Sexual Harassment and the Role of Human Resource Administration

Abstract

Sexual harassment has gained a lot of attention in recent times. Research has indicated that both men and women are victims of sexual harassment and that gender is not a predictor of sexual harassment. One research has suggested that men were harassed twice as much as women, but women were harassed more frequently. The findings in this paper indicate that sexual harassment impact victims in many ways including psychologically and economically. Sexual harassment also impacts productivity and the economy due to low morale, productivity, absenteeism and presenteeism. Since human resource is the most important resource, sexual harassment is a human resource administrator function. Therefore, sexual harassment is gender neutral as both men and women are victims but women are harassed more frequently and pay a higher price physically, mentally and economically. It is therefore recommended that HRA can take steps to create a safe environment for workers where it clearly communicates acceptable behavior and educate the workforce about acceptable behaviors and investigate to eliminate harassment in the workplace.