What is the financial impact of sexual harassment in the workplace

Up to 85% of women will experience workplace sexual harassment during the course of their careers, indicating that the problem is still widespread. We must make sure that workplaces are secure, respectable, and equitable for all employees as employers re-evaluate how their places of employment will function, whether they are based remotely or in an office.
Unwanted sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other forms of verbal or physical harassment are all considered sexual harassment. Regrettably, sexual harassment is not a requirement for it to be considered unlawful behavior. Sexual harassment can be defined as offensive comments made about women generally or remarks that show prejudices based on sex or gender. The harasser may be a co-worker, the victim's supervisor, a supervisor in a different department, a client or customer, or a person who is not an employee of the employer.

Figure 01: Sexual harassments at workplace

According to a research done by TIME’S UP Foundation and the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, they have identified the lifetime financial cost of sexual harassment to an individual. Following are the key significant financial costs and economic effects that sexual harassment in the workplace has on someone who is impacted by it.

The lifetime cost of sexual harassment at work can range from a few hundred dollars to $1.3 million. Sexual harassment lowers women's earning potential and contributes to the gender pay gap. Sexual harassment can result in a variety of costs, including loss of employment and unemployment, lower wages, missed chances for advancement, prompted job changes, and the loss of essential employer-sponsored benefits like health insurance and pension benefits. Individuals suffer severe and lasting financial harm as a result of sexual harassment. Those who hold low-paying jobs may experience particularly negative short- and long-term effects on their financial security. People are discouraged from seeking legal counsel because of things like their immigration status, a lack of resources, or ignorance of their rights as employees. An employee who experiences sexual harassment at work has the right to sue the employer for compensation. In a court case, harassed individual has to bear the lawyer’s cost and other expenses. People who work in low-paying jobs may experience severe short- and long-term effects on their financial security. (Sevalia, M., 2021)

It is crucial to implement and follow polices and methods to prevent workplace sexual harassment.

Changes in employment to avoid harassment put a strain on finances

• It might be challenging for victims of sexual harassment to continue working in the place of abuse.
• When an employer retaliates by terminating or punishing an employee for reporting sexual harassment or taking other action to stop it, some women are forced to leave.
• This could be withholding a promotion, demoting an employee, or doing something else to damage the victim's standing within the organization.
• Many women experience sexual harassment to the point where they give up. One in ten women in the heavily male-dominated IT sector reported receiving unwelcome sexual attention, and 55 percent of those women left their jobs as a result.
• Many of these women switched professions to stay away from male-dominated fields, mainly in lower-paying service-related fields.
• A woman's professional momentum might be disrupted by leaving a job, which forces her to start over in terms of seniority and building the kinds of connections that can open up more options.

References

Germano, M., (2017). maggiegermano. [Online]
Available at: https://www.maggiegermano.com/blog/the-financial-impact-of-sexual-harassment-abuse/
[Accessed 26 11 2022].

Hegewisch, A., Forden, J. & Mefferd, E., (2021). Paying Today and Tomorrow: Charting the Financial Costs of Workplace Sexual Harassment., Washington: s.n.

Pasternak, L. O. o. J., (2021). Law Offices of Jeremy Pasternak. [Online]
Available at: https://pasternaklaw.com/the-economic-cost-of-sexual-harassment-in-the-workplace/
[Accessed 26 11 2022].

Sevalia, M., (2021). mcasa. [Online]
Available at: https://mcasa.org/newsletters/article/the-financial-impacts-of-workplace-sexual-harassment
[Accessed 27 11 2022].