The focus of this chapter is reviewing the studies on sexual harassment and sexual violence, focusing on definitions, statistics, forms, consequences, and prevention strategies. Moreover, it concerns the grounded theory (GT) as a qualitative research methodology and provides a comparison between this methodology and constructivist GT that is considered to be more compatible with feminist inquiry. To study the theories with inappropriate or inadequate features and to study the subject under investigation, such as the analysis of women's sense of insecurity, GT methodology seems most appropriate. This chapter provides a detailed discussion of the impact of sexual violence on mental and physical health as well as social well-being, all of which may be equally long-lasting. Preventive strategies, as mentioned in this chapter, are concerned with changing people's attitudes and behaviors by formulating and implementing appropriate policies and empowerment programs.
TopSexual Harrassment
Despite of greater risk of violence from an intimate partner, women are also exposed to other forms of violence. They may experience sexual harassment in the workplace and other arenas. Sexual harassment refers to the abuse of a position of hierarchy or a significant power disparity. Traditionally, it was linked to employment, but it may happen in other spheres including education.
More than four decades have passed since sexual harassment and insecurity have been of consideration but there is limited research on the issue of insecurity in the workplace. Even in some societies, such issues are considered as a kind of social taboos. Gender inequality is manifested, at the macro level, in forms of sexual harassment and feelings of insecurity in the workplace. Apart from various gender discrimination, women are even vulnerable to insecurity because of their bodies. Women in senior positions in an organization with both work and time management and ethical behavior are not also secure in the workplace.
Due to unreported harassments, Barker (2017) stated, there is no clear data about the statistics of sexual harassment. In addition, there were 6,862 sexual harassment claims were filed with the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, of which 92.5% were filed by female employees. Sexual harassment in the workplace negatively affects the employees, and the performance and image of an organization. Psychological and physical effects on employees, illnesses, and several negative work-related behaviors can be mentioned, among others, as the negative impact of sexual harassment in the workplace. The employees can prevent these negative effects and be productive and efficient members of the organization if they feel secure in their workplace. Sexual harassment in organizations is common; about 68% of women in the UK experience sexual harassment in their lifetime (Ministry of Defense, 2015).