Workplace Violence and the Hidden Land Mines: A Comparison of Gender Victimization

Abstract

In the last decade, workplace violence has become a corporate agenda item due to a number of high-profile terrorist bombings and ‘rampage shootings’. Unfortunately, these shockingly visible, but relatively uncommon, events shift the focus away from where the everyday danger lies. Buried beneath all the media hype are workplace ‘land mines’ such as stalking, harassment, relationship abuse, simple assaults and threats. While men are more likely candidates for extreme forms of violence, women are more vulnerable targets for land mines.