Sexual Harassment

Should sexual harassment be made punishable by law?

YES!

INTRODUCTION

It is noticeable that the number of sexual harassment cases taking place is increasing
rapidly, which gives us many questions in our minds, one of which is how people in authority are
not taking this huge problem into account and are not trying to prevent it. Such actions (sexual
harassment) have serious consequences and, which results in that the country should make fast
moves towards preventing these actions from happening and saving many young teens and
women in the best years of their lives from being mentally, physically or even literally
destructed.

Sexual harassment is unwelcome sexual behaviour that’s offensive, humiliating or

intimidating. It can be written, verbal or physical, and can happen in person or online. Sexual
harassment can be ;touching, grabbing or making other physical contact with you without your
consent; making comments to you that have a sexual meaning; asking you for sex or sexual
favours; leering and staring at you; displaying rude and offensive material so that you or others
can see it; making sexual gestures or suggestive body movements towards you; cracking sexual
jokes and comments around or to you; questioning you about your sex life; insulting you with
sexual comments; committing a criminal offence against you, such as making an obscene phone
call’ indecently exposing themselves or sexually assaulting you or even asking sexual favors in
exchange of something.

Now, will you be able to bear seeing your daughter, sister, wife or mother experience
such thing and the harassers can freely move and act like nothing happened?

THE BODY

From the above definitions and presentation, sexual harassment is glaringly AFFRONT
on the dignity of human being mostly women , and gross disregard her right as a person created
in God’s image. It demean the victim – relegating her person to that of a toy, a commodity, a
second rate human being short of a nobody. A mere slave!

More often, especially in the workplace or school where sexual harassment may take
place, victims are at the whims of offenders because of the latter’s sweeping influence and
control exerted by virtue of their superior position. The imbalance of power creates a situation in
which the subordinate does not feel free to say "no." Victims in this case loose the heart to
complain, and may just be submissive and remain silent. They want to voice out the truth but
they choose to keep the agony inside to save their employment or their studies. Most women
would not report such accidents, because they were threatened when they first were forced to
face the attack. They would still have the same feeling after. She would live with the feeling of
getting hurt, being humiliated or laugh or receiving bad comments if she tells anybody. They
also take into account the possibility of not proving the action on the harasser, which is when the
victim would rather kill herself than live with fear of re-experiencing what she has experienced
again.

The harassment victim may feel negativity and her life changes 180 degrees. She might
feel stressed, anxious or depressed for always thinking of what happened and afraid that it may
happen again. She loses confidence and self – esteem to the point that even her job or studies
will be affected that may lead to less productivity and unable to concentrate.

Let us not put all the blame on how women dress or act nowadays. Let say whether she
wear something revealing and the fact that she also have fault for this, this doesn’t give the right
to the harassers to take advantage or sexually harassing them. Even those who wear pants and
shirts or totally covered up are being harassed.

No one deserves, or asks, to be sexually harassed. Everyone has the right to work and live
in an environment that’s free from harassment, bullying, discrimination and violence. Sexual
harassment is illegal

Thus , sexual harassment in all its form and expressions must be curtailed or eliminated
in human society. One way to achieve this end is through the disciplinary arm of the law falling
heavily upon the preparations of sexual harassment. The law with its punitive acts serves as
deterrent to the commission of unwanted and inappropriate sexual behaviors of person toward
their fellows.

This is where outside intervention( the law) is of paramount importance and a necessity
to act as the 24/7 rescuer of the helpless – with clenched fist in order to tame a hostile
environment, or even to put sanity to wayward behaviours going extremely wild.

Moreover, the law with its consuming punishment serves as the constant and consistent
reminder qualifying for all that “sexual harassment is a transgression worthy for
condemnation and of punishment”. People would have to think twice of and about their
naughtiness and be restrained in doing their shenanigans because the alarm bell of the law is here
unstoppably sounding out stern warning of vengeance to their indiscretions.

By all means therefore, sexual harassment should be made punishable by law. This is the
most effective manner to curb the intrusion and proliferation of these human aberrations in a
society where justness, equality and right living are being aspired and desired to dominate and
prevail over human kind.