4 Tips on Dealing with Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

Before we start talking about how to deal with sexual harassment I think it’s important to define exactly what sexual harassment is: Sexual harassment is anything in word or deed that is sexual in nature which makes you uncomfortable.

This can be something as innocuous as a co-worker baldly asking if you got laid over the weekend, to your boss patting you on the posterior as you walk by his/her desk. Sexual harassment can be subtle and it’s not a condition experienced only by women, men experience sexual harassment as well. I suspect that harassment of male workers on the job is just as prevalent as harassment of female workers, men are simply less likely to come forward about it because the idea of a female or even male boss or co-worker sexually harassing a male employee seems ludicrous.

Now that you know what sexual harassment is, what do you do about it if it’s happening to you?

1. Start keeping a written journal of incidents. Write down what happened, what was said to you, and how you chose to deal with it at the time and why. Also put the date and the time of the incident. Keep this journal in a very safe place. If your boss has access to your desk even if it’s locked and he/she is the abuser, it is common for others to get in your desk, keep your harassment journal at home.

2. Tell someone. Start with the Human Resources department. If you work for a small company and there is no HR department or there is no real defined person in charge of HR then go to your boss. If he/she is the harasser then go to that person’s boss. If the your boss is the owner, and there is no HR department, then make a formal complaint to the Labor Board in your city. Above all do not keep what is happening to yourself. Remember, you have done nothing wrong, and you have the right to work in a safe environment free of sexual harassment.