Sexual Assault, Rape & Rape Culture
Sexual Harassment/Assault, Rape & Rape Culture
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Terms
Sexual harassment – harassment using explicit or implicit sexual overtones. These include a range of actions from verbal behavior to sexual abuse or assault
Sexual Assault – sexual contact or behavior that occurs without explicit consent of the victim (attempted rape, unwanted sexual touching, forcing a victim to perform sex acts like oral sex or penetrating the perpetrator, rape)
Rape – sexual penetration without consent.
This means that all acts of rape are sexual assault, but not all sexual assaults are rape. These definitions are often based on legal definitions, not psychological ones. Each state defines rape slightly differently.
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Sexual Harassment
What about our expectation of gender roles makes people laugh when they see this image on the left….instead of seeing it as sexual harassment. His look is indicating shock and discomfort…and yet many of us don’t attribute that to him. Thanks to our expectations of gender roles.
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Sexual Harassment
Two types of behaviors are considered harassment:
Explicit
Abuse of power for sexual favors
Not explicit
Creation of a “hostile environment”
Why does sexual harassment occur?
An attempt to make the workplace unpleasant for a coworker/subordinate who is unwanted
A way of ‘keeping people in their place’ or making them feel vulnerable
Unwanted flirting can become sexual harassment when it does not stop
While these guidelines were based on male-female sexual harassment, courts have applied a similar standard to same-gender harassment
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Sexual Harassment
There’s a big difference between sexual harassment and unwanted flirting:
The role of power
One individual may be ‘superior’ to another
Details of the approach
Level of interest in continuing contact
Key is the nature of the relationship between the parties
Why does sexual harassment occur?
An attempt to make the workplace unpleasant for a coworker/subordinate who is unwanted
A way of ‘keeping people in their place’ or making them feel vulnerable
Unwanted flirting can become sexual harassment when it does not stop
While these guidelines were based on male-female sexual harassment, courts have applied a similar standard to same-gender harassment
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Countering myths about sexual harassment:
Attractive people CAN sexually harass others
Harassment can occur across/within genders
Can occur across/within ages/SES/education
You don’t need to have power over someone to sexually harass them (implicit harassment)
The key feature is that the behavior is unwanted
Politely asking someone on a date is not harassment….unless there is a consequence for saying “no”
