Sexual Harassment in the Public Sector

Sexual Harassment in the Public Sector

Surveys administered as early as 1979 indicated that numerous women in state employment were affected by sexual harassment, with as many as 59 percent of female employees in the state of Illinois reporting a direct experience with sexual harassment. In a random survey of female state employees in Florida, 46 percent claimed that they had received unwanted sexual attention from male co-workers in their present employment which caused them to feel threatened or humiliated. In an examination of Alabama, Arizona, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin, women experienced all forms of sexual harassment more than men. Of high-level female public administrators in these five states, six to sixteen percent experienced unwelcome sexual advances; eleven to 24 percent experienced requests for sexual favors; fourteen to 36 percent experienced offensive physical contact and 33 to 60 percent experienced some offensive verbal behavior. One estimate held that as many as one-third of women in educational institutions had experienced some kind of harassment.

In 1980 the U.S Merit Systems Protection Board found that four out of ten women in a 10,648 sample had been sexually harassed during the previous 24 months. When this study was updated in 1988, the numbers reflected an uncanny resemblance to those in 1980-42 percent of all women experience some form of unwanted sexual attention.

In the private sector, the record is not much better. A 1988 survey of 160 human resources executives in the Fortune 500 companies revealed that almost all employers had at least one sexual harassment complaint in the twelve month period leading up to the survey. Representing some 3.3 million employees, 64 percent of the executives believed that the sexual harassment complaints were valid. Over 33 percent reported that their company was sued for sexual harassment during that year. A 1988 survey of 165 Long Island executives found that one in eight of their companies had been sued for sexual harassment within a year of the survey. A more recent survey in 1991 taken by the American Management Association revealed that 52 percent of member companies reported one or more allegations of sexual harassment within the last five years.

It is extremely important for public administrators to sensitize themselves and their co-workers to sexual harassment in the workplace. Sexual harassment in the workplace has an emotional and possibly physical impact on its victims. Often worker morale and productivity decline while absenteeism increases. When a case goes to court, valuable resources are expended on attorney fees, victim fees, back pay, compensatory damages and punitive damages. To combat all the costs associated with sexual harassment, public agencies must use case and statutory law to define and identify sexual harassment and must also develop prevention policies.

There are problems involved in defining and identifying sexual harassment, since it may take many and varied forms. Numerous professional groups have been active in developing preventive measures and sexual harassment policies. This article examines the problems encountered in defining and identifying sexual harassment in the public ...