What are the social consequences of sexual harassment?

Answer 1

There are a number of social consequences.

1. Sexual harassment costs businesses and schools money. Victims of harassment often sue. Victims of bullying and sexual harassment on the job don't work as hard as their colleagues and peers. The more time firms spend dealing with sexual harassment, the less productive work can be done.

2. Sexual harassment causes people to need more therapy and mental health care, and they are more likely to commit suicide.

3. Victims of sexual harassment may retaliate or turn into vigilantes, and they may end up in prison because of the actions of others. At men's shelters, a common scenario is unwanted flirting or even attempted rape, and the victim using a deadly weapon and going to prison. In turn, society has to keep more people in prison and spend more money because of violence that could have been avoided.

4. It robs society of creativity and productivity. Harassed workers don't work as efficiently. Harassed students don't learn as well, and they may drop out. Anyone doing outdoor work and getting harassed by strangers may quit. People might not tend to their yards if others harass them.

5. It makes society unhealthier. If people are afraid to go outside and afraid to take morning jogs without being sexually harassed, they may stay indoors and become unhealthy. They may overeat to relieve the stress or make themselves unattractive in an attempt to get others to leave them alone sexually. Or they may fear going to the grocery store and become anorexic because it is too much stress to eat out (others might sit in their booth without permission) or buy groceries (they might be harassed on the way or in the parking lot). Stress is also bad on the body.

6. Others may be caught in the crossfires. If someone is harassing someone in a restaurant and they fight back, it can ruin the environment for others. Or the initial harassment might be misdirected. Some youth were targeting a transsexual woman at a soup kitchen. They were throwing objects at her and she ducked and another woman got hit. She asked the place to call the police.

7. When sexual harassment continues, it adversely affects morale. If it is allowed to continue, others may do it too. Less women will take courses related to male-dominated fields if the women who attend such classes are sexually harassed.

8. Sometimes it contributes to racism and sexism. If women of one group are targeted by men of another group, they may conclude that all such men are bad and should be avoided. Of if women are targeted by sexist, harassing men enough, they may write off men completely or take on sexist behaviors in the other direction. It is sometimes human nature to where the more something is forced on someone, the less they want whatever at all in any context.

9. It ruins the dating scene, since more women expect men to be jerks, and women may feel forced to act more aggressive.

10. It might indirectly contribute to interracial dating - which is not bad in and of itself. If men of one culture become particularly bad at sexual harassment to the point their own women either won't date them or become very hostile and defensive, then those men will have to date women who are totally naive or vulnerable to the sexual harassment, and the women may date other men. Don't get me wrong, interracial dating is not bad, but it is not good if you feel forced to do it, whether because of domineering/harassing suitors, or because of not finding suitable partners.