Does Sexual Harassment Have To Be Sexual In Nature?

Most sexual harassment involves words or actions that are sexual in nature. This can include suggestive or explicit words or phrases, displays of pornography, rude gestures, unwelcomed physical contact, and demands for sexual favors. However, words and actions do not have to be sexual in nature to be considered sexual harassment.

According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, sexual harassment is a form workplace discrimination that is based on sex. As such, behaviors that are not sexual in nature but that still involve a person's sex are also considered sexual harassment. For example, making offensive remarks about how women do not belong in the workplace is considered sexual harassment. Such a thing is not sexual in nature, but like all other forms of sexual harassment, it can explicitly or implicitly affect a worker's employment, unreasonably interfere with a worker's job performance, and create a work environment that is hostile, offensive, and intimidating.