When Men Are Harassed

Workforce Management
May 2010

While the majority of sexual harassment claims involve male-on-female harassment, allegations of male-on-male harassment—and even female-on-male harassment—are on the rise. Employers should not only be aware of this trend, but also understand how to identify all forms of sexual harassment and adjust their harassment policies accordingly. By Ron Chapman Jr.

A boss corners a female subordinate in the copy room and threatens to demote her unless she goes to dinner with him; a group of male employees makes off-color remarks to a female co-worker about her appearance; a male employee asks his female co-worker about her sexual activities. Stereotypical depictions of sexual harassment such as these are prevalent in today’s movies, TV shows and even corporate harassment training videos.
Although most sexual harassment claims involve male-on-female harassment, allegations of male-on-male harassment—and even female-on-male harassment—are on the rise. Employers should not only be aware of this trend, but also understand how to identify all forms of sexual harassment and adjust their harassment policies accordingly.
Prevalence Since 1990, the percentage of sexual harassment claims filed by men has doubled to more than 16 percent, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Full Story: http://www.workforce.com/section/03/feature/27/18/35/index.html