What Constitutes Sexual Harassment Essay Example

Essays on What Constitutes Sexual Harassment Essay The paper "What Constitutes Sexual Harassment" is an outstanding example of an essay on human resources. The workplace is an area where different people from different backgrounds come together to fulfill certain objectives or aims. Within such an environment, misunderstandings are common and usually, there are means and provisions that aid these employees to sort their differences and misunderstandings effectively (McDonald, 2012, p. 14). However, other times these misunderstandings are extensive and measures should be in a place that will guide into solving the issue (Willness, Steel and Lee, 2007, p. 135). For example, sexual harassment is a common issue that affects both female and male employees within a workplace (Sara, McDonald and Somali, 2011, p. 145). Therefore, the aim of this paper is to address sexual harassment within the workplace (McDonald, Sara, and Somali, 2011, p. 281). Other issues that the paper addresses are measures that can be utilized to minimize sexual haras sment within the workplace and legal provisions that are in place that provide an opportunity for the victim to request redress. The discussion will be based on Australia since different countries have different means of addressing sexual harassment and the discussion will be presented from a human resource management perspective.Sexual HarassmentSexual harassment can be defined as a form of sexual discrimination that may occur in different settings e.g. at the workplace, at school, and within social settings. In the case of a workplace, it is a form of any unwelcome sexual attention that someone finds humiliating, offensive or even intimidating. Australian Human Rights Commission (2012) in association with the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 defines sexual harassment, as â€Å"is any unwanted or unwelcome sexual behavior, which makes a person feel offended, humiliated or intimidated.† From this definition, sexual harassment is not only constrained in terms of sexual in nature bu t also, when someone includes the use of offensive terms about a person’s sex. As an example, it is sexual harassment when a person generally makes offensive comments about women. In addition, the victim of sexual harassment and or the harasser can be either a man or a woman, and at the same time, the harasser and the victim can be from the same sex (Sara, McDonald and Somali, 2011, p. 148).This means that a harasser can be a supervisor, a victim of a supervisor, a client or even a co-worker. Some of the characteristics of sexual harassment range from mild transgressions, annoyances to actual sexual assault or sexual abuse (McDonald, 2012, p. 12). Moreover, illegal employment discrimination can be viewed as sexual harassment and it is a form of psychological and sexual abuse and bullying. Many organizations across the globe understand the impacts of sexual harassment and thus have formulated and implement strategies that address issues associated with sexual harassment.