Causes and Consequences of Sexual Harassment in an Agricultural Organization in Zimbabwe: The Case of Company A

Abstract

The main thrust of the book chapter is to offer a detailed understanding of sexual harassment in the workplace in Zimbabwe. The chapter outlines the understanding of sexual harassment, the sources of sexual harassment, and the implications on both the employees and the overall organization. Among the causes of sexual harassment in the workplace, the book chapter highlights the uneven sex ratios, power-threat explanations, biological nature theory, gender nonconformity, and work environment theory. Sexual harassment is said to affect employees’ social lives, reduce productivity and earnings, and worsen psychological health. The organization is also affected by financial losses through lawsuits, damage costs, and productivity, a shattered organizational overall picture. Organizations are encouraged to formulate and implement sexual harassment policies and procedures as well as handling procedures. There is also a need to train and empower employees on sexual harassment and how to regulate and manage it. Migratory strategies of such effects are the implementation of workplace policies and procedures governing sexual harassment, regular training and development, and workplace grievance procedures implemented through different frameworks.

1. Introduction

There has been an outcry [1, 2] that in spite of legislation put in place to address sexual harassment in most countries, the effectiveness of the same legislation in the workplace has been found wanting. The authors provided statistics that show that 50% of women and 30% of men in workplaces are victimized. These then serve as indicators of the tenacity of sexual harassment within workplaces despite efforts to manage it, therefore warranting a need to investigate the reasons why, regardless of the efforts, statistics are showing otherwise. In addition, sexual harassment has contributed to a number of implications at the workplace that can directly and/or indirectly affect employees, employers, and societies. Jahya [2] argues that sexual harassment has contributed to reducing women to sexual objects, worsened psychological and physical health, and reduced labor productivity. Costs to the organization are also being realized, which stem from those of the victims as individual and/or group productivity is affected, increased costs through lawsuits and paying of compensations to victims [3, 4]. This consequently shows that it is imperative to offer ease in understanding sources of sexual harassment and their implications at the workplace. The chapter addresses the following objectives:

1. To identify the sources of sexual harassment and the actors involved in the workplace.

2. To establish the implications of sexual harassment to both employees and the organization at the workplace.

1.1 Understanding of sexual harassment

Sexual harassment is quite a topical issue within labor and workplace issues in the global workplace, having been coined years back; however, it still poses challenges in its identification and management to this day. Sexual harassment is, in simple wording, the advancement of unwelcome and unreasonable sexually constructed behavior(s) through verbal means or otherwise to other employees at the workplace. Such unreasonable behaviors include physical contact or assault and verbal means such as sexual innuendoes and sexual favors requests. Shaw et al. [1] asserted that the coining of a universal definition of sexual harassment defies the full exploration of what sexual harassment entails as it generates boundaries to the definition. They further argued that this leads to obstruction of developing aspects that explain sexual harassment, for it can be argued to be a dynamic workplace phenomenon. As various definitions emerged, it became vital to define sexual harassment through an inclusive consideration of its various subelements. The Public Service Act of Zimbabwe [5] offered one way of looking into sexual harassment as an enemy and potential threat to equal treatment of men and women as it can be classified as a form of discrimination that has to do with sex. Situational sexual harassment is also another way of looking at this phenomenon, as echoed by The Public Service Act of Zimbabwe ([5], p. 108), “… where any form of unwanted verbal, nonverbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature occurs, with the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of a person, in particular when creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.” Sexual harassment can be online, where a range of behaviors such as messages, photographs, and videos can be circulated publicly or privately, making the victim feel upset, humiliated, or discriminated among others. It does not matter if the message was intended to be a joke; the victim’s experience defines it. Through considerations of the above-mentioned definitions, sexual harassment can be summarized to include, but not limited to, the following facets: it is exerted behavior that is unwanted and unreasonable, has to be sexual or sexually determined in nature, however, manifesting itself in either verbal or nonverbal means and has to be forced onto other employees. Nevertheless, such ambiguity can be addressed by looking at approaches to the definitions influenced by a number of facets, that is defining concepts and facets of sexual harassment rather than defining it as a single construct.

1.2 Legal perspective

Sexual harassment is defined differently by nations, with its prevalence and appreciation impacting the definition, producing variations within the definitions. From a legal perspective, sexual harassment can be understood as a form of sexual discrimination [1], denoting that this aspect recognizes the sexually determined behaviors falling under sexual harassment. A number of scholars ([1], p. 288, [6], p. 5) have then gone a step further to provide for a legal definition of sexual harassment under the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission US EEOC 1980: 74677 cited by [7] as;

Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.

As sexual harassment grew internationally, other countries have also gone further to include a broader appreciation of sexual harassment, adding that the harassers do not necessarily have to be employed by the organization and the harassment can occur out of the scope of the workplace [1]. Other various international institutions and bodies in curbing sexual harassment have included and used the aspects mentioned by the McLaughlin et al. [7].

Narrowing down to emerging economies [8], hereinafter mentioned as The Act, as the comprehensive legislation governing relations between the employer and employees has also mentioned sexual harassment within its segments [9]. The Act scarcely define – in comparison with US EEOC (1980) – sexual harassment under its elements as an unfair labor practice, with Section 8(h) and (g) outlining;

Any employer or for the purpose of paragraphs (g) and (h), an employee or any other person, commits an unfair labor practice if, by act or omission, he –

(g) demands from any employee or prospective employee any sexual favor as a condition of.

(h) engages in unwelcome sexually determined behavior towards any employee, whether verbal or otherwise, such as making physical contact or advances, sexually colored remarks, or displaying pornographic materials in the workplace.

The Act addressed aspects of sexual harassment including explicitly implying to the victim demand for sexual favors against conditions of employment or rather cementing it [4]. Another addressed manifestation of sexual harassment is through sexually determined advancements to other employees, which is outlined under unfair labor practices. Although the nation’s definition is overgeneralized and lacks explicit provisions of sexual harassment, the conduct mentioned under and as unfair practice is roughly sexual harassment.

Also, stretching to the public sphere, attendance of sexual harassment is inefficient, evidenced by ([8] Sect 16:04) concentrating on government employees [9]. This legislation piece recognizes sexual harassment but fails to shed light on sexual harassment behaviors. The Statutory Instrument 1 of 2000 under Public Service Regulations legislation piece describes sexual harassment as misconduct under discourteous behavior and ends there without stipulating the forms of behaviors, means of managing, and redress. Section 4 provision passively mentions sexual harassment and describes it as inappropriate conduct that is exerted toward others. Such a definition is mere child’s play as it is demeaning to the phenomenon’s magnitude as here it is only noted as misconduct while other nations are advancing to even criminalize it. Conclusively, legal appreciation of sexual harassment in other nations is comprehensive; however, locally, it is still lagging.

Through deliberations on the mentioned, the legal context manages to capture a number of universal aspects of sexual harassment stretching across different nations. Such include unreasonableness, sexually determined advances, and rejection or acceptance of such conduct, which is used as a basis for employment decisions [2]. However, there are certain legislations that are failing to underpin sexual harassment in its rightful magnitude and proffering determinants of sexual harassment that will aid in its identification and management.

1.3 Socio-psychological perspective

This perspective is argued to be more comprehensive than the former since it does not require negative outcomes (initial harassment) for coining sexual harassment. Scholars have termed it a behavioral or conceptual perspective. Shaw et al. ([1], p. 288), argued that under the social psychological perspective, sexual harassment could be viewed as “unwanted sex-related behavior at work that is appraised by the recipient as offensive, exceeding her resources, or threatening her well-being”. Through such a definition, it can be drawn that a victim’s subjective interpretation of the encounter then defines sexual harassment. Defining sexual harassment is then made possible through grouped subjective perspectives of victims. Hejase [10] argued three broad categories of perspectives that define sexual harassment, which include gender harassment, unwanted sexual attention, and coercion. The last two are similar to those expressed by the legal perspective, but the first adds gender harassment (a social and psychological view) as a new perspective

Under gender harassment, behaviors are conveyed in ways that are not purposed in sexual cooperation but relatively to express sexual hostility. This category is overlooked from the legal perspective as it is rooted in social avenues. Hejase [10] broke gender harassment into two forms including sexist hostility as degradation of the other gender through suggestive names and sexist comments portraying irrelevance and sexual hostility, which is pernicious and unequivocally sexual and hostile. The latter involves degradation based on females’ sexuality and sexual activity through names for female body parts and crude comments. Recent research has promulgated new aspects of gender harassment, which include gender policing, which is harassment of women who step out of standards stereotypically prescribed to be of femininity, and work/family policing, which is regulation of boundaries where work is for men and home for women. Fitzgerald and Cortina [11] then summarized the input of gender harassment on sexual harassment, arguing that harassment largely manifests through gender and rarely sexuality. This nature of harassment is common yet overlooked in workplaces and in legislative pieces [1].

In addition, sexual harassment under this perspective manifests through unwanted sexual attention and sexual coercion. Hejase [10] defined unwanted sexual attention as uninvited sexual advancements, including sexual comments and even fondling, which are not entirely linked to any job-related condition. Meanwhile, sexual coercion equates to quid pro quo, involving those explicit or implied behaviors that link sexual cooperation to job-related outcomes [12]. This usually occurs at critical stages involving employment conditions such as recruitment and promotion [13], and the response of the victim determines the provision or rejection of the stated outcomes.

The socio-psychological perspective is all-inclusive in attending sexual harassment as it opens social avenues such as accommodating gender harassment, which legislation snubs. It is holistic in that it accepts the contribution of culture and society (gender) to harassment as well as aspects stipulated by the legal view, which are sexual coercion and unwanted sexual attention.

1.4 Public/lay perspective

Another way of looking into and defining sexual harassment involves the perspectives of workplace stakeholders, termed the public or lay perspective. The lay perspective is the definition argued to influence the workplace stakeholder’s appreciation of the aspects of sexual harassment [11]. It assumes the eye of the public on sexual harassment, hence the name public perspective. This is one of the most researched definitions of sexual harassment with the changes in the public’s view, so accordingly changes the definition, therefore, avoiding the insertion of boundaries to defining the behaviors that constitute sexual harassment. As perspectives vary and grow with time, sexual harassment behaviors and their nature evolve while new ones are being realized, which were overlooked, acceptable, and justified before but are now inappropriate and even illegal [1]. Summarily, the definition of sexual harassment under lay perspective is one that is rather dynamic than static as it uses the perspectives of the public to define and determine behaviors that appear to be sexually harassing. Therefore, it is crucial to note that an influence on this perspective reciprocates in an influence on the public’s general appreciation of sexual harassment.

However, despite the difficulty, Fitzgerald and Cortina [11] and Jahya [2] have drawn attention to aspects constituting sexual harassment and then using such to portray its presence including abusive behavior and bullying against unreasonable and unwanted behaviors. Through this method, statistical data has been obtained to explain the occurrence of sexual harassment. A survey in 1998 by the European Commission from 11 European countries found that one in every two (50%) or three (33.3%) women and one in ten (10%) men have experienced sexual harassment [14]. Such high percentages suggest higher levels of sexual harassment present against women than men despite training and preventive legislation. Current studies by The Public Service Act of Zimbabwe [5] have also shown that 30–50% of women are sexually harassed in Europe. Stretching also to USA, Hajase ([10], p. 110) reported that, “the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission fielded more than 13,867 charges of sexual harassment. From 1990 to 2009, the percentage of sexual harassment claims filed by male employees has doubled from 8% to 16%.” This reflects that sexual harassment is a growing topical issue globally rather than an addressed one and is also a problem that has implications on both genders at the workplace, however differently as to be unpacked by the research.

On the contrary, sexual harassment presence in developing economies has suffered detrimental factors in statistics of reported cases as evidenced by low rates [5] but however, coupled with increased women turnover and absenteeism at work, sprouting questions on the cause. This has also contributed to the lowest figures as employees get sexually harassed at workplaces, but due to a lack of awareness of what exactly constitutes them being harassed, the empowerment to report such practices restricts them. This view of lowered rates was also supported by The Public Service Act of Zimbabwe [5], who took from [2] stating that in Egypt and Africa, 83% of women are facing sexual harassment, but 2% of them have gone a step further to report such. Also, according to a study by Madera [15] on sexual harassment in Zimbabwean industries, it is reported that 7 out of 10 (66%) of cases of sexual harassment go unreported and unresolved. In addition, found that females are five times more likely to be harassed than males; six in ten (60%) of reported cases were matters of salaries and promotions. This has, therefore, among the lack of awareness, contributed to the scarcity of statistics covering the occurrence of sexual harassment in developing nations’ workplaces, which is affecting the appreciation by stakeholders as it gets treated as nonexistent while it is only uncoined.

Despite the lack of determinants, the effects of sexual harassment are being experienced countrywide in Zimbabwe. This lack has affected the management of harassment, leading to an increased impact of the effects as victims suffer silently and powerlessly. According to McLaughlin et al. [7], worsened psychological health and job dissatisfaction are part of the ramifications for victims. The Public Service Act of Zimbabwe [5] added that implications also spill over to organizations through lawsuits as employees seek redress and organizations suffer productivity losses due to the reduced employee(s) performance. This clearly reflects the negative impact sexual harassment has at workplaces for both employees and organizations.

2. Types of sexual harassment

Although sexual harassment is comprised of complexity in definitions, scholars such as [4] have managed to outline two main types which include ‘quid pro quo’ and hostile environment. Quid pro quo involves sexual coercion in line with conditions of employment [16]. It came about through the legal perspective of defining sexual harassment, suggesting that it includes intimidations and coercions linked to employment benefits or consequences that are determined by the acceptance or rejection [16, 17, 18], also addresses quid pro quo in Section 8(g) and the conditions that give rise to it. This coercion is sexually inclined, and the acceptance of such a relationship entails beneficial job-related outcomes such as recruitment or promotion within the workplace. McLaughlin et al. [7] propounded that it can be practiced by those in authority such as supervisors and managers to the minority group as they demand sexual attention so as to attain employment benefits.

ILO [16] summarized hostile environment harassment as capturing those behaviors, such as sexual jokes, comments, and touching, that interfere with an individual’s ability to do her/his job or that create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment. This stipulates that the creation of hostility and annoyance within the workplace’s atmosphere through harassing behaviors that are sexually determined, therefore, makes for a type of sexual harassment. However, this type is also mentioned by ref. [18] under Section 8(h), as an unfair practice and not in its entirety. It is noted from the victim’s perspective that the environment has turned to be hostile, affecting their performance [17]. An instance is when employees make offensive remarks, making the target feel uncomfortable [7].

In achieving justice by apprehending all facets of sexual harassment, the behaviors captured can be classified into different forms, answering how exactly the perpetrators harassed others. The identification of forms of sexual harassment is influenced by the approach to defining and the cause of sexual harassment. These range from the most severe such as sexual assault to simple day-to-day exchanges such as whistling [16]. The identification of the forms is cumbersome as some behaviors might be tolerated by certain societal values. Nonetheless, the use of determinants has managed the capturing of these forms, for example, unreasonableness. McLaughlin et al. [7] outlined three categories, which include physical forms such as physical violence, contact, and solicitation of favors; verbal forms with examples such as sexual comments, jokes, sexual advances, and condescending remarks; and lastly, nonverbal cues such as whistling, sexually-suggestive gestures and display of pornographic materials. Conclusively, forms feed into the types of sexual harassment, and that is the need to understand these.

3. Actors associated with sexual harassment

To understand the trends in sexual harassment, it is vital to take note of various actors playing roles, which then influences coming up with strategic solutions. These include individuals likely to be; victims being those harassed, perpetrators being the harassers, and bystanders being those that witness the act despite embarking on an action or not.

Research has come to realize the majority of employees sexually harassed are those dependent, financially, for example, on others at work. In developing nations, casual, informal employees and those that work in isolated contexts, both genders, are also prone to harassment [19]. Studies have also shown that women harassment cases are high, making them more prone to harassment than men; nevertheless, men are being affected also but report less (10%) due to perceiving the harassment as not that bothersome [1] or influenced by the works of hegemonic masculinities.

In as much as statistics [14] prove that men tend to harass women more, it is imperative to note certain characteristics that make one impose themselves on the other than aligning behaviors to gender. The Zimbabwean Labour Act,([14], p. 129) argued that “sexual harassers appear to permeate all social strata, occupational levels, and age categories.” This depicts that harassers can come from all corners of the workplace including those of superior or even the same level [1]. It is argued that certain characteristics promote the occurrence of harassment, and they include the tolerance of harassment by organizational policymakers [3]. This paves the way for harassers from all strides such as seniority, educational level, and sex, hence the need not to coining harassers to belong to one particular stratum.

Lastly, bystanders are those that witness, hear, or see sexual incidents at the workplace [1]. They can range from colleagues to the employers of the organization. The importance of taking note of this category as an actor is their input in the incidence either with preventive actions such as awareness curbing such incidents [20] or nonintervention being argued to stimulate and support the recurrence even more.

4. Causes of sexual harassment

Sexual harassment causes can be explained by the dominance theory or sociocultural theory, as argued by Quick and McFadyen [4]. With regard to this, sexual harassment is argued to have roots in the gender and culture of employees’ societies which they identify with [1]. Gender stratification of societies based on gender roles makes for the harassment of women in the workplace [7]. In simple wording, appreciation of patriarchy in homes and societies reciprocates in the harassment of women within the workplace community, preying on the inferiority of women. McLaughlin et al. [7], was of the same view, adding that as women attain inferior positions within society and men dominate, they are then prone to be sexually harassed. The abusive power of masculinity attained then causes men to harass women.

Another aspect of the work environment is the overall setting and the climate of an organization, which provides room for the likelihood of sexual harassment [16]. Characteristics such as unprofessionalism and uneven employee sex ratios tend to promote the occurrence of harassment [16]. Within the former point employees’ appreciation of sexual harassment is biased as those that are carefree brew harassers whereas the latter explains harassment in one gender, female or male, dominated jobs as the majority overpowers and harasses the minority. This, therefore, gives for how an organizational climate, mainly in informal and physical environments [19], causes the occurrence of sexual harassment.

Moreover, power-threat explanations can also be given for the causes of sexual harassment. The authors [9] were of the view that as women attain supervisory authority at the workplace, they challenge the superiority of men envisaged within the masculinity sociocultural beliefs. Such beliefs include those explained by Jahya [2] by mentioning work on masculine overcompensation, where men enact extreme forms of masculinity in reaction to threats of their manhood. In such instances, sexual harassment then serves as an equalizer of men against women for threatening their power and is motivated rather by domination and threat neutralization than sexual desires (gender harassment).

In addition, gender nonconformity also serves as a catalyst for the occurrence of sexual harassment behaviors in the workplace. Jahya [2] arrived at the view that women who tend to have ‘man-like’ behaviors such as being self-dependent and assertive are perceived to be threatening gender hierarchy therefore are prone to be sexually harassed. The opposite is explained also by Jahya [2] through the aid of Connell’s [6] theory of hegemonic masculinities, where society has prescribed a certain ideal behavior of males. This, therefore, means any gender that shifts from the socially prescribed features is vulnerable to a hostile environment and sexual harassment by others who perceive the deviation from ideal behaviors as a threat.

Quick and McFadyen [4] argues another way sexual harassment is seen in daylight, as arrived at by existential feminists, is the belief of inferiority by women against the superiority of men. Within such a cause, women tend to view themselves as the ‘other gender’ whose life is determined and dependent upon men. Quick and McFadyen [4], concluded that sexual harassment is then perpetrated by men to the ‘other gender’ to fulfill their egos, while women have to accept this as a normal phenomenon that men can embark on and perpetuate.

Also, to explain further the causes is the natural or biological theory of sexual harassment. McLaughlin et al. [7] explained that men are easily sexually aroused whereas women are the opposite, resulting in aggressive behavior as one part is willing while the other is not. The theory recognizes the inmate instincts of men or, rather, the naturalness and biological push factors that drive sexually violent behaviors. Conclusively, these make for the causes and reasons for the recurrence of sexual harassment in workplaces by explaining how social, cultural, and psychological avenues feed it and also physically, with some being pushed for deliberately while others on some.

5. Implications of sexual harassment at workplaces

Sexual harassment has created a lot of ramifications within workplaces and even stretching to societies employees are from ref. [21]. They range from psychological effects on employees of both genders to organizational costs with increased lawsuits and lost productivity, among others [3, 7, 16].

5.1 Ramifications on individuals

It is argued by feminist scholars that sexual harassment has caused quite a number of ramifications for women as a workplace and social group [2]. As a form of harassment and an individual(s) playing victim, sexual harassment is argued to result in worsened psychological health [15]. This is contributed to by the mental torture and scars the incidence embeds in the victims’ mindset as employees start to feel unsafe in their own workplace. A study by Matsikidze [3] found that 21% of US government employees reported a decline in productivity as they were negatively affected by the harassment. This cements the idea of sexual harassment, worsening the psychological well-being of employees later feeding to the lowered job and employee performance.

In addition, lessened job satisfaction is one consequence of sexual harassment brought into organizations. McLaughlin et al. [7] argued about sexual harassment and its costs in an occupational health and safety manner. The scholar propounded that as an employee is exposed to harassment that is sexually determined, the perceptions of the workplace change from viewing it as a safe working place to an unsafe and hostile one. Such changes are accompanied also by posttraumatic stress and depression [1], which then lead to reduced job satisfaction as well as life satisfaction as scars of harassment haunt the victim. McLaughlin et al. [7] and this lowers job satisfaction as a result of increased work stress.

Extending from the reduction in employee performance and satisfaction, another ramification of lowered earnings for the victims is bred. Surveys and experiments alluded to by Hajase [10] came to realize that organizational commitment decreases as sexual harassment incidences increase. This then disturbs the input of the victims to the achievement of the organizational goals. Hajase [10] also asserted over-performance demands as victims try to redeem themselves so as to gain acceptance within the workplace, which only leads to stress. This, therefore, affects their earnings as, usually in performance pay-natured jobs, the increase in both absenteeism and presentism, therefore, depicts a fall in commission leading to reduced earnings.

Career trajectories have also not been spared by the sexual harassment ax, with an increase in organizational withdrawals by victims. Hajase [10] were of the view that with the creation of hostility within the workplace, the atmosphere has forced victims to withdraw from their work. This, they continued, is in two ways with one being through disengagement and the other being more of complete withdrawal, that is quitting and resigning from their jobs. Studies are revealing that victims often experience a lack of trust and confidence in creating professional relationships with mentors – usually the perpetrators – therefore influencing professional advancement due to reduced exposure to opportunities [19]. Leaving an organization is one effective method of evading harassment escapades, but it is characterized by long-term implications on the victim such as financial and professional costs.

In addition, sexual harassment experience is argued to affect the victim’s social life. Shaw et al. [1] added that harassment manifests in victims through self-blame, demoralization, and fear, which can affect the managers, supervisors, and co-workers of the victim. Such stretches negatively affect the organization with negative contributions to the organizational culture, confidence, and the achievement of the bottom line. The scholars also were of the view that those affected tend to reflect anger in their romantic relationships as the scars from the incident haunt them. This, therefore, affects the personal life of that person, even within their homes or communities they come from, proving the effects of harassment on society.

5.2 Ramifications on organizations

Matsikidze ([3], p. 6) was of the view that organizations are not spared from ramifications of ongoing sexual harassment incidences at the workplace through the argument that, “The adverse consequences for victims of sexual harassment translate into a less productive work environment”. The Public Service Act of Zimbabwe [5] added that organizations are experiencing huge financial losses due to untamed sexual harassment incidents, whether the victim takes affirmative action or cows to perceived retaliation. The Public Service Act of Zimbabwe [5] allude to a two-year study which found out that US government is facing an estimated $327 million in job turnover, sick leave, and productivity, with 61% of the costs being due to productivity losses making an average of $22,500.00 lost per every person subjected to sexual harassment. This, therefore, proves that organizations are experiencing enormous monetary costs due to their ease in tapping and managing sexual harassment incidents.

The effects of sexual harassment on organizations is one domain that is of high magnitude, for the consequences are driven by both the recognition of sexual harassment and as well as a high number of sexual harassment incidences [7]. With the [3] principle of reciprocation and spill over of individuals’ ramifications, the organization also faces a reduction in labor productivity as the employees face work stress and job dissonance. In addition to the losses, studies McLaughlin et al. [7] indicate that companies are also spending millions of dollars in covering liabilities – lawsuits and damage costs – of sexual harassment. A further synopsis then reveals that the occurrence and recurrence of sexual harassment are causing organizational losses and reduced profits, necessitating the need to recognize the domain and then implement preventive strategies and initiatives that mitigate the implications of sexual harassment in the workplace.

Research in South Africa, as mentioned by ILO [16], concluded that companies are also being affected by sexual harassment ramifications as well as the victims. The quid pro quo, in particular, is argued to bring in heightened overhead costs to the companies that most do not realize [12] was of the view that as the perpetrator obliges to the contractual terms of the quid pro quo incident, the organization is affected since the monetary expenses are billed in the company’s name. To put into example, the harassers can engage in outdoor holidays, traveling, and subsistence expenses in obliging by the contractual means perpetrated within the harassment incidence; these are then billed in the company’s name as business expenses, leading to the overhead costs that are not in line with the achievement of organizational goals and objectives.

In a nutshell, sexual harassment is as detrimental a factor to the organization as it is to the individuals suffering at its hands. Some of the effects it is bearing on the organization include the aforementioned and others such as the affected meeting of financial goals, job dissatisfaction, lowered employee morale and commitment, and affected organizational outward picture ([5], p. 17). However, it should be noted that the intensity – high intensity being sexual assault and low intensity being sexual jokes – of the incidence bears little significance to the effects produced [1].

6. Mitigatory strategies in curbing sexual harassment

Legislation and workplace policies go a long way in curbing sexual harassment as they provide a countywide solution rather than an industrial-specific means. Through such, sexual harassment can be addressed in various ways such as by deeming it employment discrimination, unfair labor practice, criminal activity, and even a breach of occupational safety and health [5]. The practice of sexual harassment is then defined by such and the remedial action provided. However, there is paucity in the Zimbabwean and other nations’ laws as sexual harassment is given limited significance. The Act provides only for sexual harassment as an unfair labor practice, and no means of resolving it are outlined. This has even had a pill-over effect on workplace policies being insufficient in fully addressing the domain [9].

A workplace report by Hersch [21] came to the view that the address and redress of workplace sexual harassment can be done in four phases, namely prepare, prevent, respond, and transform. Within the first phase, there is the use of internal resources – policies and practices – to address sexual harassment. The second involves preventive actions such as regular training and development of employees on sexual harassment [7], empowering them with the knowledge to label sexual harassment practices and take remedial action. The third now involves employers’ liability, where the management, including HR, responds to the prevalence of harassment. The transformation stage then builds a zero-tolerance atmosphere at the workplace, therefore, combating the current occurrence and eradicating future ones.

Workplace sexual harassment can also be addressed in three consecutive ways: primary, secondary, and tertiary solutions. Hajase [10] addressed this framework, with the first class being the consideration of legislation and policies in the first and the second stages involving workplace grievance procedures that promote the reporting and remedial action of harassment incidences. Hajase [10] added that the tertiary class, borrowing from Chamberlain 2008, involves long-term strategies for resolving and preventing further consequences of harassment. The use of such is argued to curb the implications of sexual harassment in workplaces. Nevertheless, as far as the framework is proactive and comprehensive and incorporates the facets of the Labour Act, it lacks an in-depth impact on the pandemic as it is organisationally aligned rather than a countrywide solution.

7. Conclusion

In conclusion, the focus of this chapter is to unearth the sexual harassment definition, causes, and implications in workplaces. The study then found out that biological nature, patriarchal tendencies (dominance theory), organizational and work environments, gender nonconformity, and power-threat explanations were chief among the causes of sexual harassment. The implications of sexual harassment are deteriorating psychological health, reduced performance fueling reduced earnings in contract-based work, and lessened job satisfaction and engagement. The organization is also affected by financial losses through lawsuits, damage costs, and productivity, a shattered organizational overall picture. Organizations are encouraged to formulate and implement sexual harassment policies and procedures as well as handling procedures. There is also a need to train and empower employees on sexual harassment and how to regulate and manage it. There is limited research worldwide on sexual harassment, and to make matters worse in Zimbabwe, it is negatively influencing the research. There are also limitations in the theoretical framework that can explain the gap in failing to curb sexual harassment in the workplace. Future research may look at challenges faced by organizations in implementing sexual harassment policies and procedures in the workplace. This will help inform the national labor codes so as to align approaches to curbing sexual harassment in the workplace. A study comparing the legislation in different countries would be interesting, too.