“Sexual Harassment: Does clothing matter?

Abstract

Sexual harassment should be blamed to the harasser instead of the victim and how she
was dressed during the harassment. This paper states evidences that the way a woman
dresses herself is not a passage or entry for harassment. The content of this paper implies
to change the readers’ view in victim-blaming and to help them understand the wide
range of effects that sexual harassment can bring to its victims. This paper can also be a
reference to future cases of victim-blaming and/or studies regarding the effects of sexual
harassment or what causes it. This can help future researchers to gather more evidences
and to prove a stronger point. Sexual harassment should be blamed to the harasser instead
of the victim because harassment is a forced sexual activity that the victim did not agree
and cooperated. Thus, making big impacts on the life of the victim for either a short or a
long period or time depending on the environment the victim belongs to.

Introduction

Sexual harassment is done by the choice of the intruder regardless of what a woman
wears or looks like. It is any form unwelcomed or forced sexual related activity. A mentally
impaired girl was raped at the age of 13 by her mother’s boyfriend who was 36 years old. The
girl told the police that the man would have sex with her when her mother was at work and by
that, she got pregnant twice and was forced to abort it (The Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2011).
Another case was in the year 2001 where a 32-year-old man sexually harassed an 11-year-old
girl whom, unfortunately, also got pregnant and also faced abortion (Chicago Tribune, 2005).
This is just one of the many alarming cases of mentally impaired and young girls whom are
preys of such violent and malicious acts. According to Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network
or RAINN, 44% of rapes occurred to girls under the age of 18 and 15% of that are victims
younger than 12 years old.

If the way a woman or a girl dress is the main reason for sexual harassment, why does the
statistics show such big numbers of young girls involved in sexual harassment cases? Sexual
harassment is since men cannot control themselves hence not because of how women dress. The
clothes of sexual harassment victims range from pajamas of a child to an old lady’s one-piece
dress. Sexual harassment or unwelcomed sex is prominent especially these days and criminals,
most of the time, blames the victim’s clothing for being revealing. But that reason is
unacceptable for there are cases of as young as less than a year-old baby wherein they were
victims of sexual harassment.

Sexual harassment should be blamed to the harasser instead of the victim because a
woman’s way of clothing will never be an ‘invitation’ for harassment. Victim blaming is
prominent nowadays and it is unacceptable to blame someone who is just expressing herself
especially because there are children victims that are unaware of such flirtatious acts. Victims of
sexual harassment often encounter inquiries on what they were wearing and how they were
 “Sexual Harassment: Does clothing matter?”

acting before and during the incident which leads to victim-blaming. Such inquiries does not
matter because whatever reason it is, if the other person did not say ‘yes’, it is considered as
harassment. This issue of victim blaming should be discussed for it is a phenomenon that occurs
in various situations, has a wide range of age and should be stopped and removed. Victim
blaming is something that should be stopped because instead of continually traumatizing the
victim, the society should support and help them recover from what the harasser have done
because whatever the reason, sexual harassment will be the harasser’s fault.

Sexual Harassment and Victim Blaming

The reason of harassers that blames a woman’s way of dressing should be unacceptable
because the victim did not agree to participate in the activity. According to Moor (2010), women
may select sexy clothing to be attractive and to look good and not to transfer sexual interests. It
is just the harasser who misinterpreted the way the victim dresses. But when the woman
disagrees, the harasser should have stopped the acts to avoid harassment and further sexual
activities. Women should be free, as much as men are, to choose whatever they want to wear
because this is their way of expressing themselves to other people. A person’s way of dressing
up is also a way of letting themselves feel confident and good. But in today’s society, women are
thought to be careful and mindful of how they dress and act especially if there are men around
because this may lead them to danger and can be used against them in the form of victim
blaming.

Blaming sexual harassment victims should be stopped as it degrades the victim more
rather than to help them recover. A woman’s way of dressing does not mean that she deserves to
be harassed. According to Michael Schroeder (2016), many victims of sexual assault experience
secondary trauma from being blamed for the incident that happened. Victims are already
experiencing physical and emotional struggles after being harassed and being blamed for the
harm that happened to them adds to the piled-up emotions that they are feeling. Hence, also leads
to self-blaming wherein the society plays a part too. People are in a society at which point people
thinks that they are in control of everything, but for someone who was harassed, the person did
not had the control over what had happened. A harasser or perpetrator usually targets women
who are timid and cannot fight back such as young children who also blame themselves for
everything that is happening because that is how they think. Children who were victims of sexual
harassment do not stand forward readily because they are scared of what the adults might say
which also implies to adult women victims who are scared of what the society might say. In
addition, perpetrators are most likely to be guys who the victim knows or trusts (E. Lindsay,
2016). This is because they are given more chances to assault the victim and blame them after.
Thus, people who knows the victim and perpetrator will have the mindset that the victim said
‘yes’ and was cooperative in the act. This thinking is due to the reason that the society, instead of
 “Sexual Harassment: Does clothing matter?”

supporting and helping the victim to recover, jumps to conclusions and blames the victim of
being revealing and not careful when she was harassed.

Since sexual harassment and victim blaming is related, victims of sexual

harassment should gain support instead of blames due to what had happened to them. Because
victims are people who did not agree to participate in the said act and felt pain or were insulted
during the act/s. Thus, the society should support and go with them and not blame them for the
act that they did not agreed upon. In addition to that, people who are blaming the victims are
practically supporting the perpetrator though they might be unaware of it. But there is no neutral
ground. It’s either they support and help the victim or blame them and take the side of the
perpetrator. Victims are people who were hurt and were deprived of their rights which the
society must fight for instead of depriving them the little piece of themselves that was left after
the incident/s that happened to them. If victims of sexual harassment will gain more support
rather than blames, their recovery from traumas and regaining of how and who they were before
the sexual harassment can be faster.

Aftermaths of Sexual Harassment to Victims

The crime of sexual harassment is an act that affects the victim greatly because it does
not affect the person’s life but they’re capabilities as well. Effects of sexual harassment to its
victims, varies from physical aspect to psychological aspects. Physical aspects vary on how
violent the harassment was. This may include bruises, wounds or cutes, bleeding on genitals such
as the vagina or anal, soreness, and if the harasser did not use protection or any means of
contraception, pregnancy. On the other hand, the victim may also experience psychological
effects such as anger, fear, self-blame, depression, suicidal thoughts and post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD). Furthermore, psychological effects of sexual harassment are categorized
between intrapsychological – within the victim’s self – and intrapsychological – between the
people – effects.

Victims of sexual harassment suffer intrapsychological (within the victim’s self) and
interpsychological (between the people) effects. Intraspsychological effects include depression,
anxiety, secondary trauma, sleep disorders, panic attacks, lowered self-esteem and a whole lot
more. While interpsychological effects include when the victim is being distant or avoid joining
activities with a crowd or with men, communicates lesser than before, would choose to be alone,
be unproductive in school or work, and can also lead the victim to withdraw from school or
work. Sexual harassment can cause the victim to doubt or even blame herself to what have
happened and ask herself what she did wrong which can be provoked by victim-blaming. These
effects can last from a short period of time but can also last for years depending on the tolerance
of the patient and the environment she is in. If she has a supportive environment which is
consisted of people who supports and comforts her, it can help to fasten up her recovery. But if
the victim has an environment with people blaming the way she dresses, acted and behaved
before and during the incident can lead to a longer time of recovery.
 “Sexual Harassment: Does clothing matter?”

Considering these aftermaths of sexual harassment, people around the victims will have
the idea on how to help them, for the possible effects were identified. Victims should engage in
counseling or treatments that can help them recover. Sexual harassment is a crime that can
change someone’s life greatly. A help from experts or officials regarding on the matter will be a
great help for the victim because it would ease their inner problems if they get to tell it to
someone. The victim’s environment will play a great role in their recovery because it will
depend on them if this process will last for a short time only or take a long time. The victims will
not completely forget what had happened, but experts can help them recover and do things that
they normally do before the incident occurred. People around the victim should be sensitive
about how the victims have been doing because they can say they are well, but they might be not.
Victims can also be sensitive and decode words and sentences differently because of their mental
state so the people around them should be careful on what and how they say things and not be
offended of their responses. Also, conducting further researches about sexual assault and related
cases will be a great help to understand their condition more.

Conclusion

Reasons for sexual harassment should not be accepted by the society because it will never
be the victim’s fault. The way a woman dresses herself should not be considered as a way of
invitation or access for harassment. Sexual harassment is a crime because it penetrates an
individual’s right. The society should also stop the practice of blaming the victim for sexual
harassment and asking questions such as what they were wearing and acting at the time of
harassment because the way a woman dresses herself is her way to look good and feel confident
may it be at school or work. The effects of sexual harassment are not only in the areas of
physical but also in psychological state. Damages in the physical and psychological state of a
victim may last for a short time or a longer time depending on how the environment she belongs
in takes her situation. A victim’s environment can either help her in the process or prolong her
agony caused by the harassment. The environment or the kind of culture and society a victim
belongs in plays a great role in the process of recovery. A victim’s case can become worse if the
people around her condemn her, but she can be better or recover faster and regain her confidence
again if they accept and support her throughout the time. This paper can be used for further
studies about sexual harassment and how it can affect the life of the victim. It can also be used as
for bridging references or be a reference itself and be used against the harasser, if needed.

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