You can be sexually harassed or you can witness someone being sexually harassed. The way you deal with the situation is of great importance. You need to know the right steps that you should take. First of all, you must be aware that the laws prohibit the act and action should be taken to ensure that justice if practiced. You should not keep it dark.
You must be keen on the actions you take when handling harassment. You must be sure you do the right thing. The following will help you a lot.
Talk to harasser
Harassment can be deliberate or not. When you make attempts to talk to the harasser, you will be able to know whether the action was deliberate or not. You must be clear about the action that you found to be harassing. You must also be open about how you feel about the issue.
Don’t stop your life
Usually, instances of harassment are reported from workplaces or even schools or learning institutions. It is important that you never let a harassment stop your life. For instance, you should not boycott classes because you feel harassed by your teacher or lecturer.
Suppose you are harassed at work, you must not also stop coming to work. You know best why you go to work and what you want to achieve. You must not kill your life. Instead, find an appropriate way of dealing with the situation. Running away is never a solution at all.
Adequate documentation
Just in case you would need to seek legal help, it would be important to have up to date information. Sometimes it may not be possible to remember everything. You would need to be sure about what you should report. You can track all these when you have proper documentation.
All the incidents of harassment should be documented. You would need to keep track of time, date, place and the harasser. If possible, you would need to include the actions you took.
Share the experience
You have friends. Friends should help you think through a problem. You need to share with them what you are going through and hear what they have to say. It would help you make decisions.
Write to harasser
You could make note to the harasser just be sure that they understand what you feel. This should clearly indicate the date of sexual harassment, the event that harassed you, your feelings about it and your wishes. Your feelings would be like you feel harassed sexually and your wishes are that it should stop.
You would give this time to see the outcome. If after these attempts the harasser still harasses you, then legal action is required. If this was his or her way of initiating office romance, then he or she will have gotten it all wrong. You would need to ask him to find better romance ideas than harassment.
About the Author:
We cannot live without relationships. We cannot live in isolation. We need each other whether it is in a love relationship or in a family relationship.