Sexually Harassed at Work - What Should You Do?

Your supervisor won’t keep his hands off you.  He massages your neck when you are seated at your desk. He rubs against you as he passes you in the hallway.  He tells you how bad his marriage is and how someone like you would be so much better. Or, he makes lewd suggestions, such as, “Why don’t you come here and sit on my face?”  He might even grind his pelvis into your backside or grab your breast.

This job is important to you. You have rent, a car payment and mouths to feed. You think, “Maybe if I ignore him or give him a dirty look, he will stop,”  But you know, in reality, the sexual innuendos and/or touching are getting worse, not stopping.

He’s not going to stop on his own. What are you going to do?  Are you going to just take it, and feel horrible about yourself?  Are you going to ask to move to a different supervisor or department, while worrying about the next women under his clutches?  Should you quit and quietly go away? Or, should you go to his boss or Human Resources and report him, while realizing he may retaliate against you or the boss may not believe you.

You have a dilemma and there are no guarantees that if you report, the workplace will be fixed.  I know how hard it is to report a harasser. I know it’s even harder to either file a charge of discrimination with the EEOC or Missouri Commission on Human Rights, or even harder to seek legal counsel. There is no easy solution.

It takes courage to fight sexual harassment. Your work environment will probably change.  You may suffer retaliation, even though retaliation is unlawful. But don’t you have daughters, or nieces, or know little girls? Isn’t it painful to imagine those girls having to endure what you experience.

Fighting sexual harassment is the courageous way to go, for you and for other women. Most sexual harassers are serial harassers; you are not the first, and unless they are stopped, you won’t be the last. We are one day past the Women’s March in 2018. We hear about the “Me, Too” movement. Yet, nothing changes unless brave women come forward and stand up for themselves.  You can make a difference. Don’t just take it. You deserve so much more. You deserve self-respect.  You can make a difference.