...going too far

Harassment...  I am ashamed to admit that I have really never thought too deeply on the topic, sure we are all peripherally aware of the occurences, both racial and sexual, but I have never really dedicated time to ponder on the topic.  

Now I have...

On any given day I interact with ten to fifty people, at no time have I really thought about sexual harassment, or racial discrimination.  To me these are just people, some I like more than others, some I respect more than others and some I am completely indifferent about; I am simply there to assist...

I recently went out to happy hour with several of my co-workers, and the topic of 'uncomfortable' talk came up and there were some interesting and eye-opening stories told and previous conversations that, at the time, I took as mere fiction or bragging, remembered.

So, me being who I am, I began thinking more on the topic and researching statistics.  What I found is troubling, but I will get to that in a wee bit.  First, several thoughts have occurred to me over the past several days; I used to try to imagine what it would be like to be a girl (woman)...  You know, what would it be like to have all the female bits, how would it change the way your balance works, carrying a child and giving birth, the inconvenience of the monthly cycle, etc, etc, etc...  One thing that I didn't consider is how irritating and frustrating it must be to have men always paying attention to you, sometimes unwanted attention I am sure.  I never thought of the level of mistrust or at very least caution that has to be there every time a man (or some women) try to be friendly or share things.  The thought of "Is this person doing this just to win some kind of attention, or is he/she showing genuine kindness???"  I would be sooo bleeding frustrated!

Now to the other part...

One quick table:

EEOC Workplace Harassment Claims: 2011 Statistics
Total Claims filed	33,956
Resolutions	30,512
Claims Resolutions by Type:	Number	Percent
Settlements	2,878	8.5%
Withdrawals w/Benefits	2,619	7.7%
Administrative Closures	5,770	17.0%
No Reasonable Cause	21,410	63.1%
Reasonable Cause	1,279	3.8%
Successful Conciliations	373	1.1%
Unsuccessful Conciliations	906	2.7%
Merit Resolutions	6,776	20.0%
Total Settlement Dollars	$100,200,000

As you see in the table above; 33,956 claims files in 2011, and this is not complete data!  A huge portion of harassment, just like rape, goes unreported.  Don't even mention the fiscal impact, wholly crap-nuts! One hundred million dollars in 2011 alone, crazy!

A wee bit more data, if you please:

The following stats were gathered from this site.
A telephone poll conducted by Louis Harris and Associates on 782 workers revealed:
 • 31% of the female workers claimed to have been harassed at work
 • 7% of the male workers claimed to have been harassed at work
 • 62% of targets took no action
 • 100% of women claimed the harasser was a man
 • 59% of men claimed the harasser was a woman
 • 41% of men claimed the harasser was another man
 
Of the women who had been harassed:
 • 43% were harassed by a supervisor
 • 27% were harassed by an employee senior to them
 • 19% were harassed by a coworker at their level
 • 8% were harassed by a junior employee
 
Studies suggest anywhere between 40-70% of women and 10-20% of men have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace.
 
In a survey of 9,000 clerical and professional women, 92% of respondents experienced overt physical harassment, sexual remarks and leering, with the majority regarding this behavior as a serious problem at work.  Nearly 50% said they or someone they knew had quit or been fired because of sexual harassment, and 75% believed that if they complained to a supervisor, nothing would be done.

Wholly CRAP, 92%!!!  After looking into this, I can better understand the standoffishness of some women when dealing with men.  As I stated above, the constant bombardment by needy, misguided or just plain old predatory men must be stifling, and how do you discern the people that are genuine caring?  Ack!

Not to say that men are never harassed, but as you can see above, the numbers are far lower than those of women.  Hats off to you Ladies, I really don't think I would want to walk a mile in those shoes.

Anyway, research rant over...  Be safe out there people.