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WHY DO WOMEN STAY SILENT ABOUT SEXUAL HARASSMENT?

Why Do Women Stay Silent About Sexual Harassment?

Steven Z. Chu

James Madison University


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WHY DO WOMEN STAY SILENT ABOUT SEXUAL HARASSMENT?

Abstract

This essay will focus on the subject of sexual harassment in the workplace and academic

institutions. Specifically, this paper will explore and analyze why it is many women do not come

forward with their sexual harassment incidents. This topic was chosen because it loosely relates

to the central idea of the opinion piece by Katie J. M. Baker of the New York Times titled, “What

to do With These Bad Men?” The article made the claim that not enough is being done to ensure

the safety of women at workplaces and academic facilities, and this paper will analyze the reason

behind that. This research topic is important because as a student living on a college campus, my

peers and I are the ones that are most directly affected by this issue. This paper will take

scholarly sources as well as personal experiences taken from TEDTalks to take part in the

conversation that centers around sexual harassment.

Keywords: women, sexual harassment, workplace, school, university, silent


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Why Do Women Stay Silent About Sexual Harassment?

“We went to dinner, and in the backseat of a car, he suddenly lunged on top of me and

stuck his tongue down my throat.” This was an experience that Gretchen Carlson had to go

through in 1989 when a meeting with a car producer went south, she explains. She is not the only

one. Per Statista, 42% of surveyed women report having been sexually harassed in 2017. That is

42% too high. In the same year, 25.5% of Americans surveyed believe that sexual harassment is

only a minor issue, with 14% being men and 11.5% being women. Just with these surface level

statistics, it is evident that even today, sexual harassment is still not being taken as seriously as it

should. Of course, that is not to say that substantial progress has not been made. In 2017, Alyssa

Milano started the #MeToo movement. The movement encouraged women around the world to

open up about their sexual harassment encounters. Since then, thousands, if not millions of

women have used the hashtag to spread awareness. However, why did it take such a monumental

movement for women to speak out in the first place? Why do women stay silent about sexual

harassment?

The first source, “Sexual Harassment: Why do Victims so often Resign?” (2019) by

Karin Calitz, analyzes why it is exactly that it is usually the victim of sexual harassment that

resigns instead of the perpetrator. The paper argues that Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

plays a large part in victims being left with no choice but to resign. It uses a South African court

case, E v Ikwezi Municipality, to provide evidence of how the pain and suffering, psychological

damage, and loss of a job could have been prevented. In the court case, the perpetrator only got

“slap on the wrist”. Unable to cope with working under him, the victim felt like she had no other
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choice but to resign. The author concluded that many of what happened could have easily been

prevented through proper training of its employees and better protection for the victim

(Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal).

The second source, “Sexism at the Centre: Locating the Problem of Sexual Harassment”

(2015) by Leila Whitley and Tiffany Page, discusses the sexual harassment that occurs between

staff members and students at academic institutions, particularly in colleges. Specifically, the

paper analyzes the role that power plays in these incidents, and how it affects not only whether or

not students are able to come out and speak about it, but also how it makes it difficult for

students to refuse these sexual advances in the first place. This paper also looks at how sexism is

a part of the issue. Many times, when students come out about their sexual harassment

experiences, the issue is often deflected away from that of sexual harassment and towards an

issue of women trying to defame the professor and institution (New Formations).

The third source is from a TEDTalk by Gretchen Carlson, titled “How we can end sexual

harassment at work” (2017). In her TED Talk, Carlson speaks of her own experiences with

sexual harassment in the workplace. She inspires by listing three things that society should do to

better ourselves. She proclaims that society as a whole will no longer be underestimated,

intimidated, or set back. Through sharing her own experiences, Carlson manages to further

inspire the movement to end sexual harassment at workplaces (TED Talks).

Since sexual harassment is not something that can in any way be condoned, all the

sources implicitly agree that sexual harassment in workplaces and academic facilities need to

end. Specifically, all three sources analyze sexual harassment as an issue of a power dynamic. In

Karin Calitz’s paper, “Sexual Harassment: Why do Victims so often Resign?”, Calitz explains

that in most cases, sexual harassment occurs from a position of power. In her paper, Calitz quotes
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the court, “At its core, sexual harassment is concerned with the exercise of power and in the

main reflects the power relations that exist both in society generally and specifically within a

particular workplace (Campbell, para. 20)” (2019, para. 42). In other words, sexual harassment

occurs because often times, the perpetrator utilizes his position of power to make the victim feel

like she has no choice but to agree to sexual favors.

Similarly, Leila Whitley and Tiffany Page discuss the same position of power, but in the

setting of an academic facility. “The power inherent in the teaching relationship creates an

unequal dynamic that can leave students vulnerable to abuses of that power” (2015, para. 14).

Like a superior in a workplace, a professor at a university holds power over students through the

influences they have on the grades of the students. As an example, Whitley and Page refer to a

statement made by a student that fell victim to this kind of sexual harassment: “I couldn’t say

‘no’ because he would have responded with rage and revenge. He would have ruined my career. I

began to hate myself for not telling anyone, for projecting a sunny image when everything was

not okay. I would have loved to tell him how much I hated it when he touched me, hated his

laugh, hated his disgusting ratty beard, but I was too scared about what he would do to my

reputation if I tried to report” (2015, para. 17). Again, the victims are often coerced into

committing in these sexual acts through the fear that their academic careers may be tarnished.

Finally, in Gretchen Carlson’s TED Talk, Carlson speaks of her own experiences as a victim of

sexual harassment through a position of power. She explains how when she was at the end of her

journey as Miss America, a high-ranking TV producer who she thought was helping her, made

unwanted sexual advances towards her: “I didn’t realize that to ‘get into the business’ – silly me

– he also intended to get into my pants” (2017, para. 8). This is a direct example of the points the

previous two sources were making about sexual harassment and power. Men in a position of
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power often feel as if their subordinates owe them something. In most cases, what is owed is a

sexual favor.

Where the first two sources have their differences is in the context of each discussion.

Karin Calitz speaks mainly about sexual harassment in the setting of workplaces, while Leila

Whitley and Tiffany Page speak about sexual harassment in the setting of academic institutions.

Furthermore, Karin Calitz’s paper focuses on the traumatic effects sexual harassment can have

on a victim. In the case of E v Ikwezi Municipality, due to the incompetence of the company in

which the sexual harassment incident took place, “The plaintiff thus had to live with the burden

of working together with her harasser. She saw the harasser quite often and she testified that on

such occasions she suffered anxiety attacks” (2019, para. 12). Later, it is explained that the

victim was forced to resign due to PTSD. From most point of views, it seems like injustice that

the victim had to resign while the perpetrator only got “a written warning and two weeks

suspension without pay” (2019, para. 14). Alternatively, Whitley and Page examines the role that

sexism plays in sexual harassment. According to Whitley and Page, many student victims “also

report feeling unable to object or resist their sexualization” (2015, para. 12). In the perspective of

Karin Calitz, the reason would have solely been due to the power dynamic between faculty and

students. While this may be a part of the reason, Whitley and Page argue that institutionalized

sexism also has to do with it, as “it appears as a number of other shifting problems which include

the problem of the women who complain and the harm caused to academic reputations” (2015,

para. 1). In other words, the issue is shifted from that of the university (professors and other

faculty members) to that of a woman trying to tarnish the reputation of the facility.

Although sexual harassment has been a pressing issue for years, a lingering question has

always been why it is that sexual harassment is not discussed more. Through my extensive
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research, I believe that I have discovered for myself and hopefully for others who share my

naivety the answer to that question. Sexual harassment, while indulges in violence, is more about

power. By circumstance, it will always be difficult for me to truly get it as a male. However, the

least I can do is be educated and knowledgeable in these issues so that I can voice my own

opinions and support for this issue. For my upcoming webpage assignment, I hope to focus on

the role power and sexism plays in sexual harassment, particularly in workplaces and academic

facilities. Up until now, the research I have conducted has given me a different perspective to the

issue, one that helps me begin to understand the gravity of the issue of sexual harassment. To

continue my journey in becoming more educated, I will research for other root causes for sexual

harassment.
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References

Calitz, K. (2019). Sexual Harassment: Why do Victims so often Resign? E v Ikwezi Municipality

2016 37 ILJ 1799 (ECG). Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal, 22, 1–23.

https://doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2019/v22i0a5169

Whitley, L., & Page, T. (2015). Sexism at the Centre: Locating the Problem of Sexual

Harassment. New Formations, (86), 34–53. https://doi.org/10.3898/NEWF.86.02.2015

Carlson, G. (2017). How we can end sexual harassment at work. TED. Retrieved from

https://www.ted.com/talks/gretchen_carlson_how_we_can_end_sexual_harassment_at_w

ork/up-next

United States - assessment of sexual harassment as a problem in 2017, by gender | Survey. (n.d.).

Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/787980/americans-assessment-of-

sexual-harassment-of-women-as-a-problem-gender/

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