Barriers to Reporting Female-to-Male Harassment at Workplace

Main Article Content

Sanaullah Tariq
Muhammad Ishfaq
Muhammad Kashif Khurshid

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the barriers that hinder the victims of female-to-male harassment from reporting such events. Workplace harassment has traditionally been researched as sexual harassment by males to females. However, workplace harassment has many dimensions e.g., sexual harassment, bullying, mocking, undue pressurizing etc. To explore the barriers that hindered the male victims who faced harassment by females from reporting the harassment incident. This study followed qualitative research method and applied phenomenology as a research design. The study performed thematic analysis to describe the narratives of victims. A positivist approach was followed to conduct this research. Semi-structured interviews of eight males, who experienced harassment from their female counterparts, were performed. These respondents were from different organizations and different sectors of economy in Pakistan. Thematic analysis revealed that various societal barriers (i.e. unawareness of being harassed, concept of manly spirit, co-workers jokes, fear of disrespect and not being believed, and belonging to female-privileged society)  as well as organizational barriers (i.e. unavailability of proper reporting procedures, power/authority/seniority of the harasser, and gender of authority to report)  existed and were faced by the  victims. Moreover, fear of gender-based discrimination was the key to most of the barriers.

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How to Cite
Tariq, S., Ishfaq, M., & Khurshid, M. K. (2024). Barriers to Reporting Female-to-Male Harassment at Workplace. Pakistan Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 5(1), 51-65. Retrieved from http://pjmr.org/pjmr/article/view/434
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