Sexual Bribery
A career is something that people likely develop a sense of pride about and an association with. Many people will introduce themselves to new acquaintances with their job title. That sense of pride and accomplishment can be destroyed if you work in an environment of sexual bribery. This is a form of sexual harassment that can infect an entire person’s career, make them second guess their own abilities and effectiveness, and even make them wonder if they are even in the right profession.
Sexual bribery is not something that is limited to male managers and female subordinates. It can affect anyone regardless of gender or sexual orientation, and it can lead to a variety of emotional and psychological issues. It is something that can eventually affect a person’s personal and professional life and leave a path of emotional destruction in its wake.
What is Sexual Bribery?
Sexual bribery is forcing someone to exchange sexual acts for a job promotion or forcing someone to have sex just to keep their job. This is sexual harassment where the management figure uses their position of power to intimidate their subordinate into sex. In the workplace, sexual bribery is often used to harass victims who want raises, promotions, departmental changes, or positions of more responsibility.
Sexual bribery can also occur as a form of transaction where one party is forced into sex to benefit another party. For example, a chiropractor demands sex in exchange for a medical report that will help the injured worker to get worker’s compensation benefits, even if the worker is legitimately injured.
The Many Forms of Sexual Bribery
This form of sexual harassment can be ongoing or situational. For example, a manager might force a subordinate to have sex on a regular basis to allow the subordinate to keep their job. A situational example would be a manager who forces a worker to have sex only during the annual reviews.
Some of the worst forms of this harassment occur when a worker has already earned something but a manager forces the worker to have sex to actually collect their reward. For example, a sales professional might have made enough sales to earn their bonus check for the quarter, but the sales manager will not sign the check release form until the sales professional has sex.
The Damage Done
A victim of sexual bribery who does not seek to stop the activity exposes themselves to a variety of physical, emotional, and psychological issues. Sexually transmitted diseases are a significant concern with this type of harassment, and the real possibility of an unwanted pregnancy would mean that an innocent life is now being affected by this arrangement.
The victim can start to experience emotional issues without even realizing it if they continue to allow their sex-for-favor arrangement to persist. Over time, sex starts to feel more like a reward than an act of love towards another person. The victim can only find satisfaction in sex if there is some sort of reward involved. These types of problems can lead to issues with trust and other problems that can prevent the victim from having successful personal relationships.
Look Towards the Future
A victim of sexual bribery can put the person in a situation that can damage their ability to be involved in a productive professional relationship. The victim may subconsciously start to believe that every business situation should involve sex. The effects of this form of harassment can start to severely limit the victim’s options for a happy personal and professional future.
Do Not Tolerate this Situation
Sexual bribery is illegal as a form of sexual harassment in our state. It does not have a place in a healthy work environment, and it is not something that any victim should tolerate. Allowing this sort of situation to persist can damage your personal life, your health, and your career.
If you are a victim of this form of sexual harassment, you can take action to get your life back in line. Consider seeing a doctor and make sure you have not suffered any of the many potential medical effects of persistent unprotected sex. Your physical and mental health are extremely important and this step can put you on the path to preserving both.
Since this form of sexual harassment often involves immediate managers, you are going to have to report your problem to your human resources department. Your company has a process in place for reporting sexual harassment and the associates in your human resources department should help you to use that process to file your complaint.
Watching Out for Yourself
Some companies prefer to try and hide instances of sexual harassment and abuse to avoid the negative publicity. This means that, even though you tried to follow company policy, your company is going to ignore your complaint and hope the situation goes away. If you feel like your company is purposely dropping the ball on your sexual harassment complaint, then a legal professional on your side may help.
Our caring and professional attorneys have years of experience in cases just like yours. We understand all of the different ways in which these types of activities can affect you, and we know how to get you the resources you need to start getting your life back.
Just as important, we understand the legal process and we know how to help you stand up for your rights and get the justice you deserve. We invite you to give us a call and talk to one of our compassionate sexual harassment lawyers to see just how we can be the legal team that helps you to regain your self-confidence and get the kind of respect and results you deserve.