ABSTRACT
The results of surveys suggest that sexual harassment is not an unusual experience for working women. A review of the results of several surveys reported that 42 to 90 percent of working women surveyed reported that they had encountered some form of sexual harassment on the job. This situation is unacceptable because the presence of sexual harassment on the job serves to create a working environment that is intimidating and inhospitable to women. Thus, organizations are concerned with eliminating sexual harassment because of the detrimental effects it has on those who are the victims. However, organizations must also be concerned with eliminating sexual harassment because it is illegal. Organizations that permit sexual harassment in the workplace face the possibility of legal action that may be costly and potentially damaging to the organization's public image (Terpstra and Baker 1988). This article outlines the research themes of the sexual harassment literature. For this, research is reviewed in relation to explanatory models of sexual harassment, decision-making regarding complaints and incidents of sexual harassment, and victim reactions.
