Harassment has male victims, too
Men are targets much less often than women but also suffer the consequences of testosterone-soaked workplaces
The front-page news about widespread sexual harassment of women by men in politics and entertainment has exposed facts that psychologists who study sexual harassment have known for at least 40 years: Sexual harassment is a very common experience for women, and the impact of the harassment can be very serious for its victims. The #MeToo movement reminds us how devastating sexual harassment has been to women of all ages, educational levels and incomes. However, this may also be a moment when we can bring into the national conversation the hidden side of sexual harassment: Men get harassed too.
In civil rights law, the topic did not get much traction until 1998 when the U.S. Supreme Court recognized maleon-male sexual harassment as a basis for a lawsuit. In the case of Oncale v. Sundowner Oil Company, the court reviewed a young man’s complaint that he was fondled and sexually assaulted by other men while he worked as a cook on an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The court found that men can harass men, and that such actions can cause injury. Despite this legal recognition, the general public knows little about the sexual harassment of men.
Indeed, men are victims much less frequently than women. However, the highest rates of sexual harassment for both men and women occur in jobs that are more traditionally male — law enforcement, fire fighters and the military. Men are almost always those who harass women. Less than 2 percent of complaints that women file arise from same-sex harassment. So do women harass men at such a high rate? No; other men are more likely than women to harass men.
Research reflects a different form of workplace harassment for men than for women. When women harass men, less than half of these male targets are likely to experience sexually charged verbal abuse — sexual hostility; about a third report incidents of verbal abuse directed to the male gender — sexist hostility; and slightly fewer report unwanted sexual attention. A small proportion, about 4 percent, report sexual assault.
When men are the harassers, their male victims are predominantly targets of vulgar jokes, teasing, putdowns, or sexual hazing, with fewer than 1 in 10 complaining of unwanted sexual attention, and 2 in 100 reporting incidents of sexual coercion. Men are most likely to be harassed by a peer, next most likely to be harassed by a supervisor or one from a higher level, and least likely to be harassed by one of less status.
When male-on-male sexual harassment is first mentioned, people may have an image of a gay guy hitting on another man in the workplace. This is very rarely the case. Actually, it is men who are perceived as gay who are frequently targets of gender-based harassment. The high incidence of this conduct makes it likely that many targets of same-sex harassment are heterosexual or men who do not conform to traditional stereotypes of hypermasculinity, such as transsexuals, bisexuals, and homosexuals. Sexually harassing men call other men queer or faggot. This type of sexual harassment enforces the heterosexual male gender role or hyper-masculine norms and homophobia.
Are men harmed by sexual harassment? Recent research indicates the harassment that men experience causes men damage similar to that which women experience. However, when women harass men, the impact is less than when men are harassed by other men. Just like women, men suffer PTSD-like reactions, physical illnesses and reduced self-esteem as a result. And men are even less likely than women to make a formal complaint about harassment.
Just as is the case when women are harassed by men, the first impact of the harassment is on men’s work life. They have decreased interest in working, the quality and quantity of their work deteriorates, and they feel less committed to the organization. This takes a toll on the bottom line of the organization in reduced productivity and increased job turnover. In this long-delayed moment of recognition about sexual harassment, it is time to take steps to change attitudes and policies that allow workplace harassment to continue. While understanding that women are more often victims of harassment, let’s not forget that men get harassed too, and suffer many of the same consequences as women. Perhaps if we recognize that testosterone-soaked workplaces are just as toxic to men as they are to women, reform will be quicker and more effective.