Sexual Harassment Laws Should Not Be Abolished
Sexual Harassment Laws Should Not Be Abolished
Laws that regulate sexual harassment were established for good reason, and without them it would pose major problems to anyone involved in such activity. Almost all companies, government agencies, colleges and organizations have some type of policy in place regarding sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is defined as: “a type of employment discrimination consisting in verbal or physical abuse of a sexual nature” (Encyclopedia of Everyday Law). Over the years the basic outline of what is considered sexual harassment has been explored, along with what needs to be done to prevent it. The histories of sexual harassment laws are not very old. Up until the 1970’s sexual harassment was unheard of, mostly due to the fact that women did not hold a huge role in the workplace. However as the amount of women increased in the “male” workplace, the need for sexual harassment laws became apparent. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, title VII prohibited discrimination by employers and organizations with 15 or more full time employees, and by the mid 1970’s the courts began to accept sexual harassment as a form of gender discrimination. Since the 1970’s in courts have continued broadened their interpretation of what is considered sexual harassment under law, as well as some exceptions.
Since the creation of sexual harassment laws there has been several arguments against the laws in place. The counterarguments of sexual harassment laws range from false accusations to freedom of speech issues. A problem with sexual harassment laws, like any other law, there will be some instances were accusations are either misconstrued or blatantly false. Table 1 shows sexual harassment charges to employers, in 1997, approximately 40% of EEOC reported cases were administrative closures, and 41.4% no reasonable cause. An administrative closure is when a case is closed for administrative reasons including “charging party requests withdrawal of a
Laws that regulate sexual harassment were established for good reason, and without them it would pose major problems to anyone involved in such activity. Almost all companies, government agencies, colleges and organizations have some type of policy in place regarding sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is defined as: “a type of employment discrimination consisting in verbal or physical abuse of a sexual nature” (Encyclopedia of Everyday Law). Over the years the basic outline of what is considered sexual harassment has been explored, along with what needs to be done to prevent it. The histories of sexual harassment laws are not very old. Up until the 1970’s sexual harassment was unheard of, mostly due to the fact that women did not hold a huge role in the workplace. However as the amount of women increased in the “male” workplace, the need for sexual harassment laws became apparent. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, title VII prohibited discrimination by employers and organizations with 15 or more full time employees, and by the mid 1970’s the courts began to accept sexual harassment as a form of gender discrimination. Since the 1970’s in courts have continued broadened their interpretation of what is considered sexual harassment under law, as well as some exceptions.
Since the creation of sexual harassment laws there has been several arguments against the laws in place. The counterarguments of sexual harassment laws range from false accusations to freedom of speech issues. A problem with sexual harassment laws, like any other law, there will be some instances were accusations are either misconstrued or blatantly false. Table 1 shows sexual harassment charges to employers, in 1997, approximately 40% of EEOC reported cases were administrative closures, and 41.4% no reasonable cause. An administrative closure is when a case is closed for administrative reasons including “charging party requests withdrawal of a
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