Sexual Harassment

Extra Extra, read all about it!! Are you aware of what sexual harassment is or the danger of it? Do you know what to do in the event that you are being sexually harassed? Sexual harassment can be defined as intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Therefore, day to day intimidations on the street or at a workplace can be considered to be sexual harassment whether it is by the opposite or same sex. No one, and I repeat NO ONE should take sexual harassment lightly because it can descend into sexual assault.

Today I was pleased to meet Mrs. Marty Langelan, former director of the DC Rape Crisis Center, President of the National Woman's Party, and an economist with the Federal Government.  She has also published extensively with her most notable being BACK OFF: HOW TO CONFRONT SEXUAL HARASSERS. Mrs. Langelan spoke about sexual harassment primarily being a human rights issue and gender exclusion being a prominent problem, especially with children. There are four major modes/types of harassment. The first one is Mr./Mrs. Friendly. A good example of this may be a co-worker who comes to your work station everyday rubbing your shoulders and telling you how beautiful you are. Not to mention if you're the only person he/she is doing this to. The second mode is dominant harassment. This may be the person that hangs out on the corner of the street that harasses you everyday. This person is usually unemployed with all the free time in the world. The third type is strategic/territorial harassment. This type of coercion is done tactically. It is usually planned out and executed in stages. The fourth mode are your predators. These are the people who pry on you. They usually never give up no matter what. They do not care if you are 2 or 82 years of age. Predators are very persistent people who will stop at nothing to get what they want.

Growing up as kids, we were taught failure tactics that rarely or almost never worked. Once of these failure tacts were pretending to ignore it. You would either look down at your shoes or stare randomly at anything that is not in the harasser's direction. Another failure tactic was the F-Y response (and it doesn't stand for fiscal year). This response is a very aggressive one that usually drop jaws, especially if it comes out of adolescent's mouth. However, this tactic never solves the problem. In most cases, the situation just escalated into something even bigger than it started out to be.  The last failure tactic was the run away response. This was a quick and easy way to avoid the situation. But, you running away today does not guarantee you clearance tomorrow.

An all-purpose statement that can be used in the event that you feel like you are being sexually harassed is, "Stop harassing women/children/men. I don't like it; no one likes it. SHOW SOME RESPECT!" Another way to deal with sexual harassment is by using the A-B-C problem. This is where you tell the person what they are doing wrong specifically. When you do (A), The effect is (B), I want (C) from now on. These are two ways to combat sexual harassment. So remember, if you feel like you are being sexually harassed, don't stop, drop and roll! Use these response kits and you will have one less person sexually harassing you!