Stop Harassment! Men’s reactions to victims’ confrontation

Abstract

Sexual harassment is one of the most widespread forms of gender violence. Perceptions of sexual harassment depend on gender, context, the perceivers’ ideology, and a host of other factors. Research has underscored the importance of coping strategies in raising a victim’s self-confidence by making her feel that she plays an active role in overcoming her own problems. The aim of this study was to assess the men’s perceptions of sexual harassment in relation to different victim responses. The study involved 101 men who were administered a questionnaire focusing on two of the most frequent types of harassment (gender harassment vs. unwanted sexual attention) and victim response (confrontation vs. non confrontation), both of which were manipulated. Moreover, the influences of ideological variables, ambivalent sexism, and the acceptance of myths of sexual harassment on perception were also assessed. The results highlight the complexities involved in recognizing certain behaviors as harassment and the implications of different victim responses to incidents of harassment. As the coping strategies used by women to confront harassment entail drawbacks that pose problems or hinder them, the design and implementation of prevention and/or education programs should strive to raise awareness among men and women to further their understanding of this construct.

Keywords

• Sexual harassment
• Ambivalent sexism
• Confrontation
• Myths
• Sexist ideology