Sexual harassment - understanding its occurrence and its effects
Analysis by Jana Rasamny, Contributor
July 16th, 2020
“Regardless of how strong you think you are dealing with your everyday struggles; these situations leave you powerless.” - anonymous
“You feel insignificant, worthless, like… nothing” - anonymous
Sexual Harassment may not seem to be our greatest threat at the moment, nevertheless it remains prevalent and continues to negatively impacting the victims of said behavior, in deeper ways than physical. Even if, sexual harassment is far from being abolished any time soon and although responses to prevent it are few, it is critical understand what causes people to sexually harass, and hopefully helping in preventing such behaviors.
What is sexual harassment?
Sexual harassment is commonly linked with sexual assault, but should not be limited to only that. Psychology Today defines sexual harassment as being categorized from and including belittling remarks to unwanted sexual advances. So, catcalling and requests of sexual favors, for example, are both in the same league. Something to note is that men are not always perpetrators and women are not always victims of such behaviors, though these conditions make up the majority of reported cases. The roles are not exclusive to particular genders.
Why are men most commonly the harasser?
The reason why men are most commonly the sexual harassers goes back to the social roles that have been attributed to women and men in society. These roles are behind women being more likely to have to experience sexual harassment. It’s often about power. Women are more likely than men to find themselves in situations where they are striped of power; in the workplace or otherwise. Research has shown that in the cases where men are the sexual harassers, they can almost always link the reason behind their behavior into the attitudes they have about men and women and where they think each belong in our ‘beloved’ social structure and status quo. Further than this, research has argued that men seem to think that the more women advance socially, the more threatening women are to the traditional male role. In cases like these, sexual harassment is used as a means of humiliation and ensuring an inferiority-superiority relationship.
Why do most cases go unreported?
One out of three women have experienced sexual harassment and about one out of six men have experienced sexual harassment. Unfortunately, three out of four victims never report their experiences. Both men and women avoid reporting for the sake of not being judged, because they regard the experience to have been “embarrassing” and/or humiliating enough” and claim they would rather move on than relive it. With men, they report worrying about being seen as less masculine because of the misbelief that only women got sexually harassed.
“I didn’t want to admit that I had been taken advantage of” – notes an anonymous female victim of sexual harassment to The Phoenix Daily.
Often in the case of women, the act of reporting sexual harassment comes with worrying mainly about people thinking the story was fabricated for “attention” or being blamed for what happened.
“It’s the most violating thing that could happen to you, and when you choose to speak up, people judge you for it, so you just don’t” – another women tells The Phoenix Daily anonymously. “I didn’t want to be labeled as the girl who got sexual harassed”.
Another female victim notes that she “had a friend who spoke up about her experience, and the next day “attention seeking wh**e” was her nickname from then on. I just didn’t want that, so I figured I would just stay quiet and it’ll pass”.
What goes on inside the harassers’ head?
The main and most obvious psychological factor when it comes to sexual harassers is narcissism. Narcissism is an exaggerated view of one’s self in addition to their deep need for approval. They tend to care more about you thinking they are powerful then you liking them. Research shows that the more narcissistic men are the more they are likely to sexually harass women. This is because people who are narcissistic carry feelings of them not being as good as others.
These individuals may harass people to try and make up for them feeling less competent than others. This behavior helps them feel as though their superiority is regained, even if it’s a temporary fix. Narcissists always justify sexual harassment in times when they think they’ve been deprived of a sexual experience that they believe they have a right to or deserve. It’s like they can’t wrap their heads around the fact that someone wouldn’t be interested in getting any sort of attention from them.
Another psychological factor is moral disengagement. Moral disengagement is a cognitive process that is one hell of a slippery slope. It’s when individuals justify their mistakes and create their own version of reality where moral principles that people live by don’t apply to them. Their reality would include things like:
- Them portraying harassment as acceptable.
- Using clean terms to essentially sugar coat their behavior.
- Displacing the responsibility of the harassment to outside forces.
For example, “That’s how the society works”
- Misplacing the blame of harassment on to the victim.
For example, “She was asking for it by what she was wearing”
People who sexually harass others, through moral disengagement, believe they did nothing wrong, their actions were normal, and that their behavior didn’t cause any harm. Instead of behaving in ways that portray our values, with moral disengagement, our values change to justify our behavior. And that is exactly why sexual harassers are capable of upholding their decent and moral view of themselves.
What are the effects?
No effect of sexual harassment can be seen as insignificant, whether it be emotional, physical, or mental. It is without a doubt that experiences like these deeply effect the victims, men included. Most of the common emotional effects are as follows:
- Anger
- Humiliation/Violation
- Guilt
- Fear/Powerlessness
“I was in complete disbelief, and when I started to register what had happened, that’s when the anger kicked in. I just kept thinking “why me?” “how is this okay?” and “why do people get away with things like this?”.” – anonymous
“For me, the feeling of violation never really went away, it’s kind of like those joke birthday candles that don’t blow out, even if you turn blue in the face trying” – anonymous
Though these are common among victims of sexual harassment, the ways in which they manifest in each victim - as well as the degree to which they do so - may differ from individual to individual.
Most of the common mental sexual harassment effects are:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- PTSD and Panic attacks
- Loss of motivation and ability to concentrate
- Substance abuse and suicidal thoughts
“I never thought of myself as the type person to get depressed, but after that day, I fell into a pit of depression that took a pretty long while for me come out of” – anonymous
“I could not get anything done… like at all. All I remember is this reoccurring thought of ‘never want to leave my house again’ and I genuinely thought that would be my solution.” – anonymous
As for effects that physically impact victims of sexual harassment, some may show:
- Eating and sleep disturbances
- High levels of stress
- Headaches
- Fatigue
“There were times where it would get so bad, that I wouldn’t eat, and my friends would take turns staying with me to make sure I wasn’t going days without food.” – anonymous
Additional testimonies
“ I was laying on the green field with my earphones in when he approached me trying to start a conversation. He didn’t seem much older than I was, but I honestly felt like something wasn’t right. I tried to ignore him, but he persistently kept trying get my attention. I started feeling anxious and so I texted my best friend who I knew would be on campus and told her to hurry and come meet me because I genuinely started to get freaked out. When she came minutes later, we made up an excuse and left. Months later she texts me a picture of the guy who approached me along with a story that he (a 20 something year-old) had raped a 13-year-old girl a few days prior as well as his confession that she wasn’t his first victim… I went numb thinking about what could’ve happened that day and about that poor girl who just had her innocence stripped away like many others before her.” – anonymous
Unfortunately, though no one should have to, there isn’t a way that guarantees us away out of experiencing such things in our lives. Trust your instincts and stay cautious of any sort of behavior or signs you may think are inappropriate or just uncomfortable. To those of you that have already had such experiences just know it isn’t your fault and it’ll be okay. There is always going to be someone willing to listen and talking about it is the first step to recovery, whether be it to a therapist or a friend.
“I stayed quiet for so long, that when I spoke to a therapist years later about what had happened, it felt like my lungs opened up again and I could breathe again” – anonymous
The Phoenix Daily thanks the individuals who spoke out about their experiences for this analysis. It is not easy to speak up about something this violating, illegal, and inhumane that people try relentlessly to forget or overcome. And for that, Thank you!
All interviewed individuals remain anonymous to ensure their safety, security, and their privacy.
References:
https://www.rainn.org/articles/sexual-harassment
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/10/why-do-more-men-women-sexually-harass/572221/
http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/svaw/harassment/explore/3causes.htm