Sexual Harassment Complaints Research Articles

How do institutional gender regimes affect formal reporting processes for sexual harassment? A qualitative study of UK higher education

AbstractFormal complaints and disciplinary processes constitute a mandatory aspect of organizational responses for addressing sexual harassment in many jurisdictions. However, previous research has found that reporting parties are not well served by such processes. In particular, Ahmed (Complaint!; 2021) argues that the institutional climate that enables harassment or discrimination to occur—including its gendered dynamics—also shapes how complaints about harassment are handled. Building on Ahmed's work, this article analyses how gender “gets into” formal reporting processes for sexual harassment within organizations. It draws on interviews with 18 students and staff who went through a formal institutional reporting process for gender‐based violence or harassment in UK higher education between 2016 and 2021. Using Connell's theorization of “gender regimes,” we outline how “dimensions of gender” within organizations affected different stages of formal reporting processes, including how evidence was gathered during reporting processes, as well as how it was assessed. These findings demonstrate that gender regimes—via gender relations of power, gendered “attachments and investments,” and “gender‐neutral” processes—can override formal processes and affect outcomes of sexual harassment reporting. These findings explain how gender regimes contribute to the failure of sexual harassment complaints to be upheld within organizations.

Shades of Grey: An Ethical Dilemma

This case refers to an ethical dilemma encountered by the Internal Committee (IC) of a manufacturing corporation in redressing a complaint of sexual harassment raised by an employee against another colleague. The stream of incidents brought to light during the proceedings of the IC brings out the challenges faced by any decision-making authority in figuring out whether an employee alleged with the misconduct of sexual harassment could be guilty in reality. The case thus throws open the question of whether an allegation of sexual harassment is always black-and-white or whether there is any tinge of grey in it.

Title IX Offices at Top United States Universities with Medical Centers: Staffing, Investigations and Transparency

Background Sexual harassment pervades higher education and disproportionately impacts women in medicine. The Department of Education’s guidance related to Title IX, a federal civil rights law intended to protect against discrimination based on sex in educational programs or activities receiving federal financial assistance, was revised in 2020 to narrow the definition of sexual harassment and disallow a single investigator model. This added to the required tasks of already overburdened and under-resourced Title IX offices. Methods The current report documents characteristics of Title IX offices at leading universities with medical schools in the 2020-2021 academic year. Results Findings highlight a low number of staff managing sexual harassment complaints, with an average ratio of 2.99 staff per 10,000 people at the university. A small percentage of complaints were formally investigated, with only 4% at public universities and 11% at private universities. Findings also suggest a lack of transparency regarding the actual length of investigations, which was reported in only 20% of public reports. Conclusion Given the importance of trust that sexual harassment complaints will be handled in a timely and transparent manner, we suggest potential opportunities for universities to consider.

A case study on finding grounds for how to know and understand, how to act on that (partial) knowledge, but also on paradoxes involved and obstructions posed: The complexities of sexual harassment complaints from 2021 until 2023 at an arts academy

In this article, I am exploring the complexities and paradoxes of institutional processes in Academia that have been put in place in order to deal with (sexual) harassment complaints within the context of feminist epistemologies and relational ethics. The goal to repair institutional culture burdened with various forms of implicit and explicit abuse and emotional manipulation, but also reliant on particularly emotionally dense ways of relating amongst students and teachers at an Arts Academy appears to be rather less straightforward than one might have hoped.

Are Delayed Complaints of Sexual Harassment Not Worthy of Human Rights Protection?

Within the current legislative landscape in Ontario, survivors of sexual harassment are treated differently than survivors of sexual assault and sexual misconduct with respect to when they can advance a legal claim against their perpetrators. Under sections 16(1)(h) and 16(1)(h.1) of the Ontario Limitations Act, survivors of sexual assault and misconduct are able to file a civil claim whenever they choose to do so. Under s 34(1) of the Ontario Human Rights Code, survivors of sexual harassment must file a human rights complaint within one year of the experienced harassment. This paper argues that s 34(1) should not apply to complaints based on sexual harassment. The author provides four reasons to substantiate this argument: (1) this provision fails to align with contemporary understandings of sexual harassment; (2) it is arbitrary to apply drastically different timelines to survivors depending on the type of sexual violence they have experienced; (3) two important objectives of limitation periods will not be seriously threatened by the suggested amendment to the Human Rights Code; and (4) section 34(1) favours the interests of the harassers over those of the survivor, the public, Bill 132 and the Human Rights Code.

‘What about the presumption of innocence?’ Legal consciousness and himpathy in Social Media Users Comments on Flemish #MeToo scandal

In November 2017, after receiving multiple complaints of sexual harassment, the Flemish Radio and Television Broadcasting Organization (VRT) terminated its collaboration with one of Flanders’ most popular TV personalities, Bart De Pauw. What followed was an explosion of opinions from both well-known and ordinary persons. The focus of this article is on the latter: Facebook users commenting on newspaper articles. To gather information about their legal consciousness with respect to the scandal, their comments are analysed using critical discourse analysis. The term legal consciousness refers to the ways in which ‘the law’ is invoked to evaluate and define certain behaviours that occur outside of a legal framework. Legal consciousness is apparent in the comments of social media users with references to elements of procedural justice: the presumption of innocence, to (the absence of) the right to a defence, or to the absence of any evidence. Despite the fact that the women in question have not made a claim in conventional judicial institutions, their complaints are still evaluated within such a framework. The conducted analysis seems to support the paradox identified by Gash and Harding: that law (or rather perceptions thereof) stands in the way of the objectives of an awareness movement and encourages victims of sexual abuse to remain silent (2018). In this context, it appears that commenters are plagued by ‘himpathy’, with a fixation on the harasser’s fall from grace whereby procedural rules are merely used as a decoy. A remarkable finding of this study is the total reversal of victimhood that takes place. It is found that the case at hand clearly illustrates that seizing control of the narrative is part of male dominance, even more so when the alleged perpetrator is popular and powerful.

Training Neurology Residents to Address Uncomfortable Patient Behavior Through a Simulated Experience (P8-2.002)

<h3>Objective:</h3> Evaluate how Neurology residents address a complaint of sexual harassment with a patient as the perpetrator. <h3>Background:</h3> Sexual harassment of medical providers is common. While hospitals typically have policies regarding harassment between employees, when the aggressor is a patient, the policies are not always clearly defined. Thus, clinicians may not have guidance on how to address inappropriate behavior from patients. <h3>Design/Methods:</h3> We developed an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) in our simulation center for graduating Neurology residents. We trained a standardized professional (SP) to act as a junior resident who experienced verbal sexual harassment from a male patient. The learners were asked to elicit the complaint, provide counseling, and devise a plan. Faculty observers were present behind a one-way mirror glass and provided verbal feedback. The SP also gave verbal and written feedback using a standardized rubric. At the end of the encounter, the learners were provided an anonymous survey (1–5, least-most). <h3>Results:</h3> Fifteen residents participated in the OSCE. The SP gave full credit to all of the residents for their non-verbal communication and appropriate acknowledgement of her feelings. Six learners were given partial credit for mitigating the SP’s feeling of isolation. All but three learners were given full credit for collaborating with the SP to formulate a plan to treat the patient. Eight residents filled out a post-OSCE survey. On average, the learners were moderately prepared for the station (mean score 3.6±1.06), however they did find it to be very useful (mean score 4.5±0.76). All learners who filled out the survey felt that this OSCE should be repeated for future residents. <h3>Conclusions:</h3> OSCEs are a valuable and effective tool to assess how residents support a colleague when patients exhibit inappropriate behavior. This OSCE can be repeated for future residents to assess for trends in performance and perception. <b>Disclosure:</b> Dr. Sabadia has nothing to disclose. Dr. Kurzweil has nothing to disclose. Dr. Lillemoe has nothing to disclose. Dr. Lewis has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving as an Editor, Associate Editor, or Editorial Advisory Board Member for Seminars in Neurology. Dr. Lewis has received personal compensation in the range of $10,000-$49,999 for serving as an Editor, Associate Editor, or Editorial Advisory Board Member for Journal of Clinical Neuroscience. Dr. Pleninger has nothing to disclose. Dr. Giglio has nothing to disclose. Dr. Smith has nothing to disclose. The institution of Dr. Zakin has received research support from American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Sondra Zabar has nothing to disclose.

On whose side are you: perspective-taking and attribution of blame in handling sexual harassment complaints

PurposeThe authors aim to explore how perspective-taking and attribution of blame lead to side-taking by human resource professionals (HRPs) when making judgements and handling complaints of sexual harassment.Design/methodology/approachEmploying qualitative methodology, the authors used semi-structured in-depth interviews with 35 HRPs from 30 companies in Sri Lanka. Attribution theory and perspective-taking were used as theoretical lenses.FindingsIn handling complaints of sexual harassment incidents, HRPs take the perspectives of the alleged perpetrator, complainant, or the company and attribute the blame to the alleged perpetrator or the complainant. Irrespective of the gender of the HRPs and the perspective they take, they would most often blame the female complainants due to sexual harassment myths and misperceptions and traditional sex-role beliefs. Thus, they either take the side of the alleged perpetrator or the company, explicitly/implicitly or intentionally/unintentionally.Originality/valueThe central originality of this research is the finding that HRPs take sides in resolving complaints of sexual harassment and perspective-taking and attribution of blame by HRPs lead to this side-taking in organisational settings.

Three years post #metoo: Sexual harassment and our youth

Though the #metoo movement focused largely on adults, as accusations were made public it became clear that the prevalence of sexual harassment has an impact on young people, particularly adolescents. Sexual harassment is defined as “unwanted and unwelcome behavior of a sexual nature that interferes with the right to receive an equal educational opportunity. It is a form of sex discrimination that is prohibited by Title IX, a federal law establishing civil rights in education….” (Stein, 1997). Title IX, enacted in 1972, requires a school district to have an established process for addressing and resolving sexual harassment complaints. How prevalent is sexual harassment? As it turns out, very much so.

Nisha Files a Complaint

The case discusses a pressing problem that a Human Resource (HR) Lead was confronted with. A female colleague in the organization had filed a complaint of sexual harassment against a senior male colleague. The HR Lead had never dealt with such a case before and was worried about how to go about the enquiry process and resolve the matter based on the laws applicable in India. This complaint was received at such a stage in the organizational lifecycle when the organization—Kapoor Housing Finance Limited (KHFL) had acquired another organization—Munich Home Finance Limited (MHFL) which was the Indian subsidiary of a multinational bank. While in the short run, the complaint of sexual harassment was seemingly important, however, in the long run, this complaint could be a sign of deeper issues that might have emerged due to the recent organizational change process of Merger and Acquisition (M&amp;A) that the organization and its employees were witnessing. The employees of both the firms could be under stress because of changing expectations and uncertainties arising from restructuring, reshuffling and fear of relocation and layoffs, etc. How should the managers deal with changing dynamics arising out of the organizational change? The case attempts at finding solutions to the problems to increase the level of co-operation, trust and collaboration among the employees.

Ask a Political Scientist: A Conversation with Catharine A. MacKinnon about Power, Politics, and Political Science

Ask a Political Scientist: A Conversation with Catharine A. MacKinnon about Power, Politics, and Political Science

Recent Development in Sexual Harassment Law in Malaysia: Whither the Victim's Protection?

Before 2012, there was no law on sexual harassment in Malaysia. However, when the Employment Act 1955 was amended in 2012, employers must inquire into sexual harassment complaints, failing which a criminal penalty will be imposed. Unfortunately, the new law did not allow a complainant to claim damages from the harasser or the employer. After more than two decades of campaigns by women's rights groups and NGOs, the Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill 2021 (hereinafter 'the ASHB 2021') was finally enacted and passed in July this year. Given the novelty and absence of any academic research, this paper seeks to examine the provisions of the Bill critically to understand its scope, coverage and broader implications for sexual harassment victims. The paper employs a qualitative research methodology, adopting a doctrinal approach and content analysis of the primary source, the ASHB 2021, that would provide a deeper understanding of the legislation. The authors contend that despite being regarded as a victim-centric law, the Bill is half-baked and inadequate to protect sexual harassment victims due to its failure to include significant provisions on the sexual harassment definition, the protection against victimisation and employers' obligations to prevent and address such conduct.

What not to do: (In) justice enactment in handling complaints of sexual harassment

This article aims to explore and identify how Human Resource Professionals (HRPs) act unfairly/unjustly in handling complaints of sexual harassment by applying the principles of organizational justice theory. Following qualitative research methodology, 35 HRPs from 30 companies in Sri Lanka were interviewed. The findings indicated the numerous ways that procedural, distributive, and interactional injustices take place in handling complaints of sexual harassment. Under procedural injustice, it was found that HRPs sometimes took judgmental and biased actions and decisions, dismissed complaints due to lack of evidence, over relied on evidence, gave the responsibility of finding evidence to the complainant, and mandated an initial written complaint to proceed with the handling of the complaint. Under distributive injustice, the HRPs sometimes have not taken any action against the perpetrators, taken unfair, unethical, and biased actions that were not consistent with the severity of the sexually harassing behavior, had asked the perpetrators to resign rather than terminate their services and taken action against the complainant in the pretext of protecting them or resolving the situation. Breaching the interactional justice, HRPs, at times, appear to have not treated employees with respect and care and had not provided sufficient information to the parties of the complaints. These unfair/unjust practices point towards the pitfalls that HRPs knowingly or unknowingly encounter, which will help HRPs to avoid them and thereby handle sexual harassment complaints fairly.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Challenges in Enacting Procedural Justice in Resolving Sexual Harassment Complaints

This paper aims to examine what impedes Human Resource Professionals’ (HRPs) ability to enact procedural justice in resolving complaints of sexual harassment by identifying the challenges and difficulties HRPs encounter in practice. We conducted semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 35 HRPs from 30 companies in Sri Lanka, employing a qualitative research approach. We found that HRPs face numerous challenges in enacting procedural justice. They struggle with competing demands to legally safeguard the company while also being fair to the parties concerned. We also found that complainants, other parties connected to the complaint, or observers can perceive HRPs as unfair even when they adhere to procedural justice principles. Understanding these challenges will help address some of the loopholes in complaint handling processes and highlight the need for interventions such as training to mitigate or eliminate the challenges HRPs face in taking fairer actions.

Representative Bureaucracy and Organizational Justice in Mediation.

Studies of representative bureaucracy (RB) argue public organizations reflective of the public they serve exhibit better outcomes, especially when serving underrepresented groups. RB theory attributes improved outcomes either to the actions representative bureaucrats take (active representation), or a greater perception of trust and legitimacy toward them by service recipients (symbolic representation), largely treating active and symbolic representation as separate phenomena. We explore the intricate relationship between bureaucracies and the populations they serve by observing the cross-influence between active and symbolic representation, as revealed by self-reported outcomes in discrimination complaints (N = 1,372) referred for voluntary mediation in the United States Postal Service, the REDRESS© program, a context in which mediators are highly limited in representing a claimant's interests given the requirement of impartiality. In exit surveys measuring employee perceptions of organizational justice, we observed the impact of race and gender representation by gauging changes in reported satisfaction when a mediator's race or gender matched the nature of the complaint in cases of race or sex discrimination and sexual harassment, via multivariate regression estimation. These analyses support RB theory regarding sexual harassment complaints, where complainants rated outcomes significantly more favorably for female mediators. We found a negative correlation between female mediators and sex discrimination complaints, as well as African American mediators and race discrimination complainants. To explain this discrepancy, we argue that interactions between symbolic and active representation determine the expectations and perceptions placed on bureaucrats. When a bureaucrat does not meet those expectations, service recipients tend to have a more negative view of organizational justice outcomes.

Student reports of attendance at programs to reduce campus sexual assault and harassment

Objective To identify factors independently associated with program participation and knowledge of campus processes to address sexual assault and harassment complaints. Participants 1,182 undergraduates who completed the University of Michigan’s 2015 campus climate survey on topics of sexual assault and harassment (67% response rate). Methods We analyze survey responses to estimate multivariable models that identify subgroups of the student population least likely to have participated in programs or to know campus processes. Results Students living off campus, not involved in major organizations, and males are less likely to report attending programming. Students not involved in major organizations and females are less likely to report knowing campus processes. Conclusions Specific student subpopulations are more difficult to engage in programs designed to reduce sexual assault and harassment. Targeting additional effort to these groups may improve campus sexual climate. Careful analyses of campus climate survey data can help construct campus-specific priorities for these interventions.

Evidence, empathy and emotions: decision-making styles of human resource professionals and their effectiveness in resolving complaints of sexual harassment

PurposeThe decision-making styles of human resource professionals (HRPs) in resolving complaints of sexual harassment are extremely important as they form the backbone of effectiveness in the resolution of a complaint. The purpose of this paper is to explore these decision-making styles and gauge their effectiveness in resolving such complaints.Design/methodology/approachEmploying a qualitative research approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 35 HRPs of 30 companies in Sri Lanka.FindingsWe found eight decision-making styles used by HRPs in resolving complaints of sexual harassment: (1) analytical, (2) behavioural, (3) directive, (4) conceptual, (5) avoidant, (6) dependent, (7) intuitive and judgemental, and (8) manipulative and persuasive. HRPs were found to generally adopt combinations of these styles, with one or two styles being dominant while one or two were used as back-up styles. In resolving complaints of sexual harassment, certain combinations of these styles were found to be more effective than others because they led to procedural, distributive and interactional justice.Practical implicationsThe implications of these findings for self-reflection and in training for the HRPs are also discussed.Originality/valueThe findings of this study assist us in understanding how and why HRPs make different decisions when resolving seemingly similar complaints and the effectiveness of such decisions.

EXAMINING THE BARRIERS TO REPORTING SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN UNIVERSITIES

Purpose: Universities have responded to sexual harassment by putting in place formalized reporting processes through which victims can seek redress. Despite these processes, victims seldom invoke the grievance handling mechanisms that are enshrined in university sexual harassment policies. This study therefore sought to investigate why the vice is grossly under reported. Given the asymmetrical relationship between students and faculty as well as the gendered position of female students, this study specifically focused on why female undergraduate students seldom reported faculty perpetrated sexual harassment.&#x0D; Methodology: The study was carried out at a large public university in East Africa, was purely qualitative and involved 42 participants who included students, members of faculty and university administrators. The data was analyzed thematically&#x0D; Findings: These indicated that institutional and social cultural barriers coupled with power asymmetries and financial inadequacy play a role in the non-reporting of sexual harassment amongst female university students.&#x0D; Unique contribution to policy and practice: These findings are beneficial to universities especially as they seek to revise their existing sexual harassment policies. University managers ought to ensure that complaint handlers are well positioned to fairly handle sexual harassment complaints. This may help victims to build trust in the grievance handling mechanisms thus encouraging them to report the vice

Online and offline sexual harassment associations of anxiety and depression in an adolescent sample

Purpose The aims of this study were to study the prevalence of sexual harassment online and offline, to analyse the associations between subjection to sexual harassment and adolescents’ mental health and analyse if there are any significant differences between girls and boys. We also examine if good peer-relationships interact with the associations between sexual harassment and mental health complaints. Methods This cross-sectional study included 594 adolescents, age 12–20. Participants responded to a web survey including the self-assessment scales Revised Children´s Anxiety and Depression Scale and Beck Youth Inventories as well as subjection to online and offline sexual harassment and peer-relational quality. Linear regression analysis was used to study whether symptoms of anxiety and depression correlated to subjection to online and offline sexual harassment and peer-relational quality. Results We found that 48.50% of girls and 28.19% of boys reported sexual harassment victimization. Offline was the most frequently reported site of victimization. Online harassment correlated significantly with increased anxiety and depressive symptoms in girls but not boys. Offline harassment as well as online and offline harassment correlated significantly with increasing symptoms for both genders. Participants who reported good peer-relationships had significantly less symptoms. Conclusions This study shows that sexual harassment remains a common plague for adolescents, especially for girls. Offline sexual harassment is the most common form of harassment for both genders. For girls, but not for boys, online sexual harassment correlated significantly with anxiety and depressive symptoms. A strong negative correlation between satisfaction to peer-relationships and mental health symptoms was found.

Sexual Harassment at the Workplace Act: Providing Redress or Maintaining Status Quo?

Despite a law against sexual harassment of women at the workplace, persons holding high offices, including senior judges, seem to enjoy impunity. By critically examining the allegations made against Justice Ranjan Gogoi (retd), former Chief Justice of India, and analysing five other cases of sexual harassment, we highlight how women are routinely denied justice. In doing so, we ask: are women actually able to file complaints of sexual harassment without the fear of facing a backlash? And do they ultimately get justice when they do so? We argue that the implementation of the law against sexual harassment is mediated by caste, class and gender, both of the survivor and of the perpetrator. We point to a changing polity that makes laws, guarantees and protections for women, but stumbles in implementing them in a fair and non-arbitrary manner.