Sexual Harassment 2.0

Sexual harassment has been a burden for its victims since the dawn of humanity. Women went from being chased around the cave to being chased around the boardroom, and now chased around the Internet, but the result is the same—intimidation and objectification of one person by another, using sex as a weapon.

Unfortunately, with the technological boom of the past ten years has come a sexual harassment boom. Now there are more ways than ever, both in the workplace and outside of it, for men to pay inappropriate and unwanted attention to women. Men no longer have to look women in the eye to harass them—now they can do so from behind anonymous avatars, by text, and on social media sites. The combination of unprecedented levels of access to people and an increase in open, cultural sexualization of women in general has led to a perfect storm of opportunity for harassment.

But it isn’t just men harassing women that defines sexual harassment in the modern age—anyone can be victimized these days.

Gamers

Like the traditional business world, online gaming is heavily skewed toward males—many of whom spent most of their lives interacting with their computers instead of out in the world developing social skills. The virtual gaming universe is notorious for sexual harassment against female players, to the point that many feel they must hide their gender behind male avatars to avoid dealing with constant come-ons and inappropriate suggestions from male players.

While gaming is a voluntary, recreational activity, the problem is so bad that girl gamers report having to deal with a barrage of sexual innuendo from fellow players every time they log on. It’s demeaning, exhausting, and ridiculous that something that should be fun is a minefield of trollish, oversexed males able to hide behind relative anonymity. Male gamers who think they’re cute or just flirting when they make inappropriate comments to female gamers should remember that their behavior is no different than that of the bullies who once made their lives hell in school.

Social Media

Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter have become pervasive worldwide, and have made staying in touch with acquaintances we may otherwise never encounter again as easy as making new friends online. With all these people suddenly a regular part of our daily online lives, however, come plenty of opportunities for sexual harassment. Social media sites are a prime way for people to stalk one another, and as with gaming, not having to speak to a person’s face makes people bolder than they might be otherwise.

The very personal nature of a person’s Facebook presence also makes for a fuzzy line when it comes to workplace relationships. It’s easy to feel harassed when a coworker or boss “likes” a vacation photo in a swimsuit, or comments with a winky emoticon. And is there anything more awkward than your boss “poking” you on Facebook? And if a superior friends you, it can feel like keeping your job depends on accepting, even if you would rather not. For this reason, more companies are putting very specific policies in place that address social networking relationships between coworkers, especially at different professional levels.

Workplace Harassment

Workplace harassment always has been and, knowing human nature, probably always will be an issue. It’s arguably better than it was before sexual harassment laws were put in place, since bosses can no longer pat their secretaries’ butts with impunity. But even now it takes a great deal of time, effort, emotional energy, and money to pursue a sexual harassment suit, so many people simply live with it.

Workplace harassment today is more than just your smarmy boss complimenting your blouse with a leering, boob-focused gaze, though. Now many people are constantly hooked into the workplace through smart-phones and other technology, and inappropriate texts and emails from coworkers or bosses are increasingly common and problematic. There’s really no escape anymore, even at home.

Women Harassing Men

Though women still make up the vast majority of sexual harassment victims, men are now finding themselves the target of sexual harassment in the workplace as well. It is only in the past couple of decades that women have been significantly represented in higher level business positions, and some of them are now being accused of coming on to their male employees. The problem is that men who complain of being sexually harassed are taken even less seriously than women, because don’t men love getting sexual attention from women, early and often? Apparently not always.

Same Sex Harassment

The sexual harassment that never gets talked about is same-sex harassment, which most often involves straight males targeting gay coworkers. Only relatively recently did the courts decide that same-sex harassment is actually against the law, and it is still rarely tried in court. No doubt same-sex harassment will enter the public consciousness as more people pursue lawsuits. Increased awareness can only be a positive thing for victims of all types of sexual harassment.