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1 – 10 of over 1000
Article
Publication date: 3 September 2019

Michael J. Tews, Kathryn Stafford and Phillip M. Jolly

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether fun in the workplace inadvertently leads to greater incidences of unwanted sexual attention. Specifically, this research examined…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether fun in the workplace inadvertently leads to greater incidences of unwanted sexual attention. Specifically, this research examined the relationship between three dimensions of fun and unwanted sexual attention – fun activities, coworker socializing and manager support for fun.

Design/methodology/approach

Multiple regression was used to analyze survey data from three Qualtrics business panels.

Findings

Fun activities were related to greater incidences of unwanted sexual attention, while manager support for fun was related to fewer instances. With respect to fun activities, mandatory attendance and holding the activities on nights and weekends were associated with further increased unwanted sexual attention. The presence of non-employees during activities was associated with fewer incidences.

Research limitations/implications

The data on fun in the workplace and unwanted sexual attention were obtained at one point in time. Future research would be valuable that obtains data collected at multiple points in time to more fully substantiate cause-and-effect relationships.

Practical implications

Employers may seek to foster a climate in which managers encourage employees to have fun on the job as well as one that explicitly focuses on preventing sexual harassment. Curbing unwanted sexual attention during fun activities may be facilitated by involving non-employees, refraining from holding activities at night and on weekends and keeping employee participation voluntary.

Originality/value

From the perspective of fun in the workplace, this research has demonstrated fun activities may have unintended, adverse consequences. From the perspective of sexual harassment, this research has identified antecedents not typically be considered to be contributing factors of unwanted sexual attention.

Details

Employee Relations: The International Journal, vol. 41 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0142-5455

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 April 2020

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship of fun in the workplace with unwanted sexual attention.

149

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship of fun in the workplace with unwanted sexual attention.

Design/methodology/approach

Data was gathered from the responses of three Qualtrix business panels of working individuals in the USA to online surveys. Multiple regression is used to analyze these responses.

Findings

The results suggest that fun activities had the greatest impact on unwanted sexual attention while management support for fun was related to fewer instances. Obligatory attendance and holding the events on nights and weekends lead to greater unwanted sexual attention while involving non-employees is associated with less.

Practical implications

Therefore, organizations should foster a climate which encourages employees to have fun on the job and be vigilant at events to prevent sexual harassment. Unwanted sexual attention can be reduced by involving non-employees, making attendance voluntary and avoiding holding activities at nighttime and weekends.

Originality/value

This paper has an original approach in identifying contributing factors to unwanted sexual attention.

Details

Human Resource Management International Digest , vol. 28 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0967-0734

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 October 2017

Beth Waudby and Jill Poulston

This paper aims to examine employee responses to sexual behaviour in hospitality workplaces, to determine their roles and responsibilities in harassment prevention.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine employee responses to sexual behaviour in hospitality workplaces, to determine their roles and responsibilities in harassment prevention.

Design

Female workers in restaurants and bars were recruited using the snowball technique, and data collected through 18 interviews. An interpretivist approach was used to guide the data collection and analysis.

Findings

The study found that harassment coping strategies developed with age and experience rather than through training, and those who dressed and behaved provocatively attracted more unwanted sexual attention.

Practical implications

Recommendations focus on the role of managers in moderating employee behaviour and providing training in assertiveness.

Social implications

Industry norms and perceptions about managers’ expectations are considered strong influences on employee behaviour, and therefore, in attracting harassment.

Originality

Although this study locates the responsibility for stopping harassment with management, it takes an unusual and potentially unpalatable approach by acknowledging the role of victims in stopping unwanted sexual advances, providing new approaches to reducing harassment.

Details

International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, vol. 11 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6182

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 November 2019

Christopher Mensah

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between perceived dependence on tips and vulnerability to sexual harassment (SH) among hotel employees in Accra…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between perceived dependence on tips and vulnerability to sexual harassment (SH) among hotel employees in Accra Metropolis, Ghana.

Design/methodology/approach

Within a cross-sectional research design, 583 employees from 55 hotels completed self-administered questionnaires. Descriptive statistics, χ2 test of independence, Kruskal–Wallis test were used to analyse collected data.

Findings

Results of the study reveal that dependence on tips is related to SH vulnerability of food and beverage staff. Furthermore, dependence on tips engenders a perception of SH climate. Compared to guests and co-workers, supervisors were least identified as perpetrators of SH in hotel workspaces. Guests were responsible for unwanted sexual attention, whereas co-workers pose the greatest risk for gender harassment.

Practical implications

Hotel management should invest in the publication of educational materials such as leaflets and posters indicating unacceptability of inappropriate sexual behaviours.

Originality/value

This paper is one of the pioneers to have assessed the relationship between dependence on tips and perceived climate for SH as well as vulnerability to SH in a hotel context.

Details

Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, vol. 2 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9792

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 2016

Arosha S. Adikaram

As prior research has indicated, women who experience behaviors that fall under the accepted definitions of sexual harassment, do not label, acknowledge, or claim these behaviors

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Abstract

Purpose

As prior research has indicated, women who experience behaviors that fall under the accepted definitions of sexual harassment, do not label, acknowledge, or claim these behaviors as such. The purpose of this paper is to explore an alternative explanation for this non-labeling by arguing that apprehension in expressing sexuality, stemming from apparent subjugation of sex and sexuality by society, posited in a culturally value laden backdrop, leads to Sri Lankan women not labeling or acknowledging sexual harassment.

Design/methodology/approach

Employing grounded theory, in-depth, one-on-one interviews were conducted with 40 working women.

Findings

It was revealed that social construction of gender and sexuality in Sri Lankan society, with its instilled moralistic beliefs and norms such as respectability, sexual innocence, chastity, and purity among women, suppress and govern their sexuality in the workplace. The resultant self-surveillance and self-discipline lead to women evading expressing and using vocabulary denoting sexuality – including the term “sexual harassment” – mainly for fear of social censorship, self-blame, and victim blame.

Practical implications

The study shows how policies and procedures of sexual harassment must heed the gendered everyday realities of women in workplaces and questions the capacity and utilization of these laws and policies that employ the label “sexual” in addressing the issue.

Originality/value

This paper advances knowledge on sexual harassment by providing new insights on how cultural values and norms leading to social construction of gender and sexuality play an important role in non-labeling of sexual harassment. Moving further, this paper illustrates how Foucault’s treatise of “sexuality and power,” and “social construction of reality” can be employed to theorize non-labeling.

Details

Personnel Review, vol. 45 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 March 2017

Anna Gekoski, Jacqueline M. Gray, Joanna R. Adler and Miranda A.H. Horvath

The purpose of this paper is to report on the findings from a study commissioned by the British Transport Police and the Department for Transport for England and Wales concerning…

2380

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report on the findings from a study commissioned by the British Transport Police and the Department for Transport for England and Wales concerning sexual offences and harassment on public transport worldwide. Specifically, it aims to explore the prevalence of such behaviours, through a review of existing survey and interview data regarding women and girls’ experiences.

Design/methodology/approach

A rapid evidence assessment (REA) was used, the function of which is to: search the literature as comprehensively as possible within given time constraints; collate descriptive outlines of the available evidence on a topic and critically appraise it; sift out studies of poor quality; and provide an overview of the evidence.

Findings

It was found that prevalence rates range from 15 to 95 per cent, with the UK having the lowest rates. Emerging economies had higher rates of harassment and assault, which may relate to differing cultural and gender norms, where public space is regarded as a male domain.

Research limitations/implications

A REA is not a full systematic review, differing in the scope and depth of the searches and depending almost exclusively on electronic databases, not accompanied by searching journals by hand.

Practical implications

More research of high methodological rigour needs to be carried out on prevalence rates of sexual harassment and offending on public transport worldwide. The high prevalence rates found suggest the need for more work around the area of interventions to curtail offending in this setting. The findings suggest that emerging economies, in particular, need to do more to address the problem of sexual harassment and assault on public transport. More fundamentally, cultural norms around women’s roles in society need to be addressed and challenged.

Originality/value

Women may become “transit captive” and socially excluded if they are afraid to travel on public transport and do not have access to private transport. This would be an unacceptable situation which must be addressed by transport authorities and police.

Details

Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice, vol. 3 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-3841

Keywords

Open Access
Book part
Publication date: 4 June 2021

Christopher Dietzel

Rape culture, described as when “violence is seen as sexy and sexuality as violent” (Buchwald, Fletcher, & Roth, 1993, p. vii), exists online and offline (Henry & Powell, 2014)…

Abstract

Rape culture, described as when “violence is seen as sexy and sexuality as violent” (Buchwald, Fletcher, & Roth, 1993, p. vii), exists online and offline (Henry & Powell, 2014). Much of the research on rape culture focuses on the experiences of heterosexual women, and few studies have explored rape culture in the context of dating apps. This chapter explores how men who have sex with men (MSM) understand and experience rape culture through their use of Grindr and similar dating apps. A thematic analysis of interviews with 25 MSM dating app users revealed problematic user behavior as well as unwanted sexual messages and images as common manifestations of rape culture on dating apps. Participants explained that rape culture extends beyond in-app interactions to in-person encounters, as evident by incidents of sexual violence that several participants had experienced and one participant had committed. Participants were unsure about the extent to which MSM dating apps facilitate rape culture but asserted that some apps enable rape culture more than others. This chapter demonstrates the importance of investigating sexual violence against people of diverse gender and sexual identities to ensure their experiences are not minimized, ignored, or rendered invisible.

Details

The Emerald International Handbook of Technology-Facilitated Violence and Abuse
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83982-849-2

Keywords

Open Access
Book part
Publication date: 4 June 2021

Elena Cama

In recent years, the use of dating and hook up apps has become an increasingly socially acceptable and commonly used method of seeking romantic and sexual partners. This has seen…

Abstract

In recent years, the use of dating and hook up apps has become an increasingly socially acceptable and commonly used method of seeking romantic and sexual partners. This has seen a corresponding rise in media and crime reports of sexual harms facilitated through these services, including sexual harassment, unsolicited sexual imagery, and sexual assault. Emerging empirical research shows that experiences of sexual harms in this context are common and predominantly impact women and girls. The aim of this chapter is to examine the sociocultural and sexual norms that underpin online dating and which perpetuate a “rape culture” within which sexual harms become both possible and normalized. This chapter also considers how the discourses that minimize and legitimize sexual harms are encoded within the responses undertaken by dating and hook up apps to sexual harms. It is argued that together these norms and discourses may act to facilitate and/or prevent sexual harms, and may normalize and excuse these harms when they occur.

Details

The Emerald International Handbook of Technology-Facilitated Violence and Abuse
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83982-849-2

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 October 2016

Marianna E. Carlucci and Frank D. Golom

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how mock jurors perceive female-female sexual harassment.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how mock jurors perceive female-female sexual harassment.

Design/methodology/approach

Participants read a case vignette depicting female-female workplace sexual harassment where the sexual orientation of the harasser (lesbian vs heterosexual) and type of sexual harassment (approach vs reject vs generalized) were randomly assigned across participants. Participants were asked to make a liability determination for the case. They were also asked to rate the unwanted conduct on several legally relevant dimensions (e.g. severity, pervasiveness, and unwelcomeness).

Findings

Results revealed that the sexual orientation of the harasser is an important factor used to make legal decisions in same-sex sexual harassment cases. Participants found the same conduct to be more severe, pervasive, unwelcome, and threatening when the harasser was lesbian than when she was heterosexual. As hypothesized, female participants found more evidence of discrimination than male participants.

Research limitations/implications

These findings illustrate biases mock jurors may hold when making legal decisions in female-female sexual harassment cases.

Practical implications

Results are discussed in the context of decision-making models and possible future directions and interventions are explored.

Originality/value

The findings extend the literature on female same-sex sexual harassment.

Details

Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research, vol. 8 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1759-6599

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 May 2009

Stephanie R. Sipe, C. Douglas Johnson and Donna K. Fisher

The purpose of this paper is to assess whether a gap exists in student perceptions of sexual harassment in the workplace as compared to the realities. Over 20 years following the…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to assess whether a gap exists in student perceptions of sexual harassment in the workplace as compared to the realities. Over 20 years following the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the US Supreme Court recognized sexual harassment as a cause of action under Title VII. However, despite the developing law and public awareness of the same, sexual harassment persists in today's workplace, and its presence and effects continue to be underestimated by relevant stakeholders, including university students.

Design/methodology/approach

College students (n = 1,373) provide perceptions on sexual harassment of self, sexual harassment of others, potential career impact of sexual harassment on self, and demographic information. Descriptive statistics are used to evaluate research questions, while t‐tests determine if differences exist by race and/or gender.

Findings

The paper's findings suggest that the majority of respondents believe sexual harassment is not a serious risk in the modern workplace, especially in relation to its impact on their own careers.

Practical implications

College students (and potentially members of the workforce) need ongoing training and education in order to minimize discrimination or harassment. This misalignment between perception and reality poses the risk of negative consequences to both business organizations as well as to individual employees and raises the issue of how education may be used to minimize these consequences.

Originality/value

This paper provides college students with a definition of sexual harassment, then inquires as to whether or not they believe it happens (to them or others), and if so, would it affect their careers. The findings suggest the rose colored lenses may adversely impact their ability to see realities of the workplace.

Details

Equal Opportunities International, vol. 28 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0261-0159

Keywords

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