Mary Lucas Period 3 11/2/09 Issue Analysis: Sexual Harassment The issue of sexual harassment began to get the attention it deserved in the early 1990’s. The case of Anita Hill vs. Clarence Thomas brought a great deal of awareness to the issue. Clarence Thomas got nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1991. However, there was one objection to the nomination made by Anita Hill that Thomas had sexually harassed her. Even though Hill lost the case, there had never been so much attention brought to an accusation of the same kind. Sexual harassment is described as unwanted and unwelcome sexual behavior which interferes with your life.
It’s pervasive, even when we’re pretty sure we believe in equality we find it hard to make calls on whether abuse in a relationship is conflict or mutual or something more sinister. We know that men who abuse tend to blame other people, alcohol or circumstances for their violence. And it’s not just abusers who have that attitude. A 2009 National Survey on Community Attitudes to Violence Against Women found that 18% of Australians thought that ‘relationship violence can be excused if it results from temporary anger’. Similarly 1 in 5 categorised ‘yelling abuse at a partner’ and ‘controlling a partner by denying them money’ as either ‘not that serious’ or ‘not serious at
Most conflicts in the workplace can lead to a lot of negative situations, such as being permanently dismissed from your job, work productivity can decrease, it can also increase absenteeism (which is having numerous absences from your job) and sometimes could even result in violence or serious crimes. Employees can get stressed, frustrated, have extreme anxiety, and possibly commit suicide or even homicide. Most people see conflict as only something to be avoided. Contrary to popular belief, conflict is something that can be quite beneficial if handled in the right way. Conflict is a natural part in any society in which people deal with each other on a regular basis.
An additional factor is sexual harassment in the workplace. We all are aware that men in high positions are likely to use their power to create sexual advancements to the women they oversee. I to have been a victim of this type of behavior and was not advance because I wasn’t receptive to the quid pro quo which means “one thing in return for another”! (Macionis, pg. 291) Many women just as I was are afraid of losing their job if they report sexual harassment.
Some speak out about it and some do not. Although sexual harassment is taking place it can be prevented by human resource departments and law enforcement. In legal terms, sexual harassment is any unwelcome sexual advance or conduct on the job that creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment. The shorthand version of the definition used by the federal government and most states. But it’s not necessary to couch the problem in legalisms.
Law Reform Regarding Sexual Assault Law reform is when law is introduced or an existing law is altered to improve, make more relevant or patch up a hole in our law. The issue of sexual assault is becoming increasingly prominent it today’s society. Because societies view on this issue, and growing awareness, past laws on sexual assault have failed to cover the needs of society today. This has lead to significant law reform over the past decade. The Criminal Procedure Amendment (Sexual Offence Case Management) Act (NSW) was introduced in 2005 which updated the previous act the previous act, The Criminals Procedure Act from 1986 (NSW).
A major problem with sexual harassment, however, is that victims don’t always report it for various reasons which we will discuss later in this review. Within the Canadian Forces, women have become integrated and work right along-side male counterparts. Women can hold any job that a man can as well as fight in combat areas. While they are allowed to work side-by-side, women often face harassment in the work zones and a lot of times, it is not reported and/or nothing is done about it. Military organizations in general are often viewed as a “man’s job” by many because of the stereotypic male characteristics of combat positions such as aggression, courage, and strength.
I do NOT support public nuisance street hookers being legal unless in special zones. But PRIVATE consenting adult sexwork should be legal as it is in most of the world except the U.S. Australia - Prostitution itself is legal but laws vary in different states regarding street soliciting and brothels. Brazil - Legal except brothels and pimping. In 2002 the Ministry of Labor added "sex worker" to an official list of occupations. Prostitution is not regulated in any way (no licensing) but prostitutes can contribute can contribute to the official government pension fund and receive benefits when they retire.
Bullying in the workplace is in the majority of cases reported as having been perpetrated by management - the impact is usually critical to both the individuals and the business. Employees physical and mental health problems: o High stress; post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) o Financial problems due to absence o Reduced self-esteem o Sleep and digestive disturbances o Increased depression/self-blame o Family tension and stress Kareem S. Al Tobgy Organizational behavior - ESLSCA 37C Impact on Organizations: Each of the individual consequences listed above can be very costly for the organization. Costs of bullying generally fall into three categories: o o o Replacing staff members that leave as a result of being bullied, cost of training new employees. Work effort being displaced as staff cope with bullying incidents (i.e., effort being directed away from work productivity and towards coping) Costs associated with investigations of ill treatment and potential legal
The second is defined as “hostile work environment”, which occurs when individuals are feeling uncomfortable because of working in an offensive or sexist work environment. Sexual harassment also have been found to be mainly about men wanting to exercise their power over women because of their disadvantaged status at work (Wilson & Thompson, 2001). It also have been found that sexual harassment is much more present in certain work situations as industries where the power is represented by one sex. If the climate in a company is disrespectful and this ambiance increases, acts of sexual harassment could be seen as normal (Hearn & Parkin, 2005). If somebody is used to that “workplace incivility”, he will be less likely to report an inadequate behavior in the organization and then sort of encourage this to continue (Miner-Rubino and Cortina,