Internal and External Barriers towards Sexual Harassment Prevention Efforts in the Workplace

Abstract

The paper delves into the investigation of the internal and external barriers toward female sexual harassment prevention in the workplace. A survey was conducted with 289 employees collected from different industries in Vietnam with the questionnaires relevant to victims’ experiences and responses toward sexual misconducts at work, and the internal-external barriers to deter the sexual harassment prevention. The in-depth interviews were conducted to explore women’ expectation about sexual harassment-free working environment-oriented policies in their workplace. The results revealed that victims experienced a wide range of sexual harassment types; the victims, especially unmarried girls have experienced sexual harassment more than married women but have fewer responses to the sexual misconduct. A low incidence of sexual harassment claims was also filed to authority due to various barriers, including internal and external ones. Through the interviews, the victims manifested that the comprehensive changes in sexual harassment law and social policies should be consistently made to ensure human rights, and prompt employees’ efforts and contribution to work.