Reviewing sexual harassment in the workplace – an intervention model

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this literature review is to provide an intervention model, which can be used by organisations to combat sexual harassment in the workplace. Sexual harassment has been somewhat ignored over recent years, with much of the academic literature focusing on harassment specifically on workplace bullying, or psychological harassment of a generic nature. For the purpose of this review, the authors have specifically reviewed individual and organisational antecedents, particularly focusing on the organisation's culture and training programmes.Design/methodology/approachA review of the sexual harassment literature has been conducted to examine primary, secondary and tertiary interventions to combat sexual harassment in the workplace.FindingsThere are a variety of antecedents of sexual harassment which can be examined; these cover three main categories: groups and individuals; organisational and situational; and societal. Sexual harassment should be seen as an issue which needs to be addressed by the organisation, rather than simply increasing and improving an individual's skills in order to deal with harassment (Fitzgerald and Shullman).Originality/valueThis paper provides an up‐to‐date review of the sexual harassment literature and from this provides a model, which organisations can utilise when attempting to tackle the problem of sexual harassment.