Sexual Harassment in the Work Place, Research Paper Example

It is generally expected that those in helping, safety and protection jobs will carry out their responsibilities without acting inappropriately or engaging in behavior that is hurtful to others. However, this is not always the case. Even the law enforcement field has individuals who act in a way that’s counter to ethical or legal standards. This includes engaging in sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is defined as either expecting someone to trade sexual favors for work or other non-sexual ones such as job promotions, or using sexual comments, innuendos, jokes or other types of sexual material to create a work environment that feels hostile (U.S. Department of State, N.D.).

According to Wider Opportunities for Women (N.D.), females who work in non-traditional jobs such as law enforcement are at higher risk of being sexually harassed than their peers in more traditionally female occupations. As the number of female law enforcement officers increases, so does the incidence of sexual harassment. The biggest roadblock to women becoming police officers is the beliefs and opinions of male officers (National Center for Women & Policing, 1998).

Many of the causes that have been suggested for sexual harassment of female offices focus on power and men’s attitudes about gender roles. Wanting to stay in power is a big cause of this type of harassment as is the belief that law enforcement in “man’s work” and women don’t belong in this kind of job (Hess, 2008). Supervising officers also often ignore sexual harassment against women officer’s, believing if the women can’t take it they’ll never succeed in police work. Some supervisors are also perpetrators themselves, so when more junior officers see their behavior they believe it is alright to do also. Also, with women’s rights, women now are less likely to always view and treat men as their superiors even though they hold equal rank, something men in safety may resent (McLaughlin, Uggen, and Blackstoneb, 2012).

Some officers say that sexual misconduct doesn’t really take place in law enforcement. These officers state that what is seen as harassment is actually just flattery or natural flirting, that the women want it to happen which is proven by the way they act around male officers, and that when women enter a male dominated career they should expect bad language, dirty jokes and hazing just like the men. However, these explanations have been labeled myths, and dismissed as a means to continue sexually harassing female officers.

In conclusion, although there are still commanders that say sexual harassment does not happen in law enforcement workplace, providing explanations that basically suggest these women are just over-reacting, the evidence shows the opposite. Sexual harassment does occur in police departments and is on the rise. More sexual harassment and discrimination education should be included in training programs and regularly at the workplace and through online options.

Resources

Davis, T. A. (2005). Gender inequality in law enforcement and males’ attitudes and perceptions toward women working in law enforcement. Retrieved from https://dspace.uta.edu/bitstream/handle/10106/39/umi-uta-1181.pdf

Hess, K. M. (2008). Becoming a law enforcement professional. In Introduction to Law Enforcement and Civil Justice, (9^th ed.). Belmont CA: Cengage Learning. 463-464.

McLaughlin, H., Uggen, C., and Blackstoneb, A. (2012). Sexual harassment, workplace authority, and the paradox of power. American Sociological Review, (20), 1-23. DOI: 10.1177/0003122412451728

National Center for Women & Policing. (1998). Equality denied: The status of women in policing. Retrieved from http://www.womenandpolicing.org/status.html

U.S. Department of State. (N.D.). Sexual Harassment Policy, Retrieved from http://www.state.gov/s/ocr/c14800.htm

Wider Opportunities for Women. (N.D.). Women and non-traditional work. Retrieved from http://www.austincc.edu/green/assets/non-traditional.pdf