Broadly defined, sexual harassment usually involves unwanted physical contact or verbal abuse, such as sexist jokes and comments, sexual threat and intimidation, unwelcome sexual advance, sexual innuendo, or public humiliation. Even subtle conducts related to sexual stuffs, if they make you feel uncomfortable, you can file a sexual harassment claim to the perpetrators. Then how do you save yourself, and maybe other fellow women, from sexual harassment?
Here is how:
Be confident
Harassers often target and attack those who look weaker. In order to prevent any bad misconducts, you have to gain strength and be confident. When you face some unpleasant attitudes from other male employees, don’t show your weakness. Even when you feel intimated and maybe frightened, you have to fight back and say no with all your power.
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Speak up
Sometimes, severe sexual harassment begins with trivial things such as jokes. While it might seem harmless at first, you should be cautious. Don’t let it just pass. When your supervisor says something like, ‘Ha-ha, maybe you need to sleep with me if you want to keep your job,’ be extra-careful. It can send a red signal that might lead to conducts that are more serious. If such a thing happens to you, you should speak up and report such incidents to the senior business heads or the HR manager.
Respect yourself first
If you want other people to respect you, first you need to respect yourself. It means that you should maintain a professional image. Wear something decent and professional at work. Don’t let your male co-workers peek at your revealed cleavage. While you might not intend to, just try not to create any sexual temptation.
Get back-up supporter
Do not let your guard down. When you work in a place predominantly filled with men such as those from STEM, you should keep yourself surrounded with colleagues you trust. This way, you can control your social circle and prevent any unwelcome advances from unfamiliar people.
As more women are seeking careers outside their home, business leaders should take immediate action to curb and control sexual harassment issues. Leaders should find a method to create a safe, healthy, and woman-friendly working environment.
How Strong Women Prevent Sexual Harassment
Truly strong women in the workplace know how to keep sexual propositions at bay. Here’s how they do it.
They dress appropriately. Yes, there is such a thing as dressing appropriately for the occasion. Would you wear an evening gown to a funeral? How about a church dress at a bar? What you wear speaks volumes about the message you’re trying to convey.
I used to teach high school when I was in my twenties. Because of my youthful look, I went out of my way to dress in a professional manner at all times to be taken seriously and not allow even the possibility that a student would think of me as anything other than a professional. If I had dressed as though I were going to a party, I would have been inviting trouble. The left calls that “blaming the victim.” The rest of us call it smart.
They don’t flirt. Everyone knows what it means to flirt—at least every woman does. Once again, there’s a time and a place for that. I can be a big flirt! But I would never do it at work unless I liked a guy or was looking for a date. In fact, I did do that back in the day. Never with a superior, though. That’s just stupid.
They nip it in the bud. The very second they’re propositioned in a way that feels sexual or romantic by a superior or a man they’re not interested in, they nip it in the bud. They let the guy know very clearly that they’re not interested. If you respond positively in any way, the other person, whether male or female, will take it as a cue to continue the pursuit. That is the nature of the male-female dance.
Doing these three things alone will knock out 90 percent of all sexual misunderstandings at work because the person in power gets knocked off his (or her) pedestal. If you have done these three things and you still have a problem, then whether or not you’re being harassed will be much clearer. In that case, report it.
Feminists will insist that most women are helpless in such circumstances, but there is no shortage of help for women today. On the contrary, there are folks just waiting in the wings to pounce on those in power.
Written By: Arnold Mutamiri
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