When someone suffers sexual harassment on the job, they may not report it right away. It may take them a few months or even years. Sometimes, one report will lead to others, with more employees saying that the same things have happened to them, perhaps over decades of working at the company.
But why do all these delays happen? Why don’t people report it right away? Below are three of the main reasons.
1. Fear of retaliation
First of all, retaliation for making a sexual harassment complaint is illegal. But some companies do it anyway, and so workers worry that they are going to lose their job or face other types of retaliation – changes to their schedule, pay cuts, blacklisting in the industry, etc.
2. Lack of belief
Next, many employees worry that no one will believe them. The person who harassed them will deny it and so nothing will be done. Employees don’t want to risk causing this type of friction on the job if they don’t think they’re going to get a positive outcome.
3. Victim blaming
Finally, many are worried about being blamed for the harassment, even though they are the victims. They are concerned that the story will get twisted around and that it could do significant damage to their reputation and to their career. This is especially a problem if they’re worried that no one is going to believe them anyway, as noted above.
That being said, sexual harassment is illegal, as is retaliation. Employees who find themselves in this position need to know how to make these reports and what legal steps they can take to protect their rights.
