Perceptions of sexual discrimination, sexual harassment and job satisfaction among female employees in the public sector

Abstract

Discrimination against women is a phenomenon still present in today's society. While research concerning sexual discrimination has been done, very little has been written about it under South African conditions, and almost no research has been done concerning the perceptions of female employees regarding sexual discrimination and harassment towards them. This study investigated female employees' perception of sexual discrimination, sexual harassment and job satisfaction. A questionnaire was developed and used as a measuring instrument on a probability sample of female employees in a public sector department. Results show that the respondents do not experience sexual discrimination to a large extent, and that they believe that sexual harassment will have a negative effect on job satisfaction, absenteeism and negativity towards the work environment.