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" \nLast month we all watched Herman Cain&amp;#039;s political campaign get derailed because of sexual harassment allegations. Though Cain denied the accusations, the bad publicity caused his popularity to plummet, forcing him to end his run to become the next U.S. president.  Though this was a high-profile case, sexual harassment doesn&amp;#039;t just happen in big corporations\u2014it occurs all over the country on a regular basis. &amp;quot;Around 11,700 sexual harassment cases were filed in 2010, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC),&amp;quot; says Amy Tennery, Managing Editor of The Jane Dough, a news blog about women in business. &amp;quot;And we can only presume that many more cases go unreported.&amp;quot; The fact is, sexual harassment can be murky, just as the she-said-he-said of the Cain case showed. The men often claim that what the women are alleging didn&amp;#039;t happen. That&amp;#039;s because sexual harassment doesn&amp;#039;t always entail overt sexual advances. More often, it&amp;#039;s subtle things such as a superior or coworker giving off a sleazy vibe when he (or she) talks to you. Sometimes it may not be considered by others as sinister\u2014like, if there&amp;#039;s an office culture where telling sexual jokes is common. And sometimes the case may be that a woman or women in your office are sexually involved with men who hold superior positions, which can make you feel like the only way for you to get promoted is to &amp;quot;sleep your way to the top.&amp;quot; All of these instances create a hostile work environment and if you&amp;#039;re experiencing any of it, you have a right to speak up. Pay Attention To That Voice Inside Your Head The best rule for you to follow when it comes to sexual harassment is to trust your gut. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s how a comment or incident makes you feel,&amp;quot; says Tennery. The fact is, if you were offended, chances are other women in your office are, too. Another factor to consider is the frequency of the comment or type of incident. &amp;quot;A standalone statement might not be offensive, but if those kinds of statements are frequent or ongoing, then that&amp;#039;s a problem,&amp;quot; points out Tennery. So if your boss or a coworker constantly makes references to your appearance, stands just a littletooclose to you, or if coworkers make sexual jokes, even if they&amp;#039;re not directed at you, these are all instances of sexual harassment and you&amp;#039;re within your rights to report it. Speak Up It&amp;#039;s important to put a stop to sexual harassment as soon as it starts. That&amp;#039;s because the more times you are harassed or find yourself in a negative environment, the more belittled you may be likely to feel, says Tennery. Just think of Nell Scovell, who worked for The Late Show with David Letterman: she was quoted as saying, &amp;quot;Did these female staffers [who were having the affairs] have access to information and wield power disproportionate to their job titles? Yes. Did that create a hostile work environment? Yes. Did that make me feel demeaned? Completely. Did I say anything at the time? Sadly, no.&amp;quot; So as soon as a comment or incident makes you uncomfortable, say to the offender very clearly, &amp;quot;That kind of statement/This situation makes me uncomfortable. It isn&amp;#039;t appropriate for the workplace so please don&amp;#039;t let it happen again.&amp;quot; By giving him a direct, succinct statement alerting him that what he&amp;#039;s saying or doing isn&amp;#039;t acceptable, you may be able to help wise him up and put an end the situation.  Go To HR But sometimes, if the guy just doesn&amp;#039;t get it, or if it&amp;#039;s not a contained situation but an unfair office culture that&amp;#039;s the problem, you&amp;#039;ll have to escalate your complaint to a higher level. Start a journal with the date and details of each incident so you have a comprehensive complaint. Then call your Human Resources department to make an official report. Most companies want to deal with these problems swiftly because they don&amp;#039;t want to run the risk of bad publicity or worse\u2014an expensive lawsuit. So ideally, you&amp;#039;ll only have to make one report and they will take it from there to remedy the situation. (If your company doesn&amp;#039;t have HR, reach out to 9 to 5: The National Association of Working Women, which has resources to help women in these situations.) If the harassment continues, report each subsequent incident to HR as soon as it occurs. The Bottom Line Don&amp;#039;t let fear of retaliation or repercussions stop you from making a report. You owe it to yourself to take action. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.cosmopolitan.com/lifestyle/advice/a3772/could-sexual-harassment-happen-to-you-011212/>