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The current Me Too Movement started on October 15, 2017, via Twitter when actress Alyssa Milano tweeted, “If you have been sexually harassed or assaulted, write 'me too' as a reply to this tweet” (Billings, Klein, & Shi, 2019, p. 1). Researchers noted that within two days, Milano's tweet had received 1.7 million responses to the #MeToo hashtag; consequently, initiating a new profound awareness of the pervasiveness of sexual harassment in the workplace (Billings, Klein, & Shi, 2019). The influx of social media responses to the #MeToo tweet highlighted that sexual harassment in the workplace remains an unresolved phenomenon. A recent survey on workplace harassment by Langer Research Associates assessed that 33 million women in the U.S. had experienced sexual harassment in the workplace (Howald, Walker, Melick, Albert, & Huang, 2018). Howald et al. (2018) reported that 95% of the women who experienced sexual harassment at work revealed that the perpetrators did not receive any punishment or repercussions. Even with the low punishment rate of perpetrators, the cost associated with sex-based harassment is estimated at $46.3M, a $5M increase since 2010 (Howald et al., 2018), indicating the perpetuation of sexual harassment in the workplace.
The issue of sexual harassment, an issue that saw an increase in organizational scholarship in the 1990s and early 2000s, has been elucidated by movements such as #MeToo and #TimesUp (Chawla et al., 2021). The scope of this matter has broadened from a psychological and legal approach to an organizational stance (Ollo-López & Nuñez, 2018). To understand the organization’s response to sexual harassment, the construct of organizational tolerance of sexual harassment (OTSH) was introduced by Hulin et al. in 1996 (Ollo-López & Nuñez, 2018). Situational and personal antecedents have been also considered by scholars in their efforts to better understand sexual harassment in work settings (Chawla et al., 2021).
Other studies have investigated additional organizational factors such as the effectiveness of sexual harassment training and bystander intervention (Ollo-López & Nuñez, 2018; Burn, 2019).
Sexual harassment involves unwelcomed sexual gestures, comments, or actions made to individuals due to their gender or sexual orientation (Burn, 2019). It causes psychological pain and suffering including emotional and physical stress as well as other mental and physical illnesses related to the stress it provokes (Burn, 2019). Victims of sexual harassment report higher levels of anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress (Quick & McFadyen, 2017). Sexual harassment can also create abusive, intimidating, offensive and hostile work environments that can interfere with performance (Burn, 2019). It can negatively influence job satisfaction, life satisfaction as well as organizational commitment (Chawla et al., 2021; Quick & McFadyen, 2017). Overall, sexual harassment is said to be one of the most damaging obstacles for carrier success (Quick & McFadyen, 2017).