Perceptions Of Sexual Harassment Research Articles

"They Don't See Us": Asian Students' Perceptions of Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment on Three California Public University Campuses.

Sexual violence and sexual harassment (SVSH) are prevalent among college and university students; however, the experiences of ethnic minority students, especially Asians, are understudied. This study aimed to reduce this gap by exploring Asian students' perceptions of SVSH on three public university campuses in Southern California. We examined their perceptions about the campus environment related to SVSH, attitudes, and behaviors toward help seeking, and utilization of on-campus resources. A total of 23 in-depth interviews were conducted with Asian students enrolled at the three University of California campuses. Thematic coding was conducted to generate main themes and subthemes. Five main themes emerged: (a) SVSH is considered a "taboo" topic in Asian culture and family systems, and Asian student survivors are often reluctant to disclose incidents or seek support services. (b) Students did not feel their campus environments were tailored to understand or meet the sociocultural realities and needs of Asian student survivors. (c) Campus SVSH services and reporting processes were seen as non-transparent. (d) Peers were the major source of support and SVSH information, as opposed to official campus-based resources and training. (e) Survivors often conduct an internal cost-benefit analysis evaluating their decision about whether to report. This study highlights the lack of conversation surrounding SVSH in Asian families, and how the cultural stigma of sex and sexual violence prevented Asian students from receiving knowledge and resources about these topics in their families. Instead of relying on formal campus resources (e.g., Title IX and confidential advocacy services, mental health services), many students turn to their peers for support. Thus, facilitating peer support groups, training university students to support each other through SVSH incidents, and tailoring campus services to the diverse cultural backgrounds of students are key considerations to foster a safe campus environment and prevent SVSH.

Turning ingroup wounds into bonds: perceptions of gender inequalities predict attitudes toward other minorities.

Despite significant strides in reducing gender disparities over the past decades, women still face disparities in several domains. While extensive research has explored the various consequences of gender inequalities for women, this study (N = 493 participants) delves into a less-explored dimension, investigating whether and how perceiving gender inequalities is associated with attitudes toward minorities. Drawing on relative deprivation theory and intra-minority solidarity research, we examined the relationship between women's perceptions of gender inequalities-spanning workplace inequality, domestic inequality, sexual harassment, and social expectations-and attitudes toward gays and lesbians, transgender women, and immigrants. We also explored whether indignation, arising from recognizing unjust circumstances, mediated these relationships, and the moderating role of perceived friends' support for gender equality. The results of the path analyses unveiled a nuanced relationship. While women who were more aware of gender inequalities exhibited more positive attitudes toward gays and lesbians and transgender women, no such relationship was observed regarding immigrants. Indignation and perceived friends' support for gender equality were key factors in fostering positive intergroup attitudes. Regarding their moderating role, perceived social norms only influenced the relationship between indignation and attitudes toward gays and lesbians. These findings shed light on the intricate interplay between gender inequalities and minority group attitudes. Recognizing the multifaceted nature of gender inequality and its emotional impact can catalyze promoting coalitional attitudes and collective action among disadvantaged groups. The study also underscores the potential of close groups' norms in promoting positive intergroup attitudes, warranting further exploration.

Nursing students’ experiences of sexual harassment – A qualitative study from feminist identity perspective

AimTo explore experiences of sexual harassment among nursing students in an East Asian region and to gain knowledge of the underlying factors influencing nursing students’ conceptualization of and response to sexual harassment. BackgroundNursing students are susceptible to sexual harassment due to gender and power inequality in healthcare systems. Sexual harassment has an adverse impact on the students' physical and mental health. Studies on sexual harassment among nursing students are limited and reported significantly varied occurrence prevalence in different cultures. Feminist identity theory can provide a framework to examine social-culturally constructed perceptions of sexual harassment. DesignA qualitative descriptive study. MethodsThe study was conducted in Macau, a Special Administrative Region of China. Purposive sampling was applied. Twenty-six nursing students and five nursing educators participated in the study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the interview data. A series of measures were applied to enhance the trustworthiness of the study. ResultsWhile most of the students had not experienced or heard of sexual harassment, a limited number claimed sexual harassment as a frequently encountered instance. The students expressed uncertainty about what constituted sexual harassment, mainly due to a lack of exposure to information on sexual harassment. They were caught in a dilemma between exerting nursing professional virtues and exposing the misconduct of the suspected perpetrators, leading to taking passive approaches of ignoring and avoiding as the primary coping strategies. In contrast, nursing educators advocated proactive approaches as coping strategies to address sexual harassment. ConclusionsA conflict between nursing professional identity and feminist identity is observed among nursing students. Healthcare institutions and nursing schools should develop interventions to enhance nursing students’ assertiveness to sexual harassment.

Presumed Patriarchy: How a CEO's Masculine Appearance Affects Perceptions of Sexual Harassment in Organizations

Workplace sexual harassment remains an insidious yet pervasive component of organizational life. Building on research that has established that leaders play an important role in condoning or revoking sexual harassment, we theorize that a CEO's appearance—specifically, the extent to which their face is prototypically masculine—can influence employee assumptions about the patriarchal nature of organizational hierarchy, which, in turn, influences their perceptions of the degree to which sexual harassment will be tolerated. We test these ideas in three complementary studies. Study 1 observes that employees in large organizations headed by a CEO with a more masculine face report more instances of sexual harassment in online reviews. Study 2 uses an experiment to show that CEO facial masculinity drives followers’ perceptions that sexual harassment is tolerated in an organization by increasing the presumption that the organization is patriarchal. Study 3 affirms these results with a sample of new employees both before and after their first day on the job. Together, these studies provide evidence that a presumption of patriarchy increases the perceived tolerance for sexual harassment, which yields more observations of sexual harassment in the workplace.

When the Flirting Guest’s Age Is Crucial: Young People in the Hospitality Industry Reflect on Sexual Harassment

The purpose of this study was to investigate and analyse how young people’s perceptions of sexual harassment and unwelcome flirting from customers in the hospitality industry are affected by the customer’s age. Sixty-nine young women and men training for occupations in the hospitality industry were interviewed. The young people were 18–20 years old. The results show that the customer’s age was crucial for how the participants perceived unwelcome sexual interest and advances. If the person who offends was a child, the behaviour could be described as harmless, innocent and thus not as sexual harassment. Unwelcome flirting by a young man towards a young woman of the same age could be perceived as sexual harassment, but at the same time it is in line with the heteronormative ideal and could be understood. When the customer was older, that is, a middle-aged man, the young people’s descriptions of the occurrence were particularly negative.

Perceptions of Sexual Harassment in the United States: Empathy Predicts Derogation of Victims and Perpetrators

Perceptions of Sexual Harassment in the United States: Empathy Predicts Derogation of Victims and Perpetrators

Association Between Sexual Harassment Intervention Strategies and the Sexual Harassment Perception and Attitude of University Students in Beijing, China.

Sexual harassment in universities harms the physical and psychological health and development of students. Although Chinese universities are required to implement sexual harassment interventions, few studies have estimated how well interventions are perceived by students and the association with their perceptions and attitudes toward sexual harassment. This study aims to examine the perceptions and attitudes toward sexual harassment and perceived sexual harassment interventions among university students. Further, it evaluated the association between sexual harassment interventions and sexual harassment perceptions and attitudes among university students and explored potential gender differences in the observed associations. We categorized sexual harassment interventions into three types of strategies (informal education activities, prevention mechanisms, and multiformat publicity) and designed an 8-item scale for sexual harassment perception and a 10-item scale for sexual harassment attitude. A total of 872 students were recruited from six universities in Beijing, China. Association between intervention strategies and sexual harassment perceptions and attitudes was analyzed using multiple linear regression. The results showed that 78.56% of the university students recognized all sexual harassment behaviors, and 11.58% felt angry about all sexual harassment behaviors. Male students felt angrier at same-sex harassment than female students (p < .001). Overall, the students were aware of approximately 3 of the 13 sexual harassment interventions. None of the three intervention strategies was significantly associated with perceptions of sexual harassment (p > .050). The attitude toward sexual harassment was positively associated with informal education activities (coeff = 0.055, p = .015) and multiformat publicity (coeff = 0.077, p = .030) among female students, and negatively associated with prevention mechanisms (coeff = -0.123, p = .033) among male students. Our findings imply that sexual harassment interventions are not well known among university students. Universities should develop and propagate more sexual harassment informal education activities and multiformat publicity intervention strategies and pay more attention to gender differences in intervention strategies.

Students’ experiences of sexual harassment; a descriptive cross-sectional study in a college of education, Ghana

IntroductionSexual harassment is a component of gender-based discrimination that indicates unequal power relations and affects students' psychological and physical well-being and academic achievement. This study assessed students’ experiences of sexual harassment at the Offinso College of Education. MethodsThis cross-sectional descriptive study incorporated a whole population sampling of second and third-year female students to respond to a pre-tested questionnaire uploaded on Google Forms. The data were vetted for appropriateness, cleaned in Microsoft Excel, and transferred to IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences for analysis into descriptive statistics and chi-square tests of associations. ResultsThe study indicated that women (66%) had previously had sex before admission into college and perceived that they were at risk of sexual harassment (43.0%). It was statistically significant that the student's level of education was associated with the experience of being sexually harassed (χ2 = 10.950, p-value <0.00) and the perception that sexual harassment was a problem among students (χ2 = 13.376, p-value <0.01). The nature of the female students' marital relationships was statistically significant (χ2 = 11.209, p-value<0.02) to the perception of sexual harassment as a problem in the college. ConclusionFemale students must have adequate education on the sexual harassment policy of the institution and measures put in place to identify and provide appropriate sanctions to issues of sexual harassment at the college education level.

Perceptions of Espoused Versus Enacted Culture Around Sexual Misconduct and Other Offenses Among U.S. Military Service Members

Interviews and focus groups with active-duty U.S. military service members and students at military service academies investigated relationships between espoused and enacted culture in perceptions of sexual assault and harassment versus other types of offenses. Results show that participants widely understood and accepted an espoused culture that is intolerant of sexual misconduct. The enacted culture included tolerance of some forms of sexual misconduct, differences in conduct in private versus public settings, and widespread resentment of frequent trainings. Results also showed cynicism about service treatments for all types of offenses, but especially for sexual misconduct. Of note is that participants tended to perceive inconsistencies in consequences for sexual misconduct in terms of who faced punishment, whereas for other offenses, they tended to see inconsistencies in what types of consequences were administered. Results demonstrate the value of efforts to align trainings with cultures that consistently discourage behaviors trainings are designed to eliminate.

Barriers to gender equality in STEMM: do leaders have the gender competence for change?

PurposeScience, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM) workplaces worldwide remain stubbornly resistant to gender equality initiatives. Leaders are vital to driving change, but the extent to which their capabilities lead to change remains unknown. This article examines STEMM leaders' gender competence to achieving transformative changes in gender inequality.Design/methodology/approachThis article examines the capability of STEMM leaders to act as change agents through an in-depth, qualitative analysis of perceptions of gender inequality, sexual harassment, sex discrimination and gender bias within their organisations. Findings are analysed using a customised tripartite gender competence schema, comprising commitment, knowledge and method (or know-how).FindingsThe findings suggest that while STEMM leaders may express a commitment to addressing gender inequality, misapprehensions about the nature and scope of the problem are likely to hamper efforts. Two key misapprehensions standout: a tendency to frame gender inequality in primarily numerical terms; and recourse to blaming external factors beyond STEMM for gender inequality in STEMM.Originality/valueThis article makes an original contribution by examining the gender competence of leaders in STEMM organisations, which has not been previously researched. The findings extend understanding of the salience of leaders' capabilities to lead change by identifying key gaps and misapprehensions in STEMM leaders' understanding of the nature and scope of the problem.

Knowledge and Perception on Sexual Harassment of Currently Working Women in Kathmandu Valley

Sexual harassment is a common and widespread phenomenon that has physical, emotional, and social consequences for individuals. The aim of this paper is to explore the knowledge and perception of sexual harassment among the working women in Kathmandu Valley. The systematic random sampling technique was used and selected 388 people working in the educational and non[1] educational sectors of the Kathmandu Valley. The result revealed that highest percentage of respondents have heard about the term "sexual harassment." low percent (83%) respondents had heard about SH in Bhaktapur compared to Kathmandu and Lalitpur (97%) and (86%), respectively. The majority of respondents (60%) stated that sexual harassment occurs in the workplace, as a result of misread signals from women. However, the majority of respondents (35%) stated that public transportation is the most risky place for sexual harassment followed by dark/ remote places (34%). Almost two-thirds of respondents (ranging from 62% to 65%) in all districts had heard about sexual harassment-related laws, acts, and policies, which was statistically significant at the 0.05 level. Similarly, respondents aged 35 and older had less knowledge than those in the younger age group, and this was significantly related to their age. The majority of respondents (93%) who worked in reception had the most knowledge of harassment-related laws and policies, followed by managerial supervisors (86%) whereas unskilled labor had lowest knowledge (47%) regarding these laws/ policies.

The Perceptions of Sexual Harassment among Adolescents of Four European Countries.

Sexual harassment is a crucial public health issue among adolescents. In order to develop school health promotion programs, there is a need to involve adolescents themselves paying particular attention to their perceptions, beliefs, attitudes and practices. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the adolescents’ perceptions about sexual harassment as well as the ways it could be prevented. Four focus groups were conducted during an online “camp” in autumn 2021, facilitated by members of SHEHAP project research team. Participants were secondary school students from Finland, Greece, Lithuania and Portugal. The qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis. Concerning how participants perceive sexual harassment, the themes that emerged were: physically expressed sexual harassment; verbally expressed sexual harassment; virtually expressed sexual harassment; violation of self-determination. Virtual environment; school environment; public environment; familiar environment, were identified as the places where sexual harassment may occur. Finally, in regard to the participants’ views on the prevention of sexual harassment, the following themes emerged: youth education; adult education aiming teachers and parents; professional, peer and family support; official consequences; health education methods. The findings of the current study can be used for the development of school-based programs aiming to prevent sexual harassment among adolescents.

#Metoo or #Hertoo? A Moderated Mediation Model of Gender Differences in Perceptions of Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment continues to pervade workplaces due, at least in part, to gender differences in the perception of sociosexual behaviors. Some scholars have argued that such differences are minimal and inconsistent. This study examined and demonstrated several reasons why this conclusion is fallacious. Approximately equal numbers of gay men (n = 191), heterosexual men (n = 193), lesbians (n = 190), and heterosexual women (n = 196) reported their perceptions of scenarios describing an interaction between a target and their manager. The target was either a fictional female, a fictional male, or the participant. As predicted, only heterosexual men’s perceptions of sociosexual behaviors varied by the target of the behaviors. Heterosexual men viewed the behaviors as harassment only when the target was female. Further, women and gay men, but not heterosexual men, viewed the sociosexual behaviors as discrimination. The results also supported a moderated mediation model where, following exposure to sociosexual behaviors, the effect of participant group on perceived sexual harassment was mediated by fear and perceived discrimination and moderated by target. This study contributes to research on workplace sexual harassment by explaining alleged inconsistent results of studies of gender differences in perceptions of sexual harassment and by proposing and testing a novel process following exposure to sociosexual behaviors in the workplace.

Managers' and Leaders' Perceptions of Sexual and Gender-Based Public Harassment in the Veterans Health Administration.

Managers and leaders have a critical role to play in sexual and gender-based harassment prevention within organizations. Although the Veterans Health Administration has committed to eliminating harassment through national directives and training programs, it is unclear how aware local-level managers and leaders are about public harassment at their facilities and how they perceive sexual and gender-based harassment. We examined middle managers' and leaders' views about whether harassment is perceived as a problem locally, and what policies and procedures (if any) are in place to address public harassment. We conducted 69 semistructured telephone interviews with middle managers and facility leaders before implementation of an evidence-based quality improvement project designed to improve delivery of comprehensive women's health care. Transcripts were coded using the constant comparative method and analyzed for overarching themes. Perceptions of the prevalence of sexual and gender-based public harassment varied among middle managers and leaders. A little more than one-half of respondents were unaware of facility-level policies and procedures to address public harassment between patients. To decrease patient-to-patient harassment, both groups generally supported the creation of separate clinical spaces for women. However, middle managers also stated that education was needed to change patient harassing behavior, which they tied to male military culture. Aligning divergent perspectives of what constitutes sexual and gender-based harassment and how to address it is a necessary step towards tackling harassment at the local level. Managers and leaders should continue to assess environments of care and share findings widely among employees and leadership to improve awareness and inform a unified response.

Looking the other way: how ideology influences perceptions of sexual harassment

Little research has systematically examined the relationship between ideology and perceptions of sexual harassment. Recognising differences in the way in which sexual harassment and assault were discussed on political programming and social media by partisans, we posed the following questions: (1) ‘Is there an ideological difference in perceptions of observed sexual harassment?’; and (2) ‘Is there also an ideological difference in perceptions of personally experienced sexual harassment?’ Using data from two studies, we find that conservatives are less likely than liberals to perceive and label both ambiguous and unambiguous situations as sexual harassment. Our third study – a survey of adult women – demonstrates that compared to liberal women, conservative women report significantly fewer instances of personally experienced gender discrimination and sexual harassment than liberal women. These results indicate that both observed and lived experiences of sexual harassment are linked to one’s ideological belief structures.

When “Good People” Sexually Harass: The Role of Power and Moral Licensing on Sexual Harassment Perceptions and Intentions

History has shown that people who embody responsibility-focused power have been credibly accused of sexual harassment. Drawing from power-approach and moral licensing theories, we present two complementary studies examining how responsibility-focused power triggers moral licensing, which, in turn, decreases perceptions of sexual harassment (Study 1) and increases intentions to engage in sexual harassment (Study 2). In Study 1, 365 participants read a scenario of a man embodying responsibility-focused power, self-focused power, or low power (control) and then read a case about the man’s alleged sexual harassment against a subordinate. Findings illustrated that moral crediting mediated the effect of power construal on false accusation judgments. In Study 2, 250 participants were primed to experience responsibility-focused power or low power. Responsibility-focused power increased sexual harassment intentions through effects on communal feelings and moral crediting. Based on these findings, we develop a new theoretical perspective on why sexual harassment occurs and why people deny perceiving it. We provide practical recommendations to organizational leaders for developing interventions, such as training, that may disrupt effects of power and moral licensing on sexual harassment intentions. We also encourage public discourse on the harms of harassment that supposed “good people” commit.

Analysis of the prevalence and perception of sexual harassment between university students in Colombia

Analysis of the prevalence and perception of sexual harassment between university students in Colombia

Gender Prototypes Shape Perceptions of and Responses to Sexual Harassment

We provide a model describing how the narrow prototype of women as having conventionally feminine attributes and identities serves as a barrier to perceiving sexual harassment and appropriately responding to sexual-harassment claims when the victims of harassment do not resemble this prototype. We review research documenting that this narrow prototype of women overlaps with mental representations of sexual-harassment targets. The prototype of women harms women who diverge from this prototype: Their experiences with sexual harassment are less likely to be perceived as such, and they experience more negative interpersonal, organizational, and legal consequences when they experience harassment. Perceptions of sexual harassment are the catalyst by which sexual harassment is recognized and remedied. Thus, narrow gender prototypes may impede the promise and potential of civil rights laws and antiharassment policy.

Narrow prototypes and neglected victims: Understanding perceptions of sexual harassment.

Sexual harassment is pervasive and has adverse effects on its victims, yet perceiving sexual harassment is wrought with ambiguity, making harassment difficult to identify and understand. Eleven preregistered, multimethod experiments (total N = 4,065 participants) investigated the nature of perceiving sexual harassment by testing whether perceptions of sexual harassment and its impact are facilitated when harassing behaviors target those who fit with the prototype of women (e.g., those who have feminine features, interests, and characteristics) relative to those who fit less well with this prototype. Studies A1-A5 demonstrate that participants' mental representation of sexual harassment targets overlapped with the prototypes of women as assessed through participant-generated drawings, face selection tasks, reverse correlation, and self-report measures. In Studies B1-B4, participants were less likely to label incidents as sexual harassment when they targeted nonprototypical women compared with prototypical women. In Studies C1 and C2, participants perceived sexual harassment claims to be less credible and the harassment itself to be less psychologically harmful when the victims were nonprototypical women rather than prototypical women. This research offers theoretical and methodological advances to the study of sexual harassment through social cognition and prototypicality perspectives, and it has implications for harassment reporting and litigation as well as the realization of fundamental civil rights. For materials, data, and preregistrations of all studies, see https://osf.io/xehu9/. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

“Tell Me Sister” – Social Media, a Tool for Women Activists in Tajikistan

Abstract Instagram is the world’s most popular social media tool among people under 29, including Central Asian youth. Despite the growing authoritarian grip on print and online media, more and more Tajik women are opening up on Instagram to counter the pernicious narrative that blames victims of sexual harassment and violence for speaking out against their harassers and abusers. So far, there is little research exploring the extent to which women Instagram bloggers are successful in influencing the wider female public’s perception of sexual harassment and violence. I seek to fill this gap by analyzing whether Tajik women’s exposure to information on social networks influences their awareness of sexual harassment and violence. The following article contributes to the growing body of literature discussing the transformative forces of digital activism in Central Asia by exploring empirical data gathered through a nationwide survey in Tajikistan. The results reveal the emancipatory potential of digital activism.