According to information from the Department of Civil Rights of the State of California, workplace sexual harassment is defined as any action or act that seeks to discriminate, based on sex or gender, against a person within the workplace or workplace.
Taking this into account, it is not necessarily necessary to speak of an explicit sexual desire towards another to be considered a crime. However, there are personal reasons for a colleague or employer to exclude someone because of their gender identity or expression; or because of a health condition such as pregnancy, this may be considered discrimination, and therefore a violation of California employment laws.
Manifestations of sexual harassment at work
If you have co-workers or bosses who:
- Make sexual advances directly or indirectly without consent
- Offer extra work benefits or that correspond to you by law in exchange for sexual favors
- Verbalize obscene comments related to the sexual act
- Use inappropriate or demeaning words to refer to other colleagues or employees
- Flirt in and out of the work space as a way to harass or solicit the victim
- Leer a lot of the time or look at your body with disgusting sexual desire.
- Use obscene gestures to get attention
- Start awkward conversations for the purpose of insulting or being derogatory to others
- Use professional media to send inappropriate or sexually charged images, messages, or videos
- Are looking for physical contact, in case the job is face-to-face or in an office
You are facing a situation of abuse and, therefore, it is necessary that you take immediate action on this by talking with a lawyer, the California Department of Labor, or other institutions that can help you solve the problem you are facing or have been facing. for some time.
What to do if I am a victim of sexual harassment at work?
The first thing is to understand what type of sexual harassment you are suffering.
a) Quid pro Quo: That is to say, when another person determines your professional tasks or shares job benefits that correspond to you through submission.
b) Due to a hostile work environment: In this case, a colleague or employer behaves inappropriately, or continually makes uncomfortable comments to interfere or hinder your day-to-day work activities.
Once you manage to identify the type of harassment or abuse that you are tolerating, it is best to contact a lawyer or a legal firm that can offer you options to make your complaint in the best possible way.
Remember that if you have evidence of the harassment you are receiving, it is best to present it immediately when speaking with your legal representative.
If you consider that there is no evidence in this regard, but you have colleagues at work who are willing to provide testimonies, do not ignore this and report the situation to a local institution and together with your companion.
