When viewing the situation from the outside, some individual could wonder why a victim of sexual harassment fails to come forward. However, as soon you experience sexual harassment for yourself, the highly personal reasons become clear. In fact, every case of sexual harassment is different, and often it’s a variety of factors that lead victims to remain silent. Here are two common reasons why:
Shame
According to psychologists, both women and men tend to feel emotions of shame after being sexually harassed. This is partly because this behavior is dehumanizing and humiliating by its very nature. Victims of sexual harassment often feel invaded, shameful about how helpless they are, and they don’t like admitting that they were at the mercy of someone else. Victims might blame themselves, feel that they should have been able to defend themselves and be embarrassed to admit that they didn’t.
Denial and minimization
Another reason, according to psychologists, is that women and men will often deny or minimize what has happened. They don’t want to feel like they were abused or mistreated by someone else, so they refuse to look at the reality of the situation. They’ll subconsciously make excuses and dismiss behavior, trying to talk themselves into believing that the problem wasn’t a very big deal. This tendency to minimize is why sexual harassment might not get addressed until it becomes egregiously inappropriate and offensive.
Are you being victimized by sexual harassment? It’s time to put a stop to the abuse now before it gets any further out of hand. Our law office can help you look at your case through the eyes of the law and put a stop to the abuse immediately.