Workers in Michigan are increasingly willing to come forward when they are confronted by sexual harassment in the workplace. However, there are still stereotypes and ingrained beliefs about harassment and who is negatively impacted by it.
While women are more frequently victimized by sexual harassment, it can also happen to men. The same negative implications that befall women can happen to men when they are subjected to sexual harassment. They have just as much of a right to complain and seek compensation if it has harmed them in any way.
One in 17 men has changed work due to sexual harassment
A national study from several years ago tried to comprehensively analyze the data regarding harassment. It categorized the types of harassment people were confronted with, who was victimized and how they responded to it.
Sexual harassment can be verbal, computer-related or physical and extend to outright sexual assault. People making untoward comments would constitute verbal harassment and it can reach a level where the victim no longer feels comfortable in the workplace.
With the growing number of people who are working remotely or relying on computer communications to do their job, cyber harassment has exploded in the past several years. Of course, unwanted touching, showing their private areas or following a person would likely be harassing behavior.
Women are overwhelmingly more likely to be sexually harassed in the workplace; 81% of women surveyed said they had experienced it. Still, men constitute a substantial number of sexual harassment cases; 43% said it had happened to them.
One out of 17 men who were surveyed said the harassment resulted in them asking for a different job assignment in their current job, seeking a new job entirely or quitting outright.
Sexual harassment not only impacts a person professionally, but personally, financially and emotionally as well. Eighteen percent of men who were harassed stated they felt anxious or depressed in the aftermath. Twelve percent said they changed their routine or did different things than normal to avoid the possibility of being harassed. They can experience post-traumatic stress symptoms and physical manifestations with headaches, stomach issues, loss or gain of weight and other forms of damage.
Men can also consider legal options after being sexually harassed
Many men simply do not want to admit they were sexually harassed due to shame or embarrassment. They can deal with the same short and long-term consequences from this type of behavior as women do. Since this is an employment law violation, it extends to everyone. Men who have been mistreated in this way should be cognizant that they are not alone and they have the right to hold those who harassed them accountable.
If they lodged a complaint to supervisors, managers or ownership and nothing was done, this too can be part of a claim. Understanding exactly what constitutes sexual harassment, what should have been done to put a stop to it and how it harmed a person as they tried to advance professionally is key. Knowing the statistics and that there are strategies to file a legal claim is imperative.