2008 Woodie Awards
People In Power Must Take Responsibility
George Maynard
Issue date: 5/1/08 Section: Commentary
As a "bigoted white male" who was "born into privilege" - quotes from some of my lovely fan mail - I have decided to address a few issues that affect thousands of people of every race and gender across this country on a regular basis, sexual harassment in the workplace and the problem of bosses who cannot or will not be held accountable for their actions. These workplace woes make everyone who is involved miserable and they can be easily avoided if people are willing to be respectful towards others and take responsibility for their own actions.
According to the Women's Center, sexual harassment includes "any unsolicited and unwanted sexual advance or any other conduct of a sexual nature whereby: Submission to these actions is made explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual's employment, performance appraisal, or evaluation of academic performance [quid pro quo]; These actions have the effect of interfering with an individual's performance or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive environment."
That definition seems a bit lengthy, so I will just shorten it a little and get straight to the point. Any comment of a sexual nature that bothers someone can be defined as sexual harassment. People, especially those in a position of power, would do well to remember this in an office setting. According to a survey of federal employees done throughout the 1980s and ending in the 90s, 15 percent of male employees and 42 percent of female employees had been sexually harassed. Results of a similar survey conducted at the same time in the private sector were around the same percentages.
While that was many years ago, sexual harassment still occurs now. In fact, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported handling over twelve thousand cases of sexual harassment over the past year. Also, statistics have shown that the majority of college students will be sexually harassed during their time at school. According to the many groups, that's just the tip of the iceberg. The Women's Center claims that as many as one third of incidents of sexual harassment on college campuses go unreported.
According to the Women's Center, sexual harassment includes "any unsolicited and unwanted sexual advance or any other conduct of a sexual nature whereby: Submission to these actions is made explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual's employment, performance appraisal, or evaluation of academic performance [quid pro quo]; These actions have the effect of interfering with an individual's performance or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive environment."
That definition seems a bit lengthy, so I will just shorten it a little and get straight to the point. Any comment of a sexual nature that bothers someone can be defined as sexual harassment. People, especially those in a position of power, would do well to remember this in an office setting. According to a survey of federal employees done throughout the 1980s and ending in the 90s, 15 percent of male employees and 42 percent of female employees had been sexually harassed. Results of a similar survey conducted at the same time in the private sector were around the same percentages.
While that was many years ago, sexual harassment still occurs now. In fact, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported handling over twelve thousand cases of sexual harassment over the past year. Also, statistics have shown that the majority of college students will be sexually harassed during their time at school. According to the many groups, that's just the tip of the iceberg. The Women's Center claims that as many as one third of incidents of sexual harassment on college campuses go unreported.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Kim O'Brien
posted 5/02/08 @ 1:03 AM EST
You say Bosses must be made accountable? Exactly who is going to do that? The Capitalist government? Hillary Clinton? Barack Obama? John McCain? CEOs? Working people need to organized fighting unions to defend ourselves in the work place, a labor party based on the fighting unions to defeat the capitalists politically, establish a Workers and Farmers government, and join the rest of the world in building Socialism a system 100 times more democratic than this rotten Capitalist Empire. (Continued…)
IC
posted 5/02/08 @ 10:22 AM EST
Kim O'Brien: Yes, Commandant Kim!!! I see the light!!! Please, oh, please, lead us peasants toward your ever benevolent and fruitful Bolshevek utopia!!! (We'll just brush aside the mass executions of millions in the woods. (Continued…)
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