The Alarming Trend of Sexual Harassment Occurrences in the Workplace and What Can Be Done

International Journal of Management, Accounting and Economics Vol. 2, No. 5, May, 2015 ISSN 2383-2126 (Online) © IJMAE, All Rights Reserved www.ijmae.com 467 The Alarming Trend of Sexual Harassment Occurrences in the Workplace and What Can Be Done Lim Woan Jinq 1 Center of Southern New Hampshire University Program, Help College of Art and Technology, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Rashad Yazdanifard Center of Southern New Hampshire University Program, Help College of Art and Technology, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Abstract Researches have shown workplace Sexual Harassment (SH) as indeed a source of stress at workplaces. If he or she is a victim of SH, he or she is not the only one. Everyone has the rights to voice out, as we have our human rights. The purpose of this paper is to create an awareness of SH in workplaces due to its impact on each victim’s health, psychologically and physically. Most of the victims keep it as secret in order to avoid embarrassment. Yet, these embarrassments then lead to a higher percentage of workplace sexual harassment. This paper has reviewed a total of 25 journal articles, regarding the percentage of workplace SH victims, the society’s stance on it, the characteristics of victims, the criterion to judge Sexual Harassment, the influences of SH perceptions, the influences for the intention of SH intervention, the consequences of SH on victims and the effects of implementing training and policies. In some employers’ point of view, the contribution of training and policies to prevent workplace Sexual Harassment incidents are small. Yet, these small contributions on the other hand create a domino effect in long term view and are better than no action taken. Therefore, companies should implement training and policies as one of the strategies to protect employees from experiencing SH incidents as well as to uphold the company’s reputation. Keywords: Quid pro quo harassment, hostile work environment harassment, depression. Cite this article: Jinq, L. W., & Yazdanifard, R. (2015). The Alarming Trend of Sexual Harassment Occurrences in the Workplace and What Can Be Done. International Journal of Management, Accounting and Economics, 2(5), 467-480. 1 Corresponding author’s email: [email protected] International Journal of Management, Accounting and Economics Vol. 2, No. 5, May, 2015 ISSN 2383-2126 (Online) © IJMAE, All Rights Reserved www.ijmae.com 468 Introduction Most of the women have experienced Sexual Harassment, simply because they are women. But does it mean men do not face Sexual Harassment as well? Sexual Harassment is defined as unwanted sex-related behavior that recipients take to be offensive, such as unwelcome verbal and nonverbal sexual behavior (Nielsen & Einarsen, 2012). There are 2 types of Sexual Harassment: Quid pro quo harassment, the harassment in the form of employment threat or in exchange condition with someone more powerful than the victim (Charlesworth, McDonald & Cerise, 2011). Hostile work environment refers to the workplace that does not prohibit sexual insult, ridicule and discriminatory intimidation (Sipe, Johnson & Fisher, 2009). Due to the rise of Sexual Harassment complaints, laws have been established that goes against workplace Sexual Harassment, such as the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 in Australia. It is a serious issue worldwide due to the impact of workplace Sexual Harassment on victims, leading to depression. In addition, most of the victim did not make a formal report on Sexual Harassment incidents due to different reasons. The most common reason would be, ‘to protect their job’. On the other hand, men still think women are to be blamed even though they are the victims. Should training and policies be implemented? It is still a question to be asked, and effects on types of training were analyzed in order for the organization to identify which training maybe more suitable for their employees. Training and policies regarding Sexual Harassment is now a must, to protect the employees and moreover, to protect the company’s reputation. Sexual Harassment in workplace, a global issue and trend without an end The percentage of workplace Sexual Harassment may be a relatively small issue to certain organizations, yet it is still considered to be a concern due to the culture, age, education of the workplace as well as the policies and training implemented in an organization. Only 18 percent of female employees in China, Nanjing, have never faced Sexual Harassment out of 100 respondents (Zhang, 2012). All of the respondents have at least 1 year of work experience and were ages between 21 and 50. Sexual Harassment incidents that were faced by respondents include verbal/ attitude Sexual Harassment (54 percent), physical behavior (20 percent), and exchange condition (8 percent). Methods of dealing with Sexual Harassment were also examined. Option ‘requires the competent unit processes’ were chosen by 27 percent of respondents; 25 percent accounted ‘report to the police’; and only 2 percent chose ‘regard as nothing’. 226 of the interviewee in Australia have also faced workplace Sexual Harassment, out of 2,005 Australians recruited via telephone interview (Charlesworth, McDonald & Cerise, 2011). 76 of the respondents have experienced workplace Sexual Harassment according to the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (SDA); defined as Legal Definition Group (LDG). 150 respondents have experienced workplace Sexual Harassment but not based on SDA; defined as Behavioral Definition Group (BDG). 46 percent of LDG were employed less than a year, compared to 19 percent of BDG. 69 percent of 226 interviewees have experienced nonphysical harassment; 31 percent experienced physical Sexual Harassment. Nonphysical harassment experienced are such as sexually suggestive jokes (59 percent); and questions regarding private life or physical appearance being asked (42 percent). The result also suggested having more work experience may International Journal of Management, Accounting and Economics Vol. 2, No. 5, May, 2015 ISSN 2383-2126 (Online) © IJMAE, All Rights Reserved www.ijmae.com 469 lead to higher tolerance towards Sexual Harassment as 52.6 percent of LDG define more on physical Sexual Harassment such as unwelcome touching compared to BDG. Among the 226 respondents, 84 percent have never made a formal report. Common reasons were ‘the behavior was not serious enough’ and ‘problems were to be solved individually’. A study of workplace Sexual Harassment in United States of America (U.S) law enforcement was conducted by Lonsway, Paynich and Hall (2013). 2 studies were conducted; Study 1 consisted of 679 participants from law enforcement agencies and study 2 consisted of 531 female police officers as participants. Sexual Experience Questionnaires (SEQ) with 16 behaviors were distributed for both studies to determine the types of Sexual Harassment experienced, the consequences and the response of Sexual Harassment by participants. From the result of both studies, an average of 88.65 percent participants has faced at least one of the behaviors listed in SEQ during the past year. Nonphysical harassment (mean of 1.5) such as dirty jokes between coworkers were experienced more often than unwanted sexual attention (mean of 1.1) and quid pro quo harassment (mean of 1). However, there were 89 percent of respondents in the study who have never filed a formal complaint; men only experienced reprisal after reporting race discrimination instead of sex discrimination like female. The most common reasons for not reporting Sexual Harassment were that the respondent believed that the behavior was not serious enough (49.2 percent), wanted to protect the job, or thought problems could be solved individually. Sexual Harassment complaints between year 2000 and 2010 published by Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a U.S federal law enforcement agency that implement laws against workplace discrimination, was analyzed (Cates & Machin, 2012). 26 percent dropped in number of Sexual Harassment complaints received by EEOC in 2010 compared to the year 2000. In addition, only approximately 10 percent of complaints were solved each year. EEOC also stated an approximate of $50 million were paid between year 2000 and 2010 for those cases with merit and held in court. Although there are thousands of claims still unsolved by EEOC, some organizations have tried to settle those claims by paying millions of dollars. The effect of society towards workplace Sexual Harassment The effects of social organization and ties towards workplace Sexual Harassment victimization was conducted by Snyder, Scherer and Fisher (2010). Years 2002 (1796 respondents) and 2006 (1734 respondents) Quality of Working Life survey module from General Social Survey in U.S were analyzed in the study. Based on the 2 waves of study, 11.32 percent of female employees were a victim of workplace Sexual Harassment compared to 2.77 percent of men. Reported by female employees, there are 5 variables of social organization that are significantly related to workplace Sexual Harassment; less productivity, poor time management, less workplace resources(not reported by male employees) and fewer administrative supports. On the other hand, respondents also reported poor relationship with coworkers has led to higher percentage in experiencing Sexual Harassment; female employees additionally reported bad relationship between management and employees. In addition, Female employees reported stronger social ties and better relations between management and employees can help in reducing the effect of poor administrative support and insufficient workplace resources on Sexual International Journal of Management, Accounting and Economics Vol. 2, No. 5, May, 2015 ISSN 2383-2126 (Online) © IJMAE, All Rights Reserved www.ijmae.com 470 Harassment. Male employees on the other hand reported good relationship between management and employees can help in better managing the workplace Sexual Harassment. Sexual Harassment in countries where women are regarded as ‘second gender’; the result of gender inequality In Nigeria, women are seen as the second gender and have no rights to voice out. This hindered Johnson’s (2010) data collection; only 34 Nigerian female workers volunteered to answer the questionnaires distributed via Internet. The study focused on the type of harassment experienced and responses of victims towards the behavior. Within the 34 respondents, 70.6 percent admitted being sexually harassed and 61.8 percent were sexually harassed by a superior in a typical month (Johnson, 2010). In addition, 64.7 percent of the respondent chose not to report being sexually harassed, mainly to protect their job. On the other hand, 62.7 percent thought Sexual Harassment was aware by the society and 76.5 percent agreed legislation should be passed on Sexual Harassment. Albania is a patriarchaloriented country with gender discrimination, similar to Nigeria (Zenelaj & Derveni, 2013). This study focused on how Albanian women perceive Sexual Harassment and how they identify with it. 283 female students were randomly chosen from Tirana University. The survey applied rating scale to search for types of Sexual Harassment faced by interviewee and their reactions towards the behavior from 1 (never) to 5 (almost all the time). From the study, it showed most of the student considered ‘Gestures of sexual nature’ and ‘Exposure of genitals by touching’ as nonverbal Sexual Harassment (Zanelaj & Derveni, 2013). On the other hand, most respondents considered comment about hips, breasts and legs as verbal Sexual Harassment. By comparing the age group of female respondents, it suggested older age will lead to higher tolerance towards Sexual Harassment in workplace. Lastly, the results have also reviewed female students lived in the campus have experienced verbal and nonverbal Sexual Harassment. The study of Sexual Harassment in Sudan was conducted by Shahira and Widad (2009) by interviewing 10 females and 5 males from an organization representing the formal sector; 10 female and 5 males in marketplace for the informal sector. Among the formal sector interviewees, only 5(100 percent female) admitted to have experienced Sexual Harassment; 2 reported to general manager and 3 kept silent. The key harassers in workplace are such as bosses and managers. For participants who have not experienced Sexual Harassment, they would choose to either report to the general manager or resign from the job if they encounter Sexual Harassment. Based on the response, it suggests Sexual Harassment would led to decrease in productivity and loss of valuable staff through resignation. Within informal sector, most of the women think God made men to be superiors by nature. Most of the market women face Sexual Harassment such as unwelcome sexual gestures nearly every day as market women were perceived as easy women. Even though men did not experience Sexual Harassment, they accused women for wrong self-representation and misbehavior in marketplace. The key harassers in marketplace are such as clients and suppliers. The victims of workplace Sexual Harassment International Journal of Management, Accounting and Economics Vol. 2, No. 5, May, 2015 ISSN 2383-2126 (Online) © IJMAE, All Rights Reserved www.ijmae.com 471 522 samples with different occupations were volunteered for the study of Sexual Harassment harassers’ and victims’ characteristics, a study conducted by McLaughlin, Uggen and Blackstone (2012). Based on the study, it suggested the significant predictor of harassment for females is workplace power. The result was compared between female supervisors and non-supervisors in different occupational categories and showed female supervisors have experienced more Sexual Harassment than non-supervisors (44 versus 21 percent for official or managerial; 52 versus 29 percent for professionals; 50 versus 47 percent for technical/ craft workers; 45 versus 33 percent for service). Men on the other hand have no significant relationship between Sexual Harassment and supervisors. Gender conformity is also a factor as ‘feminine females’ reported less harassment than ‘masculine females’. Another similar study was conducted by Tyner and Clinton (2010) that focused on human resources professionals as victims. A total of 110 volunteered participants (26 males and 84 females) were recruited from 3 Human Resource Society via e-mail. Among the 110 participants, 89.09 percent experienced gender harassment; 47.27 percent experienced unwanted sexual attention; only 6.36 percent experienced sexual coercion; 29.09 percent were sexually harassed. From this study, it then suggested even though human resource professionals are good at handling human resource issues, Sexual Harassment incidents are still an issue within the workplace therefore policies and training should also be employed by the Human Resource Society. Criteria of judging Sexual Harassment incidents by: Bystanders 106 volunteers from a university in Southwest U.S participated in a study about the reactions of bystanders toward Sexual Harassment with equal amount of gender (BenavidesEspinoza & Cunninghum, 2010). In the study, questionnaires were distributed after participants read the overview of the organizational culture and description of Sexual Harassment situation without Sexual Harassment being mentioned. According to the result, the rank of quid pro quo harassment (mean of 6.17 with 7 as very serious) was higher than hostile work environment (mean of 5.04); and preferred proactive department (mean of 5.46 with 7 as very supportive of diversity) than compliant departments (mean of 2.83). A stronger response toward quid pro quo harassment was resulted in proactive athletic departments (with mean of 4.32) compared to compliant department (mean of 4) even though organizational culture does not affect the preferred punishment of Sexual Harassment. In addition, the result also suggested women would prefer a harsher punishment toward Sexual Harassment than men (women with mean of 3.74, men with mean of 3.21). Managers 211 managers from Michigan were recruited with mail questionnaire. Managers were to choose from a scale ranging from 0 (very unethical) to 10 (very ethical). The study focused on the influences of response by managers toward similar Sexual Harassment incidents (Strate, Jung & Leidlein, 2009). The average was 4.2 (considered neutral) for the situation of ‘the result of romantic relationship breakup led to a charge of Sexual International Journal of Management, Accounting and Economics Vol. 2, No. 5, May, 2015 ISSN 2383-2126 (Online) © IJMAE, All Rights Reserved www.ijmae.com 472 Harassment and a manager deal it by transferring a female employee to resolve the issue’. Managers who scaled the situation as ethical were mostly not informed about the law and EEOC guidelines. The characteristics of respondents who scaled 0 to 1 were managers who work for larger cities with larger numbers of female employees. Gender on the other hand showed no significant with the response of situation as average females did not judge the situation to be more unethical. In addition, managers who attended Michigan Local Government Management Association meetings were significant to the response of situation by judging the situation to be more unethical. The influences of the Sexual Harassment perceptions The factors such as age and gender that may affect Sexual Harassment perceptions were examined in the US Midwestern University with 965 students and staff employees (Ohse & Stockdale, 2008). A situation of Sexual Harassment, legal definition of Sexual Harassment and series of Sexual Harassment questions based on the situation and legal definition were distributed to the participants. Participants were separated by student status and gender. According to the answers of participants, male & female participants and student & staff employees listed the situation distributed to be considered as Sexual Harassment. By analyzing each variable, higher hostile sexism and benevolent sexism ratings were exhibited by men and students group than women and staff employees group. In the rating of non-welcome, women and staff employees rated higher than men and students. Women on the same hand had rated a higher Sexual Harassment perception than men. In overall result, the study showed the perception of Sexual Harassment is less sensitive within college-age samples (4.25 with 6 as highest rating) compared to noncollege age samples (4.37) and not affected by gender and sexist attitudes. Study of the workplace Sexual Harassment perception by males and females among the future professionals in India were conducted by Banerjee and Sharma (2012). 100 males and 100 females’ students were recruited from 4 colleges, structure questionnaires were used for data collection. Based on the knowledge of Sexual Harassment definition answered by the respondents, only 24 percent males able to give complete definition compared to 43 percent of females. A total of 70 percent males agree with the statement of ‘women should be responsible for their own harassment’ compared to a 49 percent of females. 46 percent of male agree with the statement ‘women enjoy being sexual harassed’ compared to 8 percent of females. 60 percent of male agree to the statement ‘women should not dress to attract’ compared to 44 percent of females. For the statement ‘women mean ‘yes’ when they say ‘no’, 27 percent male chose no comment and 28 percent agreed; only 4 percent female agreed. 31 percent males expected Sexual Harassment towards female workers, compared to 12 percent of females. 8 percent male experienced Sexual Harassment, compared to 16 percent of females. University students’ perception of Sexual Harassment were also examined by Sipe, Johnson and Fisher (2009). 1,373 undergraduates were recruited as voluntary samples from a public university in the Southeastern U.S. Questionnaires distributed focused on genderbased discrimination and sexual harassment in workplace. According to the results, women tend to perceive Sexual Harassment as happening to themselves and other women; Sexual Harassment may adversely impact their careers more than men. NonCaucasians perceived the similar result as women, but did not perceive Sexual International Journal of Management, Accounting and Economics Vol. 2, No. 5, May, 2015 ISSN 2383-2126 (Online) © IJMAE, All Rights Reserved www.ijmae.com 473 Harassment would affect their careers. On the other hand, most of the respondents indicated women are likely to encounter sexist remarks or behavior (60 percent) and unwanted advances (55 percent) but not for serious forms of sexual harassment such as bribery and threats. In addition, 70 percent of respondents did not believe women would encounter sexual behavior for job opportunity. 63 percent of females think that job dissatisfaction is led by Sexual Harassment compared to 30 percent by males. NonCaucasian students resulted to be less sensitive towards the potential effect of Sexual Harassment compared to Caucasian students. The workplace Sexual Harassment perceptions were studied based on the Turkish Context with 353 Turkish female workers from 4 different organizations in age within 21 to 51 (Toker & Sümer, 2010). Participants were recruited through personal contacts and survey then interviewed individually. It focused on behaviors considered as Sexual Harassment in workplace. The 5 most considered behaviors are ‘Insinuation of Interest’, ‘Sexual Hostility’ (such as sexual jokes), ‘Sexist Hostility’ (gender discrimination), ‘Physical Sexual Offense’ (such as trying to kiss a woman), and ‘Sexual Bribery & Coercion’ (sexual cooperation) (Toker & Sumer, 2010). Most of the participants considered Physical Sexual Offense and Sexual Bribery & Coercion as the most sexually harassing factors with the mean rating of 4.52 (5 as certainly is Sexual Harassment) for both factors. Sexual Hostility has the mean of 3.76, then Insinuation of Interest with mean of 3.09 and lastly, Sexist Hostility with mean of 2.21. The variables of individuals were further studied as well and suggested selfesteem does not affect the perception of Sexual Harassment with liberal attitudes; individuals with egalitarian attitudes perceive more Sexual Harassment when selfesteem decreased. Another study about public perceptions of Sexual Harassment in Israel based on the consensus and feminist theoretical perspectives was conducted by Herzog (2007). There were 630 Israeli respondents recruited through telephone survey of 7 to 10 minutes to evaluate hypothetical short crime scenarios that represent cases of Sexual Harassment. Each rating for seriousness for each case was recorded and the ranking was from 1 (not serious at all) to 11 (very serious). According to the respondents, Sexual Harassment scenarios provided were considered as high seriousness and punishment (mean of 8.65). By comparing Sexual Harassment scenarios with other cases, violent criminal acts’ scenarios received a higher seriousness (mean of almost 10) and property offenses’ seriousness received a slightly lower seriousness rating. However, the seriousness of the scenario provided would receive a lower rating when the victims were women as 75 percent of the respondents were oldtimer citizens, using the traditional attitudes towards women. The influences for the intention of reporting Sexual Harassment in the workplace Whether the intention of reporting a Sexual Harassment situation is influenced by employees’ perception of conflict, company integrity and criminal evidence was conducted by Tseng (2014). Questionnaires of 2 scenarios (quid pro quo Sexual Harassment and hostile environment Sexual Harassment) with 4 versions (A and C are colleague harasses customers; B and D are customers harasses colleague) each were distributed. 232 participants recruited from life insurance companies in 4 different cities International Journal of Management, Accounting and Economics Vol. 2, No. 5, May, 2015 ISSN 2383-2126 (Online) © IJMAE, All Rights Reserved www.ijmae.com 474 in Taiwan were separated into 4 groups. Each participant only receives one questionnaire with either one scenario to evaluate the situation. Based on the results, it showed bystanders would only have the intention to help victims report a Sexual Harassment situation if the bystander believe the company can deal Sexual Harassment situation fairly. Respondents of the study also have a higher intention of reporting hostile environment Sexual Harassment compared to quid pro quo Sexual Harassment. In addition, employees are more tolerant towards ‘colleague harasses customers’ more than ‘customers harasses colleague’ situation. The influence of the Sexual Orientation Harassment (SOH) intervention in workplaces was conducted in 2 studies (Ryan & Wessel, 2011). In the 1st study, 86 students with 1 year of work experience in Midwestern campus were recruited as sample. Questionnaires were given to them based on the Sexual Harassment situation they have witnessed. Most of the situation witnessed by participants was nonphysical harassment. Based on the result, bystander would only have the intention to help when they have a closer relationship with the target; perceived a clear intent to harm; when others are not present. Bystanders will also result a greater involvement and immediacy of intervention when he or she believes there is a lesser costs of intervention and believe the harassment would recur. In the 2nd study, 327 participants were recruited from a university psychology subject pool. 16 different scenarios were distributed to participants randomly to evaluate. From the study, it showed a greater intention to intervene was significantly related to a more direct harassment; knowledge of orientation; recurrence beliefs by the bystander. Gender and age also influence the intention of intervention; female and older participants show greater intervention intentions than men and younger participants. The results of Sexual Harassment towards victims The study of the expected relationship between workplace Sexual Harassment and psychological distress was conducted with 2 years (2005 as baseline data to 2007 as follow-up data) of longitudinal survey data collection with 1775 Norwegian employees (Nielsen & Einarsen, 2012). The longitudinal relationships between Sexual Harassment and psychological distress for men and women were separated with odd ratios. From the data collected at the baseline, more women have reported psychological distress than men with no difference compared to followup data. Based on the result of adjusted baseline distress and age, it revealed among women, the exposure of Sexual Harassment at baseline was associated with psychological distress with odd ratio of 2.03; but not for men, with odd ratio of 1.32. However among men, the baseline distress was significantly related to Sexual Harassment at follow-up with odd ratio of 3.03; but not women with odd ratio of 1.15. The comparison of the result between baseline and follow-up then suggested, Sexual Harassment was part of a contribution toward psychological distress among women. The result of Sexual Harassment, was compared between Pakistan and U.S. 146 of Pakistani (75 percent female) and 102 of U.S participants were recruited for the study conducted by Merkin and Shah (2014). Overall, both group participants were young and educated. A second study was conducted to U.S health care workers as control group. All participants were required to complete a set of questionnaires in their respective home countries. Based on the study, Pakistanis has lower job satisfaction after experienced International Journal of Management, Accounting and Economics Vol. 2, No. 5, May, 2015 ISSN 2383-2126 (Online) © IJMAE, All Rights Reserved www.ijmae.com 475 Sexual Harassment compared to U.S employees (mean of 3.21 and 3.02 respectively). Pakistanis who experienced Sexual Harassment also had higher turnover intentions than U.S employees (mean of 3.15 and 2.41 respectively); higher absenteeism (mean of 3.17) compared to U.S employees (mean of 1.88). In addition, Pakistani females use more indirect strategies to manage Sexual Harassment than U.S female employees. The effect of policies and training towards workplace Sexual Harassment There are different types of strategies managers can employ to counter Sexual Harassment. The study on the types of choice made by the managers was conducted by Salin (2008), along with the variables affecting their choices. Online questionnaires were sent to Finnish municipalities’ personnel managers. Based on the results, most of the personnel managers used ‘discussions with the parties involved’ and ‘consulting occupational health care services’ as strategies to intervene workplace Sexual Harassment (78.5 and 72.7 percent respectively). Transfer of either the perpetrator (24.4 percent) or the target (22 percent) was a common strategy. 6.8 percent reported the target chose to resign. 12.2 percent reported no measures were taken by the organization. The choices of strategies were affected by the characteristics of personnel manager. Female are likely to utilize re-conciliatory measures to intervene workplace Sexual Harassment (mean of 4.11) and transfer strategy (mean of 2.96) compared to male (mean of 3.92 and 2.70 respectively). Male are more likely to take no action (mean of 2.20) compared to female (mean of 1.76). Age and educational level showed no significant difference in choice of response strategy. The effect of formal sexual harassment policies towards organizations was studied in U.S by Hertzog, Wright and Beat (2008). The sample of this study is the 303 organizations that employed a formal sexual harassment policy. Data was collected from 2002 National Organization Survey (NOS). Employers and personnel managers were interviewed by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) to acquire organizationallevel data. 4 behavioral variables were measured (hostile environment Sexual Harassment, threatening, bullying and incivility) in the level of 1 (never) to 4 (often). After compiling the results from 303 organizations, 29 percent of organizations have filed a formal Sexual Harassment complaint. The comparison of experiencing behavior between organizations with formal complaints been filed and not been filed were made; Sexual Harassment behaviors (80.7 percent versus 11.6 percent), threatening behaviors (72.7 percent versus 32.1 percent), bullying (60.2 percent versus 23.3 percent) and acts of incivility (85.2 percent versus 65.1 percent). Organizations with formal complaints being filed are also more likely to provide workshops on Sexual Harassment, diversity, workplace violence, conflict resolution and restraining negative workplace behavior. The effect of a Brief Pilot Sexual Harassment prevention workshop was studied based on employees’ knowledge (Campbell et al., 2013). In the study, 80 employees of 3 different working sectors (service, military and social service) in rural northeastern Missouri were recruited at their respective workplaces for the participation of 1 hour Sexual Harassment prevention education workshop. 44 percent volunteered as an experimental group for the study and 36 preselected employees joined as control group. For the experimental group, pretest (Preventing Sexual Harassment for Employees Knowledge Quiz) was conducted before the workshop. The workshop was lectured by 4