Since the #MeToo scandal, the sexual harassment at workplace issue has become a hot topic with many people coming forward and sharing their stories of sexual harassment. With such kinds of acts happening around, there are still the majority of the victims who are afraid to come forward and report the sexual harassment to the authorities and prefer to live with that trauma. This is completely wrong. It can affect the mental health of the victim big and can hamper productivity and professional future. You must know that if you have been a victim of sexual harassment at the workplace, you always have the option to search for “sexual harassment lawyers near me” and talk to one of them and take some action against the person who did this to you.
It is not easy to understand the mind of the victim. Some victims immediately report the sexual harassment to the human resource department or take it to a sexual harassment lawyer. And then there are a few victims who prefer not reporting it and here are the reasons why they avoid coming forward.
Fear of losing the job
This is one of the biggest fears why the victims prefer not reporting the sexual harassment. Since they do not want to jeopardize their career, such as losing their job or not getting paid, they just keep the trauma with them and try to achieve their professional goals. This kind of scenario usually happens when the perpetrator holds a higher position than the victim.
Company’s inappropriate culture
Many times, the culture inside the company is not healthy where the employer or manager always showcases inappropriate behavior with the co-workers and subordinates. And that is why, if an incident of sexual harassment takes place, the victim might step back and decide not to report it because of the ingrained inappropriate culture where they might feel that it is pointless to report anything as it is not going to change anything at all.
No positive response from the Human Resource Department
It has happened many times that when someone has reported sexual harassment to the human resources, the abuser has faced any kind of consequences. In many offices, the HR department is not capable enough to address the issue strongly and find the solution to it. That is why in many cases, the sexual harassment victim thinks of not reporting the issue because they know that it is not going to make any difference, and even if they report it might get worse for them and their career.
Embarrassment
The victims of sexual harassment at the workplace do indeed feel a sense of embarrassment to report the act. The fear might be of the judgments from co-workers or blaming the victim itself for the entire situation. The embarrassment is such that the victim feels that everything was their fault and speaking out about the sexual harassment might make the entire situation out of control.
How to help sexual harassment at workplace victims come forward?
In the first place, it is vital that making the employees understand what sexual harassment exactly is and training at regular intervals should be conducted at the workplace. Being an employee, you must know how to confront sexual harassment and how to report it.
Talking to a sexual harassment lawyer
You must always keep the contact of a good sexual harassment lawyer handy as you never know when you would need one. A sexual harassment lawyer can help you understand the entire scenario, analyze it, and can help you exercise your rights at the workplace. There can be different forms of sexual harassment including verbal or physical, between the same genders or different. Sexual harassment does not know any form and can escalate to any level. A lawyer will help you want needs to be done and if needed can file a lawsuit as well against the offender.
All you need to do is speak up and report the sexual harassment instead of keeping it to yourself and suffering physically and mentally. Be strong and come out, there are people to help you with this.