of the interviews, a statistical analysis of the survey, and an integrated consideration of the qualitative and quantitative results. We found that experiencing sexual harassment is significantly correlated with presence in public places, acceptance of gender rules, mother’s education and the kind of women’s dressing and make up.