NCJ Number
143965
Date Published
1993
Length
16 pages
Annotation
Data from 64 heterosexual and lesbian women workers who reported a workplace sexual assault incident in their employment history were used to examine the nature of the experience of workplace sexual assault and the factors involved in the cases in which the worker either quit or formally complained about the assault.
Abstract
The participants were a subsample of a much larger group from New England, New York City, and the Middle Atlantic States. The women were generally in their 20s when sexually assaulted. Virtually all were single, separated, or divorced at the time of the assault. Approximately half of the lesbians and 29 percent of the heterosexuals were assaulted by male co-workers. Bosses were responsible for nearly half of both attempted and completed assaults. Men in positions of authority were more likely to be involved in interactions leading to assaults than to less serious kinds of harassing approaches. Eighty-one percent of the women remained at their jobs; most maintained a formal working relationship with their assailant. Sixty percent of the victims talked with friends or family members about the incident; only one-third talked with co-workers. Twenty-one percent complained through appropriate workplace channels. Nineteen percent quit their jobs. In only two cases did women both complain and quit. Findings indicated that the combined effects of occupational segregation, employment discrimination, and economic dependency constrain women's choices and opportunities such that they remain in workplace situations that are decidedly threatening and coercive. In addition, less serious types of sexual harassment clearly go unreported. Thus, sexual assaults at work continue to be a serious threat to economically vulnerable women workers. Notes and 33 references