Standing Up To Sexual Harassment

Man touching shoulder of uncomfortable woman co-worker

Sexual harassment is a grave crime that leaves the victims in mental agony and distress for life. No one should tolerate sexual harassment. Everyone has the right to be treated with respect and dignity.

Inappropriate behavior is a developing issue everywhere be it work areas, schools or anywhere a woman goes. Even though there are various laws against this but they are largely ineffective.

So what constitutes harassment? Well, it’s any undesirable or sexual innuendos intended to make a woman uncomfortable. Behaviors such as touching, ogling , inappropriate comments or signals, they all come under the domain of harassment.

Sadly, when females raise their voice against such harassment, they are not taken quite seriously and are given excuses such as “young men will be young men”. This somehow conditions our women to think that such harassment is normal and should be condoned. However, what they fail to understand is that such type of harassment have a deep and adverse impact on the women.

Instead of reprimanding the harassers, women are asked to dress in a modest way. “You should cover all of your body except face and hands, and your dress should never be tight, short, or too long”, they tell women. Instead of seriously pondering over the issue and bringing the harassers to justice, our society only cautions the victim to behave. It is the job of law enforcement agencies that they take the matter seriously and do not take harassment lightly.

As far as our women are concerned, they should actively report harassment incidents. When we don’t, when we overlook these negative behaviors towards us, we are in return encouraging them. So speak out ladies!