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Harassment? Or Assault? In the second part of this two-part feature on harassment in the workplace, Niki Tudge examines what action individuals should take when there is no official workplace or structured corporate accountability
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exual harassment in the workplace continues to be experienced by both men and women in a variety of organizational venues. In this second part of our feature on harassment, I will first detail what constitutes sexual harassment and when any indi vidual behavior is no longer considered to be harassment, but assault. Secondly, I will ex amine whether individuals more likely to sexually harass others have a particular psychological profile, so potential victims can identify indications of harassing behavior and, therefore, seek to prevent it escalating.
1. What is Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault? Citing from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), United Nations (2020) defines sexual harassment as follows: Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when: • Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or con dition of an individual's employment, or • Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as a basis for employment decisions affecting such individual, or • Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an indi vidual's work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment. Pet professionals who work for themselves and do not have the immediate protection of an employer may find themselves on the receiving end of harassment and be unsure of where to turn for support and advice © Can Stock Photo/andreaobzerova
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BARKS from the Guild/July 2020
