Costs Of Sexual Harassment Research Articles

Optimal polyandry in fruit flies.

The study of polyandry has received increasing scientific attention with an emphasis on the fitness benefits and costs that females derive from mating with multiple males. There are still gaps in our understanding of how polyandry affects female fitness, however, as many previous studies compared the fitness outcomes of a single mating vs. two or three matings and did not separate the consequences of multiple mating from the costs of sexual harassment. We therefore conducted controlled mating trials with female fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) that could mate at either low (every eight days), medium (every four days), or high (every other day) rates while controlling for exposure to harassment from males. We found that female lifetime fitness was highest under the high followed by the medium mating-rate conditions. Moreover, we did not detect reductions in lifespan as a consequence of higher rates of polyandry. Our results demonstrate that even at realistically high rates, polyandry can lead to net fitness benefits for females, which can have major implications for sexual selection. Specifically, we discuss the significance of our findings as they relate to competition and the evolution of secondary sex characteristics in females, and sperm competition amongst males.

#MeToo meets the mutual fund industry: productivity effects of sexual harassment

Sexual harassment, a widespread problem in the workplace, keeps female employees from optimally employing their human capital. We show that removing or diminishing this friction improves productivity. Specifically, using the male-dominated fund industry as our testing ground, we show that productivity of female mutual fund managers significantly increased after the Harvey Weinstein scandal and the onset of the #MeToo movement. Evidence from lawsuits and organizational changes at several fund companies also suggests that reducing the threat of sexual harassment improves productivity. Our results have important implications for the policy debate on workforce diversity and costs of sexual harassment.

#MeToo Meets the Mutual Fund Industry: Productivity Effects of Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment, a widespread problem in the workplace, arguably keeps female employees from optimally employing their human capital. We show that removing or diminishing this friction improves productivity. Specifically, using the male-dominated fund industry as our testing ground, we show that productivity of female mutual fund managers significantly increased after the Harvey Weinstein scandal and the onset of the #MeToo movement. Evidence from lawsuits and organizational changes at several fund companies also suggests that reducing the threat of sexual harassment improves productivity. Our results have important implications for the policy debate on workforce diversity and costs of sexual harassment.

Sexual harassment training: explaining differences in Australian and US approaches

Sexual harassment (SH) is an increasingly prominent issue for organisations across the Asia Pacific. However, despite the costs of SH, there has been little consideration of why approaches to SH training vary so widely across countries. We report findings from two national surveys that document the prevalence and characteristics of SH training in Australian and US organisations. Results indicate that training was more prevalent in US organisations. We also examined whether differences in provision and type of training across the two countries was a function of differences in practitioner knowledge about training (a knowing gap) or the ability to use training best practices (a doing gap). There was some evidence of a doing gap reflecting differences in resource availability across the two countries. Findings suggest that practitioners in US organisations have access to more training resources, and are more likely to devote those resources to SH training.

Lifetime Number of Mates Interacts with Female Age to Determine Reproductive Success in Female Guppies

In many species, mating with multiple males confers benefits to females, but these benefits may be offset by the direct and indirect costs associated with elevated mating frequency. Although mating frequency (number of mating events) is often positively associated with the degree of multiple mating (actual number of males mated), most studies have experimentally separated these effects when exploring their implications for female fitness. In this paper I describe an alternative approach using the guppy Poecilia reticulata, a livebearing freshwater fish in which females benefit directly and indirectly from mating with multiple males via consensual matings but incur direct and indirect costs of mating as a consequence of male sexual harassment. In the present study, females were experimentally assigned different numbers of mates throughout their lives in order to explore how elevated mating frequency and multiple mating combine to influence lifetime reproductive success (LRS) and survival (i.e. direct components of female fitness). Under this mating design, survival and LRS were not significantly affected by mating treatment, but there was a significant interaction between brood size and reproductive cycle (a correlate of female age) because females assigned to the high mating treatment produced significantly fewer offspring later in life compared to their low-mating counterparts. This negative effect of mating treatment later in life may be important in these relatively long-lived fishes, and this effect may be further exacerbated by the known cross-generational fitness costs of sexual harassment in guppies.

Just Joking? Investigating Sexual Harassment in a

This study investigates the reasons for sexual harassment, its nature and policy implications in a departmental store in Gweru, Zimbabwe. It also analyses the costs of sexual harassment on both the individual and the organisation. The study is based on a qualitative research conducted between January and July 2008. 24 respondents (14 females and 10 males) were studied using semi structured interviews and questionnaires. Results are analysed using the Miles and Huberman (1994) approach to data analysis. Results reveal that contract employment and lack of skills create vulnerability and dependency, a situation exploited by the powerful male superiors who sexually harass their subordinate females. Sexual harassment is institutionalised at Tatenda where management refuses to acknowledge it as a problem. The reluctance of management to craft policies on sexual harassment and grievance procedures added to women’s fear of reporting sexual harassment perpetuates a culture of silence at Tatenda. Key words: department store; female employees ;humour; jokes; labour turnover; sexual harassment; target.

Sexual harassment in a live-bearing fish (Poecilia mexicana): influence of population-specific male mating behaviour

We investigated male sexual behaviour and the cost of sexual harassment, as measured by the reduction of female feeding time in the presence of a male, in a cave-dwelling population of Poecilia mexicana, in which sexual harassment does not occur naturally. We asked whether the lack of sexual harassment in this population is due to low sexual activity of the males, or low feeding motivation of the females. We experimentally increased the sexual activity of males or the females’ feeding motivation, or we used a combination of both treatments. Female feeding time was not lower in the presence of a male than in the presence of a female after sexual deprivation of the males or food deprivation of the females. Only in the combined experiment was female feeding time lower in the presence of a large male than in the presence of a small male, indicating a weak effect of sexual harassment by large males. Virgin females did not suffer a cost of sexual harassment, indicating that sexual experience does not cause the lack of sexual harassment in cave mollies. Males from a surface population, where sexual harassment occurs, significantly reduced the feeding time of cave-dwelling females even though these males exhibited surprisingly little sexual behaviour. The sexual activity of cave mollies did not correlate with male body size in any experiment, indicating that even after sexual deprivation, small cave molly males do not switch to the “alternative” mating behaviour known in surface-dwelling P. mexicana, where sexual activity is correlated negatively with male body size.

ESTIMATING THE ORGANIZATIONAL COSTS OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT: THE CASE OF THE U.S. ARMY

A general model for estimating the organizational costs of sexual harassment in the workplace is proposed along with model-specific costing formulas. A partial implementation of the model is applied to sexual harassment incidence data for the Army gathered as part of a large-scale survey of the U.S. military services. Results indicate that the total annual cost of sexual harassment in the U.S. Army in 1988 was over $250,000,000. Organizational implications are discussed.

State Governments' Sexual Harassment Policy Initiatives

Sexual harassment is an old problem but a new issue. I As an employment issue it concerns both men and women as well as supervisors and subordinates. Also, sexual harassment results in economic losses for the organization and affected employees.2 Both the prevalence and costs of sexual harassment in the public workplace have been well documented.3 Similarly, based on Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) rulings4 and case law,5 other studies have attempted to provide public administrators with guidelines to address and manage the problem. In brief, most studies agree on two guidelines.6 The first step required to address the issue is to develop a clearly articulated, general policy prohibiting sexual harassment in the workplace. Second, in order to manage the problem, employees should be sensitized to sexual harassment through training programs and information seminars. With the exception of a few case studies7 and anecdotal evidence,8 little is known about how state governments, the single largest employer in most states,9 have responded to sexual harassment. The purpose of this research note is to provide a brief, albeit, comprehensive up-to-date analysis of state governments' sexual harassment policy initiatives.