Category: Sexual Abuse

This paper will be focusing on sexual abuse among siblings, also known as sibling sexual abuse (SSA). The paper will discuss the lack of research regarding sexual abuse between siblings, the impact the abuse has on the survivor and the relationships between family members afterwards, what society can do to help, and what should be further researched regarding this topic. Sibling sexual abuse includes intercourse, attempted intercourse, oral-genital contact, fondling of genitals directly or through clothing, exhibitionism, exposing children to adult sexual activity or pornography, and the use of the child for prostitution or pornography (Caffaro, J., 2016).

Current Research

The current research regarding the topic of sibling sexual abuse is very limited and minimally looked into. An article on the topic talks about how rarely SSA is discussed in literature even though according to statistics this form of abuse is one of the most common types in childhood sexual abuse. They found that the abusers were often not prosecuted in situations of SSA, only about one third, versus abuse from outside the family three quarters were prosecuted. Three types of SSA were discussed and explained starting with harmless sex play, sexual behaviour initiated by both parties involved, and sexual behaviour that is not the norm and would be classified as harmful. This study found that there are no set criteria to define abuse between siblings versus harmless sex play or sexual behaviour initiated by both parties (Yates, P., 2016). The survivor of the abuse is most often women who have been abused by an older sibling, often a brother (Mcdonald, C., & Martinez, K., 2017). The research shows that siblings can act as buffers between parents when attachments are no secure, and therefore can lead to siblings becoming close (Caffaro, J., 2016).

Stereotypes

Research by Yates talks about how there are many stereotypes related to siblings and their sexual behaviour starting with the idea that young siblings engage in playful sexual behaviour to explore and that this type of behaviour is harmless. Some families kiss each other on the mouth while others think this is unacceptable. Topics such as bathing together and sharing a bed are talked about regarding what is acceptable and at what age these are acceptable. Sibling incest is a topic that people do not talk about which impacts that amount of research completed on the topic. The lack of research can lead to people believing that nothing is wrong with these behaviours and encourage social workers to continue with the thought process that siblings cannot be abusive to each other and that the survivor is making it up. This can lead to many emotional hardships for the survivor of the abuse in the future due to a lack of support, belief, and reassurance (Yates, P., 2016).

Risk and Causes of Sexual Abuse

An article by the Journal of Sexual Aggression published an article that discusses the risk factors for those who become abusers. Those who abused were often found to feel rejected by their parents, have poor family relationships, lack positivity, be physically disciplined, and have parents with problems in their marriage (Yates, P., Allardyce, S., & Macqueen, S., 2012). Other risks associated with becoming an abuser were having parents who were absent and had a sexual environment at home, parents who treated siblings differently, used power imbalances, and blurred boundaries (Caffaro, J., 2016).

A different article talks about how personal trauma and family dynamics can affect the way that the abuser reacts to the situation creating jealous anger which led to the abuse of a sibling. The parents of the children did not want to come forward to authorities because they feared what would be done to the child who was caught abusing their siblings which may have led to the continuation of the abuse or the thought of this being okay for the siblings survivor (Yates, P., Allardyce, S., & Macqueen, S., 2012).

Yates discusses how siblings may be caught using threats towards other siblings such as manipulation to regain power in the sibling dynamic. The abused sibling is not likely to come forward due to fear of what will happen to themselves and their family. Children often felt they may not be believed and were afraid of getting their sibling into trouble and upsetting their parents. Some signs of a child who may become an abuser are those who are distant, families who have open sexual boundaries, siblings who are often left alone without supervision, and those with parents who were distant. This article found four main factors that led to potential sibling abuse which were nudity in the family, parents who were physically violent to each other, sharing beds with siblings, and incest between a child and parent already occurring in the family (Yates, P., 2016).

Research on the impact of parental domestic violence on children shows that the inability to properly express and deal with intense feelings, depression, anxiety, aggression, interferes with exploratory behaviours, (Jenney, Angelique and Ramona Alaggia. “Children’s exposure to domestic violence: Integrating policy, research, and practice to address children’s mental health.” CBNU ch. 11, pp. 303-329.)

Theories

Some theories discussed in the literature revolving around sibling sexual abuse were the attachment paradigm and social learning theory. Social learning theory was used to describe how children who became abusers generally learned from being personally abused before, having a family that was dysfunctional, or having access to and watching pornography that involved violence (Mcdonald, C., & Martinez, K., 2017). The attachment paradigm is used to help the person who was a survivor of SSA to help them rebuild relationships in the future and see their perspective on self-blame and how the family reacted after finding out about the abuse. This helps to find what area to focus on for the survivor to get the proper help they need. The last theory discussed is cognitively oriented interventions. This is thought to help survivors look at the blame they have placed on themselves and dive into why they feel this way to allow them to forgive themselves and form a better self-image (Caffaro, J., 2016).

Impact on the Survivor

The impact on the survivor of the abuse can vary from person to person but throughout research studies showed that most survivors did not seek help for the sexual abuse they experienced, but instead tended to seek help for the after-effects such as depression, anxiety, and substance abuse. Survivors of sexual abuse were often diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and some became pregnant or contracted a sexually transmitted disease from their sibling along with physical injuries (Yates, P., 2016) Many survivors had no contact with their abuser in the future and had experienced strained relationships with their families after coming forward about the abuse. Relationships in the future with other people were often reported as difficult especially when it came to intimacy (Mcdonald, C., & Martinez, K., 2017). Survivors reported being confused about the situation, embarrassed to come forward, and fearful of what would happen to their family and abuser which prevented them from coming forward to report the abuse (Caffaro, J., 2016).

Health Care Teaching

As a health care provider, it’s very important to look for signs of abuse and be able to appropriately treat patients. The literature regarding the topic of sexual abuse among siblings is very scarce which impacts the knowledge given to health professionals about the signs to look for and how to handle the situation. As a professional who works with someone portraying harmful sexual behaviour, it is asked that they properly assess whether that child is a risk to others in the community or their family members (Yates, P., Allardyce, S., & Macqueen, S., 2012). When discussing sexual abuse among siblings, many professionals did not believe the survivors of the abuse, believing that siblings could not harm each other and that it was just children experimenting with each other which was deemed normal. It is important for future health care works to educate themselves on the statistics of sibling sexual abuse and train themselves to be sensitive to the care they provide the survivors and learn to take the statement as the truth. This will allow the survivor to appropriately disclose the information and begin to receive the help they need. When a sibling abuse is reported, the health care team should investigate further due to the possibility of more than one survivor being in the family or community as well as the possibility of parental abuse. During checkups with children questions about siblings should be asked regarding the relationship they have to give a safe opportunity for survivors to come forwards (Yates, P., 2016).

Further Research

Further research needs to be done regarding risk assessment tools to assess for survivors of abuse as well as potential children who are at risk for becoming the abuser (Yates, P., Allardyce, S., & Macqueen, S., 2012). Literature should discuss more openly the topic of sibling sexual abuse to bring more awareness to the topic to educate health care professionals on the rates of sexual abuse between siblings and to uncover the stereotypes about sibling abuse. More awareness of the topic will also provide others with the ability to come forward about speaking about the abuse, allowing them to understand that it is not uncommon, and it is not okay. Health care providers should integrate a routine screening tool into their assessments of every patient to help identify patients who experienced adverse events as children (Yates, P., 2016).

Introduction

Sexual harassment is generally characterized as unwelcome sex-related actions which are considered offensive by the victim and which surpass one’s coping abilities or endanger one ‘s health. This includes unwelcome verbal and non-verbal sexual activities, as well as unwanted physical actions that are difficult for the individual to deal with or handle. Sexual assault also involves attempted sexual assault, attempted rape and rape. Sexual harassment and assault at work bring an enormous personal impact on women’s lives. Women who are victims may experience a lot of negative impacts such as physical and mental health issues, career disruptions and lower earnings. Furthermore, sexual assault can affect or prevent women from entering into better paying jobs. It can also overlap with other types of bigotry and abuse for way of race or ethnicity, sexual identity, or age.

This research paper highlights how workplace sexual assault impacts the economic development and safety of women. It also provides approaches to prevent sexual harassment and to decrease the terrible effect of violence on individuals.

Job Conditions Associated with High Rates of Harassment

Recognizing work related elements linked to a high chance of sexual harassment and work associated assault might also assist to end sexual harassment in unique areas and situations. There are some key threat elements which include:

• Working in an isolated place. Many employees, such as lady janitors, domestic workers, and farmworkers, who mostly operate in isolated spaces, face higher rates of sexual harassment (Fernandaz Campbol 2018; Yeung and Rubensten 2013; Yeung 2015). Isolation leaves women unprotected to individuals who might feel powerful due to lack of witnesses.
• Working in a job controlled by men. About six out of ten women working in construction were harassed or asked for sex as stated in a survey in the nineties. (LeBreton and Loevy 1992). Also, the 2014 RAND army sexual assault and harassment study estimated that in the previous year 26 percent of active female participants were sexually harassed or discriminated because of their gender. (National Defense Research 2014).
• Lack of legal immigrant status or having a temporary visa for jobs only. Undocumented employees or others on temporary work permits can also be at risk of abuse. Clothing factories, Farming, and housekeeping services are areas in which many females who are unregistered and immigrants work. Which places them at a high chance of being harassed. Individuals that have been sexually assaulted in a place of work and file complaints have equal protection from deportation as survivors of domestic violence via U visa (Hyunhye Cho 2014). But still, there are those who believe their legal status would be put at risk by reporting abuse or attack. Some may even not know their rights, or may find it difficult to get legal support without speaking english properly. Actions against people who complain of sexual assault in the workplace can also include threats of notifying Immigration or canceling temporary job visas.

Sexual Harassment can Effect Individuals

Harassment can affect a person in many ways, such as harming them mentally and bodily health, also their chances to improve in their careers. And it can ruin their life in countless ways.

Negative outcomes mental and physical wellbeing

Few research shows that sexual harassment has bad mental health effects and can lead to depression, one study mentioned that one in ten women who experienced harassment gone through so much that they met the definition of PTSD. These results can sometimes last for many years even after the harassment (Houle et al. 2011). Harassment can have a bad impact on psychological well being and behaviors at work even if it is less severe. Besides that, researchers have found that abuse also can lead to higher risks of workplace injuries by disrupting employees when working in dangerous jobs (Sugerman 2018). These negative effects can result in major costs for mental and physical health services.

Forced to change well-paying jobs

Unemployment is a big issue for some women because they feel like they have to leave work because of sexual harassment before finding a new job (The Nation 2018). Also study suggests that there is a big connection between harassment and job shift, round eight in ten ladies who faced sexual harassment started a new job within two years after being harassed. As a result of that job change, they were in significant financial stress.

Harassment has resulted in economic pressure even when women were able to discover work quickly after they left their old job (McLaughlin, Uggen, and Blackstone 2017).

Opportunities reduced

Becoming a professional employee in many professions and improving one’s career relies on the job guidance and mentorship of previous qualified employees. Harassment can prevent women from having access to these learning possibilities (Sugerman 2018). For women in the academic sciences, medicine, and engineering, study shows that harassment affects their profession improvement by leading them to give up opportunities, even drop out of important projects, or step down from management possibilities. (Nation Academy of Sciences 2018).

Guidlines on Preventing Sexual Harassment in a Workplace:

Providing tools and awareness and installing modern technology to prevent and tackle sexual harassment in the workplace is crucial to making workplaces safer for all workers.

• • Employers need assess the potential risks that may be to related to sexual harassment and abuse, and perform surveys to find out to what extent harassment is a problem within their organization.
• • Employers should place strict and detailed anti harassment policies, and regularly communicate those policies to the staff.
• • Employers must instruct supervisors and middle management about how to respond to sexual harassment circumstances correctly.
• • Employers should provide instruction on behavior and mutual respect in the workplace and instruction on recognizing a potentially harmful situation. And how to respond to it.
• • Labor unions need to make sure that they comply with the equal necessities and reporting systems.

Have you ever witnessed someone in a workplace setting being abused sexually due to their type of sex? The majority of people who work in offices and workplace settings have said that they have witnessed first-hand harassment of the female sex from the more dominated male sex (Johnson). Over the course of many generations, women have usually been seen as to stay in the home and only cook, clean, and take care of the kids. Usually, in these situations, the dominant male in the family is the breadwinner and makes the money that the family needs to have to live a nice life off of. As more generations passed, more and more women is starting to leave the kitchen and finally get jobs in office buildings and workplace environments. With more women entering the workplace, there was a high level of harassment that was directed toward a woman in many different forms from their male counterparts. These attacks were categorized as harassment.

Sexual harassment in the workplace may be understood as unwanted sexual advances or obscene acts or language. Sexual harassment represents one of the ways in which someone in the workplace attempt to assert their dominance over another through aggressive behavior. Many times, women cannot speak if they are being harassed because of pressure, and shame. Maybe the boss said that this can get her promotion which is why she would have kept quiet. All this harassment and stress can cause many health problems for women. They can suffer from depression, they can get post-traumatic disorder, high or low blood pressure, sleep problems, and miscarriages if pregnant. These harassments can have negative effects on women and make them feel very uncomfortable. So, to what extent does harassment in companies affect women and their health? Harassment covers a wide range of offensive or unwanted behavior in order to make other people uncomfortable.

Most often women are the victims of harassment and the offenders are male. Harassment is a form of illegal and discrimination and all the human rights laws prohibit this act, but the ratio of harassment is continuously increasing although laws are present in our society. Victims of harassment often suffer emotional and psychological harm, including stress, depression, and anxiety. They often experience decreased confidence and self-esteem. Physical health problems may arise such as loss of sleep and appetite, weight fluctuations, nausea, and headaches. Castner, Jessica has a PhD in Nursing from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Master’s in Public Health Nursing from the University of Missouri-Columbia and Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Marquette University. She states that gender harassment, and retaliation for addressing discrimination, are pervasive in the higher education setting. “A 2018 National Academies of Sciences, Medicine, and Engineering report provides the much-needed action blueprint for academic sector-wide improvements.” (Castner, 2019, Paragraph 1) Healthy work environments that prevent and eliminate gender harassment are necessary to fully support the leadership, career trajectories, and contributions of women in academic roles, including academic nursing.

A synthesis of the evidence reveals that gender bias, even when subtle, results in limited hiring, promotion, and leadership opportunities for women in academia. (Castner, 2019) An experienced, with harassment, can either trigger symptoms of depression and anxiety that are new to the person; or it can exacerbate a previous condition that may have been controlled or resolved. Patients may also see a worsening of symptoms. Someone going through or dealing with the aftermath of sexual harassment may also exhibit symptoms of PTSD, especially if the harassment leads to violence and/or assault. The effects of harassment on workers can also in turn hurt organizations by affecting worker morale, productivity, absenteeism, turnover, organizational commitment, as well as the external reputation of the employer.

Effective prevention rests on a detailed analysis of the current context of workplace harassment and abuse, including the characteristics of perpetrators, worker profiles (e.g., age, race, sexual orientation), and the timing of harassment. Prevention strategies include clearly stated company policies that provide workers and supervisors with proper training and sanctioned tools to respond to abuse and abusers. Illegal sexual harassment falls under the umbrella of a more comprehensive category, discriminatory behavior. Both women and men can and do experience all three forms of sexual harassment, but some subgroups face higher rates than others. For example, women who are lesbian or bisexual, women who endorse gender-egalitarian beliefs, and women who are stereotypically masculine in behavior, appearance, or personality experience sexual harassment at higher rates than other women. Likewise, men who are gay, transgender, petite, or in some way perceived as “not man enough” encounter more harassment than other men. Note that sexual harassment is often ambient, meaning it is “not clearly targeted at any individual or group of individuals” in the work or education environment or behavior that goes beyond the direct target of the harassment.

Harassment is determined by a general frequency of sexually harassing behavior experienced by others and can include all types of sexually harassing behavior. For example, it can include pornography being displayed in a common area or sexually abusive language being used publicly in the work or education environment. Ambient unwanted sexual attention and sexual coercion refer to observed instances of unwanted sexual pursuit, targeted at a fellow employee. In other words, one need not be personally targeted to feel the effects of harassment (much like second-hand smoke). Some researchers further define the verbal insults associated with gender harassment, along with accompanying nonverbal affronts, as microaggressions. This term refers to “brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative” (Paragraph 9) messages to or about historically stigmatized groups. This term can also be broken down into three categories: micro assaults, microinsults, and microinvalidations. There is some concern that microaggression remains a poorly defined construct, with porous boundaries.

Additionally, the use of the term micro is misleading, as it implies all these experiences are minor or imperceptible acts. Yet some microaggressions, such as referring to people by using offensive names, are obviously offensive and can be deeply damaging. Similarly, the root word aggression is also misleading, as most experts reserve this term for behavior that carries intent to harm. For these reasons, our committee chose to focus on incivility, a term in greater use in the workplace aggression literature. (Sciences, National Academies, 2018)Schultz, V is a Ford Foundation Professor of Law and the Social Sciences, Yale Law School. The author distinguishes her and the libertarian’s concept of sexual harassment law, as well as presents the issue of harassment in the workplace in the U.S. The author agrees with libertarians that many companies are prohibiting sexual conduct and expression in the name of sexual harassment law. (Schultz, 2006) Just like in the Myth of Sisyphus, men are acting absurd by harassing women. In the myth, the author’s philosophy of the absurd is introduced. Man’s futile search for meaning, unity, and clarity in the face of an unintelligible world devoid of God and eternal truths or values. In philosophy, ‘the Absurd’ refers to the conflict between the human tendency to seek inherent value and meaning in life and the human inability to find any in a purposeless, meaningless or chaotic and irrational universe.

The harassment shows a person’s inability to understand the cruel reality of abuse, and how meaningless thing it is. (Camus, 1955) Harassment can also wreak havoc on a victim’s job performance and career trajectory. Fear and decreased confidence can cause some people to withdraw from the workplace and disengage from co-workers. They are more likely to be tardy, absent, distracted, and neglect duties. If victims of harassment report the harassment, they may suffer advancement setbacks such as being passed over for promotions, being left out of key meetings, retaliation, and being labeled a troublemaker. Financial problems like lost wages and unpaid leave are also possible. Begum, N is a lecturer, Department of Management, Bangladesh University of Business & Technology. Sarmin, S is an Assistant Professor, Department of Management, Bangladesh University of Business & Technology. They state that women empowerment mainly emphasizes the participation of women in all aspects of life; economic, social, cultural, political, legal, and psychological.

This research examined the impact of ready-made garment industry on women empowerment considering 12 garment companies located in Gazipur district of Bangladesh by applying the feminist theories of economics and liberal feminism. “A sample of 360…women workers have been used for this study. Analysis indicated that the relationship between RMG industry and women empowerment has been found to be positive while not all the factors exhibited statistical significance but most of the factors exhibited statistical significance.”(Begum & Sarmin, 2016, Paragraph 1) Current study has also found that women workers of the RMG industry are well capable of performing their duties in-line with their male counterparts and have significantly changed their societal status. Therefore, the conclusion is that the RMG industry has a positive impact on women’s empowerment. (Begum & Sarmin, 2016) J. Howard Miller made the poster of Rosie the Riveter “we can do it” poster. It represents how women are capable of doing anything they want.

This poster supports the argument of Begum and Sarmin about women’s empowerment. This poster boosts female power and confidence that they can do anything they set their mind on and nothing can stop them. Even if it has to do with fighting for women harassment (We Can Do It, 1942). Abusive and harassment, no matter what type, are the most important issues that need to be focused in order to empower women. The prospect is significant and needs to be maintained by the combined actions from individuals, families, societies, and governments. (Begum & Sarmin, 2016) There are many ways women harassment can be fought off. For example, self-defense training, and laws, but the only way to officially stop it is by educating people. that contribute to a welcoming culture where everyone feels they are valuable team members and also attract talented job applicants. A company harassment policy should: Define harassment and give examples, state that harassment is not tolerated, explain the harassment reporting system with a designated HR person for reporting claims, communicate the disciplinary consequences of harassment, outline the investigation and remediation process, state that retaliation against employees reporting harassment is prohibited.

Employers must hold employees, and themselves, to high standards. Everyone deserves a workplace free from harmful harassment, and all employees should be expected to behave like professional adults while on the job. Not only could workplace harassment lead to expensive lawsuits, it creates a toxic culture that cripples team cohesion and harms productivity.(Schultz, 2006) Another way is to be a reasonable person. If a person in the same or similar circumstances would find the conduct intimidating, or abusive, then it’s probably harassment. It includes consideration of the perspective of persons of the same race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, or disability as the harassment victim. For example, if a female employee complains of harassment, make that you take the perspective of a woman, not a man, when deciding. If, in the perspective of another woman, you would find this conduct harassing, it probably is. It is very important to be able to identify the situation before acting, so you do not get hurt as well while helping others. Another thing that can be done is to have classes in companies that explain a woman’s life and how harassment affects her. Make them think that if someone was to abusive their sister, mother, or daughter, how would they feel. Would they want this to happen to someone in their family? If not, then why would someone else want it to happen to theirs. Yes, laws can help, but if laws were that powerful and effective then we wouldn’t have any criminals and laws can’t always prevent someone from doing something wrong, but it does remind them about the consequences. It is true that this can take quite a long time, a few years or more, but the feeling of guilt because of this understanding, and enlightenment about this cruel approach is the best way to pull the plant of harassment out of its roots.