About six-tenths of harassment victims said they opted to ask the harasser to stop or made an effort to avoid the person. Image: I'm friday/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffAn MSPB report on sexual harassment in federal agencies (see related story) says that while employees largely are aware of the channels available to report it, only a small minority of who had experienced such behavior made a formal report while far more turned to what the report called “avoidance strategies.”
“Survey results indicate that employee views of the formal complaint process—a keystone of federal agency anti-discrimination programs—are mixed. Although most employees (61%) believed that a formal complaint would be a “very effective” remedy for a hypothetical experience of sexual harassment, only 11% of employees who had actually experienced sexual harassment filed a formal complaint or grievance,” the report said.
“Reasons for this difference may include fears of retaliation, the low odds of prevailing, and a belief that harasser(s) will not be stopped or disciplined, as well as time and cost,” it said, noting that only 63 percent of those surveyed believed that management would act on a supervisor who committed sexual harassment.
Further, of those who did file a formal complaint, results were about evenly split between those who said it improved the situation (36 percent) versus those who said it made the situation worse (32).
Instead, the most common responses, by about six-tenths of harassment victims, was to simply ask the harasser to stop or to avoid that person.
“Although each type of response has a variety of possible advantages and disadvantages, active responses tend to be more effective to actually stop harassment, for both the target and others. Further, should the harassment continue, demonstrating that the behavior was unwelcome bolsters the employee’s case and provides a basis for future corrective action by the agency, the EEOC or the courts,” it said.
It said that avoiding a harasser may simply “pass the problem on to the next target” and that tolerating harassment “may embolden the harasser to continue or escalate misconduct, because it provides no feedback that the behavior is unwelcome or wrong.”
That implies, the report said, that “employees need better options to halt sexual harassment, whether experienced or observed, and more support for choosing an active response. It also suggests that many organizations need to strengthen existing channels and work to earn trust that harassment will be addressed. Increasing the likelihood that employees will speak up, rather than remain silent, could strengthen accountability and lead to better outcomes for all.”
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