SEXUAL HARASSMENT IS NOT ABOUT SEX...IT'S ABOUT POWER!!
 

By Nancy Goins
APWU Kokomo, IN local 1014

FACTS:

SEXUAL HARASSMENT, like racial harassment, is illegal.
SEXUAL HARASSMENT, like sexism generally, is directed against women by men.
SEXUAL HARASSMENT has nothing to do with mutual desire, love, attraction or affection between women and men. It is, instead, a matter of power and reflects attempted domination and humiliation of women by men.
SEXUAL HARASSMENT is abusive and it is often violent. It causes economic, social, physical and psychological damage to working-class women.
Sexual Harassment is widespread in the workplace. One study estimates that 83 percent of working women have experienced one form or another of sexual harassment.
SEXUAL HARASSMENT is the single most dangerous occupational hazard for women in the labor force.
SEXUAL HARASSMENT usually flows directly from the unequal class relations between bosses and workers. One legal expert on the subject points out: "In almost all formal sexual harassment complaints, the perpetrator of sexual harassment has been the supervisor of the complainant."
SEXUAL HARASSMENT also happens commonly between co-workers, creating divisions within the labor movement and creating sisters without brothers.
SEXUAL HARASSMENT is not experienced only by young, attractive women. Studies show that sexual harassment threatens all women, regardless of age, race, marital status or appearance.

MYTHS:

SEXUAL HARASSMENT is not very common.
Women "ask for it" by their behavior and/or dress.
Women who object have no sense of humor.
Sexual harassment doesn't hurt anyone.
A firm "no" is enough to discourage any man.
Women make false claims of sexual harassment.

I made a complaint of sexual harassment to the Kokomo plant manager and she told me to:

SEEK EMPLOYMENT ELSEWHERE.
BID OFF OF MY TOUR 2 JOB.
AGREE TO MEDIATION.

When I agreed to mediation as long as the plant manager also had mediation she said "ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!"

The plant manager is responsible for conducting an investigation into the complaint. She has not done so yet!!!

As a result of my complaint to EEOC, I am enduring retaliation from management at all levels. My bid position is at stake. My days off are being played with. Management no longer is working with me so I can get an education. I am harassed about family medical leave. I am watched constantly. My harasser was made my direct supervisor after I made complaints to fellow workers of sexual harassment.

SEXUAL HARASSMENT is illegal. It is a form of sex discrimination and you can be sued under TITLE VII.

Filing an EEOC complaint once may not be enough. Retaliation is illegal. In cases involving public employers, individual supervisors may be held personally liable for intentional harassment or grossly negligent supervision amounting to deliberate indifference, under Section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act.

Sexual harassment is more than bad behavior. It is an abuse of power. It is intended to intimidate women. Sexual harassment will persist until women demand change.

A harasser often:

Wants to throw around his weight and feel like a big man by making someone else feel small, or powerless.

Feels threatened by the presence of women on the job-or women doing the same jobs as men-and goes out of his way to make women feel unwelcome.