WHAT IS "HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT" SEXUAL HARASSMENT? Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute "hostile environment" sexual harassment when such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual's work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment
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What may be defined as sexual harassment?.
Comments like date me or else! Displaying pornographic material and playfully groping co-workers. .
Verbal abuse may take the form of sexual jokes, comments with sexual overtones, inquiries about a person's sex life and unwelcome gestures, indecent exposure, and unwelcome display of sexually explicit pictures or objects. According to Mowatt, sexual harassment occurs 'when a women's gender receives more attention than her work.'.
One incident of harassment cannot establish a hostile work environment. 'Generally the offensive conduct is frequent, repetitive and part of the overall pattern that cannot be explained by coincidence.' Although there is no magic formula to disifere what is or isn't sexual harassment. What may be not considered sexual harassment? For example, simple teasing, offhand comments, or occasional offensive language. Although the more offensive the conduct the fewer incidents it may take to be sexual harassment. .
It has been generally been recognised that sexual harassment constitutes one of the biggest barriers to women achieving and enjoying equal rights in the workplace and social life in general. There is considerable evidence that women have been subjected to treatment, which is now conceived to be sexual harassment long before anyone saw such treatment as specifically harassing, let alone discriminatory in the legal sense. Since the 1970's the advancement of women's movements in industrialised countries, employment opportunities created by women, and legislation passed, via a power shift and equalization has resulted in recognition of sexual harassment as a particular form of discrimination.
