Sexual Harassment
... Race my play a role in perceptions in that there may be differences in how White and Blacks, interpret unwanted sexual behavior. Gowan and Zimmerman (1996), suggests that perceiver’s ethnicity does influence perceptions of sexual harassment, but does not override participant’s gender and experience with sexual harassment. Although their findings suggests that Hispanics and Anglo-White may differ in their perceptions of sexual harassment. Socio-cultural theorists suggest that women of color may be at grater risk of sexual harassment than White women (Gruber & Bjorn, 1986; Karsten, 1994; Mackinnon, 1979; Murrell, 1996). The argument behind such theory is that powerless women are more likely to be harassed than powerful women, and because women of color are often in low power status positions in the workforce they are more likely to be harassed. For instance, sexual harassment incidents between Black women and Black men bring to surface the stereotype of sexual relations among Blacks. Discourse about Black female-male relationships suggests that people expect Blacks to behave in a sexual manner with one another (Staples, 1993). Orlando Patterson, a Black professor at Harvard University (1991), implies, to the Thomas-Hill trial, that it is normal and acceptable for Blacks to interact with one another on sexual basis. He suggests that sexual behavior by a Black male towards a Black female may be considered as appropriate regardless of whether it is wanted or unwanted. Patterson’s views show the importance of assessing how the race of the victim and the race of the harasser interact to influence individuals’ perception of sexual harassment. Because most victims of sexual harassment don’t speak out, we don’t really know pervasive or how serious the problem is. The causes for this silence are not really hard to find. Research indicates three reasons women do not report sexual harassment: 1) The women did not believe anyone would do anything about it. If women are in an organization and the leadership of the organization does not speak out against that harassment, does not institute procedures for reporting harassment, or does not act quickly on reports of harassment, most victims will be discouraged from acting. 2) The women were afraid they would be blamed. “Blaming the victim” has historically been a strategy in countering rape charges. Women are told they “invited” the rape or harassment by their dress or demeanor. Because women see this happen to others they have good reason to believe it will also happen to them...