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According to Cynthia Berryman-Fank in Organizational Communication: Theory and behavior in Chapter 10/Gender Issues: Management Style, Mobility and Harassment define sexual harassment as any unwelcome sexual advance, request for sexual favors and other verbal or physical conduct of sexual nature.
Firstly sexual harassment must be unwelcome behavior. If physical or verbal behavior of a sexual nature is welcomed by the recipient, then the behavior is not sexual harassment. Next sexual harassment can take the form of physical or verbal behavior. This means that sexual language constitutes harassment as much as physical assault does.
Many studies have been conducted to try to assess the prevalence of sexual harassment. A classic study that is often cited was conducted by the Merit System Protection Board (1981). This survey of 20,000 federal government workers found that 42 percent of the women and 15 percent of the men reporting that they had experienced some of sexual harassment in the previous two years. In a review of the literature on the prevalence of sexual harassment, York (1989) concludes that about 50 percent of women respondents to sexual harassment surveys report having experienced sexual harassment.
It is important that anyone can become a target of harassment. Target cross gender, race, gender, education, occupation and income levels. However, research shows that the most common target of sexual harassment is a women, younger that thirty-five with a college or graduate degree. The higher a woman is in the corporate hierarchy, the more likely she is to be harassed. Harassment is more likely to occur in sex-segregated occupations and organizations (Karsten, 1994)
Research has revealed a profile of the typical harasser. Estimates reveal that fewer than 5 percent of men have sexual harassed someone (Webb, 1991). Most commonly however harasser are male, older that their targets and married. It is more common for a co-worker than a supervisor to be a harasser. Harassers frequently bother more that one person (Webb, 1991).