3 common ways sexual harassment can harm an employee
Sometimes, workplace sexual harassment spirals out of control and leads to violent interactions and assaults. Most of the time, however, sexual harassment does not cause any obvious visual injuries to the person enduring the abuse.
People may fail to recognize the various ways in which sexual harassment can have a significant negative impact on the person targeted. Whether an employee has to deal with a hostile work environment or quid pro quo harassment from someone in a position of power, what they experience at work can have a profound negative impact on their life.
What practical consequences does sexual harassment often produce?
1. Mental health challenges
People experiencing sexual harassment at work may notice a decline in their self-confidence or self-esteem. They may start developing symptoms of anxiety or depression.
In scenarios where they fear for their safety, the harassment can become a kind of trauma that could affect them for years to come. The personality of the person experiencing harassment and the specific types of abuse they endure influence the mental health challenges that follow sexual harassment.
2. Physical health issues
Protracted periods of intense stress can cause physiological damage. Stress responses in the body can lead to people accumulating body fat. Stress can affect the heart and the brain.
Even if sexual harassment does not result in traumatic physical injuries, it can still have a quantifiable negative impact on long-term physical health. The longer the harassment continues and the more the worker internalizes the stress and anxiety that it causes, the greater the likelihood of physical symptoms developing.
3. Major career setbacks
Complaints about sexual harassment can damage a professional’s work relationships, even when what they experience is verifiable and inappropriate. Coworkers and supervisors may be less likely to give them a glowing recommendation.
They may receive fewer networking opportunities and may struggle to pursue the promotions, projects or raises that they desire. The physical and mental health consequences of sexual harassment can also trickle down to affect job performance.
Workers may have a hard time continuing their jobs within the same profession or at the same company. Those trying to hold an employer accountable for allowing sexual harassment in the workplace may need help identifying the consequences of the harassment and quantifying the economic harm generated by those consequences.
Pursuing a sexual harassment lawsuit can result in financial compensation that can help workers defray lost earning potential and career opportunities. They can also seek compensation to cover treatment costs for the medical issues related to their harassment. Workers who understand the potential consequences of sexual harassment may recognize why fighting back is so important for their long-term well-being.