Is Sexual Harassment at the workplace, a matter affecting women alone?

[Sanju]

Sexual harassment need not be limited to women in a workplace. In fact, the implication that 'men don't have modesty' is incorrect. Women can as well be violators of the modesty of men, albeit in not-so-common situations. My suggestion is let's not straitjacket the issue into one affecting women alone (as there are statistics pointing out the contrary) and concentrating on fixing the root cause of the issue irrespective of the gender affected.

[Julie]

As you have rightly stated, sexual harassment of women by men is definitely much more as statistics have shown, but we are also aware that men too can get sexually harassed. And as you have said that let us get to the root cause of it. That is why we are having a discussion about this issue and to make as many know what can be done in such situations.

[saswati]

Dear Sanju,
I believe that the root cause of sexual harassment is unequal power relationship but let us also remember that historically women have always been denied equal access to power by society. Even in workplaces it is mostly women who are into low paid jobs in organised sector, or work as unskilled or low skilled workers in unorganised sector which exposes them more to the possibilities of sexual harassment at workplaces since they will be less likely to complain in fear of losing both job as social prestige. Hence the need perhaps is to talk more about women facing sexual harassment at workplace. this is nt to say that men don't face sexual harassment but surely his chances of reporting the incident may be higher since he did not have to think too hard of losing social prestige, even if the job is at stake. And surely he will not be branded as a trouble-maker for the rest of his career!!!!

[jenifa]

Dear All,
Sexual Harrasment is not limited to women only. Men are sexually harrassed in the work place and out of the work place, too, although, the number of women suffering it is many more than men. It is all about who has power and who has not. Sexual harrassment, including rape, is a from of violence inflicted upon the powerless to re-establish the notion of the powerful. That is why, during wars, rape is used as a way of demonstrating power. Sexual harrassment can happen to men from a more powerful men/women and vice-versa. It is like mother-in-law harrassing her daughter-in-law. She does that because she had suffered from it and at that point in  time of her age she represents the male world, her son, not the female world. The same mother-in-law behaves differently in front of her son-in-law as she represents the female world, her daughter, not the male world then.