Question

Sexual harrassment has been reported in man spectrums of society recently. Sexual harassment is an interpretation that a victim declares their perception. Comments that offend some may not be offensive to others. Sexual misconduct, when verbal, is a subjective standard that has binding legal consequences. In a 2 or 3 page essay, can somebody please discuss this trending legal issue? Also please explain what is the process of making a sexual harassment complaint. No PLAGIARISM PLEASE.

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. Also, I may have explicitly described a few crimes below (as reported in the news), please read it and bowdlerise if you must. You can add a few points based on your personal perspective on this issue.

(Answer) The recent bout of complains first started with the top Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. A small group of his victims including the likes of Ashley Judd, came together to publically accuse the man of sexual misconduct.

That was just a few months ago. The scenario for male accountability has changed drastically since then. Since then the list of the accused includes Matt Lauer, Louis CK, Kevin Spacey, Andy Dick, Brett Renner, Bob Weinstein, Roy Moore and a cohort of others.

Some of these accusations are physical and explicit. Actions like masturbating on a potted plant while being watched, groping, inappropriate touching and lascivious gifts like sex toys and flashing the victims are clearly things worth punitive measures.

However, there are some instances where it isn’t entirely clear whether the experience of the alleged victim is classified as lewd enough to be sexual harassment. Whenever misconduct is of a verbal nature, it needs to be analysed with a legal eye and properly decided whether it is harassment or not.

The first parameter is the complain itself. If a comment hurts the sentiments of an individual, that is enough to make a comment punishable. It is important to understand that different thing hurt different people, but kind words are never reported. For instance, a teenager in a first world country probably gets depressed over a break-up. But, a poor teenager in a third-world country gets depressed because their family has no food. It is obvious that not only are both issues at a different level of bad but, also they are entirely different issues. The criterion for an issue being painful is that it has caused pain to the victim. A prick of a pin may hurt an adult different as opposed to a baby, but a prick is a prick (no pun intended).

Nevertheless, as an individual of society, one believes that if a man hasn’t been taught by his parents to be polite and respect others, then offices should have HR conduct training sessions. Simply punishing individuals may eradicate the behaviour for now, but we need to safeguard our future by inculcating an environment where men know how to conduct themselves in a dignified manner and be respectful of people’s boundaries.

The second parameter is the gender of the people complaining. If the verbal abuse is actually a matter of perception, how come men don’t usually complain of allegedly hurtful comments? If comments can be labelled as “office humour” or “locker room talk” and “nothing serious”, then how come these questionable comments are never made about men.

Let us assume that Hilary Clinton was caught on camera telling a female reporter that, she can “grab men’s dicks” in a nonchalant manner without consequences. How easily would the world call her names and not vote for her because of that comment? How come men don’t make terrible comments to their “guy-friend” about having an “ass worth grabbing?”

If it seems like an odd comment for a guy to make about another guy, then it should be an odd comment for a guy to make to a woman as well. Because, this is not a matter of gender, rather it is a matter of respect for all human beings regardless of their gender, age, race, ethnicity etc.

The third parameter is whether or not the comments were called for. Andrew Kriesberg who is the executive producer at CW for shows like “The Flash” and “Supergirl” is a good case study for this parameter. Kreisberg told Variety, "I have made comments on women’s appearances and clothes in my capacity as an executive producer, but they were not sexualized."

In a case like this, it makes one wonder whether or not ‘Warner Bros.’ Subsidiaries like ‘CW’ can actually afford an HR team to process matters like women’s attire. If a woman has to go through an entire legal process to make sure the harasser is punished for his actions, why can’t men make these apparently necessary comments by going through proper channels?

Different fields have different procedures for registering complains. However, the most unruly of all is Congress. With Roy Moore’s actions becoming the talk of the town and a cause to ban him at the local mall, reporters have looked into such procedures.

The “slush fund” has already spent $15 million in settling harassment claims. In order to register a complaint by federal law, “victims must submit to up to 30 days of mandatory counselling.” After the month has ended, the victim must “complete a month of mediation.”

By the end of these steps, the victim must “wait 30 more days before seeking an administrative hearing or filing a lawsuit in federal court district.” If there is a change that all of these steps took more than 180 days, then the victim cannot make the complaint according to the rules of the compliance office. Also, a codicil of this procedure states that “co-workers who might provide corroborating evidence are excluded.”

It is ironic that the house that is responsible for making laws and that employs lawmakers follows a procedure that is disgraceful to even be called a law.

Whether or not sexual misconduct is a subjective standard, it is objective to offer justice to the victim and school the men to be respectful.