Feminist Active Commitment and Sexual Harassment Perception among Chinese Women: The Moderating Roles of Targets’ Gender Stereotypicality and Type of Harassment

In East Asian culture, where sex is a sensitive subject, many women still have a high recognition threshold when it comes to sexual harassment, as well as a high tolerance for it. Previous research has shown that feminist identity is effective in promoting women’s physical and mental health and buffering against the negative effects of sexual harassment, thus, it is important to clarify the role that feminist identity plays in the perception of sexual harassment. In this study, we examined whether feminist identity is related to the perception and tolerance of sexual harassment and whether feminist identity mediates the relations between sexism, gender roles, and sexual harassment perception and tolerance among Chinese working women. In a survey of 507 participants, we found that active commitment to feminism was positively correlated with women’s perception of sexual harassment, while passive acceptance of traditional gender roles was positively correlated with tolerance of sexual harassment. Mediation analysis showed that active commitment to feminism mediated the relations between sexism, gender roles, and sexual harassment perception, while passive acceptance of traditional gender roles mediated the relations between sexism and femininity with sexual harassment tolerance. We assert that feminist identity has the potential to enable women to be more perceptive and less tolerant of sexual harassment behaviors, and as such, feminist ideology should be incorporated into education for Chinese women.

Download Full-text

Negotiating Respect: Sexual Harassment and the Law in Hong Kong

International Journal of Discrimination and the Law ◽

10.1177/135822910500700405 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 7 (1-4) ◽

pp. 127-168

Author(s):

Carole J. Petersen

Keyword(s):

Sexual Harassment ◽

Chinese Women ◽

Current Model ◽

Sex Discrimination ◽

Public Hearing ◽

Power Imbalance ◽

Equal Opportunities ◽

Statutory Duty ◽

Systemic Impact ◽

The Law

This article critiques the sexual harassment provisions of Hong Kong's Sex Discrimination Ordinance , as well as the enforcement model. Although the judiciary has had some opportunity to interpret the Ordinance, most complaints never reach the courts because the Equal Opportunities Commission has a statutory duty to attempt to conciliate a complaint before granting legal assistance. When the Ordinance was enacted it was widely assumed that Chinese women would prefer confidential conciliation to a public hearing. However, interviews with past complainants and representatives of women's organizations reveal that many complainants find conciliation conferences to be extremely stressful. They also feel demeaned and disempowered by what is effectively an obligation to negotiate with the respondent. The author concludes that the current model exacerbates the power imbalance between complainants and respondents and limits the systemic impact of the law. She argues that an informal and inexpensive Equal Opportunities Tribunal should be created. This would allow those complainants who are willing to try their complaints to proceed directly to a hearing, without any obligation to first participate in conciliation.

Download Full-text

Perception of Gender Equality Matters: Targets’ Responses to Workplace Sexual Harassment in Chinese Metropolises

Journal of Interpersonal Violence ◽

10.1177/0886260521997452 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 088626052199745

Author(s):

Xiying Wang ◽

Wing Hong Chui ◽

Yean Wang

Keyword(s):

Sexual Harassment ◽

Gender Equality ◽

Large Scale ◽

Online Survey ◽

Chinese Women ◽

Educational Background ◽

Empowerment Theory ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Metropolitan Cities ◽

Local Awareness

Workplace sexual harassment (WSH) has been recognized in the literature as a serious problem for the past 40 years. Since 2017, the global #MeToo movement has fostered local awareness of WSH and inspired researchers in China to pay increasing attention. Guided by the gender empowerment theory, this study investigated the relationships between women’s responses as targets of WSH (e.g., choosing avoidance or confrontation) and both their perceptions of gender equality and their knowledge of the relevant national laws. We used data from a recent large-scale online survey conducted on the topic of sexual harassment among Chinese women in four metropolitan cities in 2018 and selected 862 women who had experienced WSH during the previous 12 months as the study sample. The results revealed that 545 of the respondents chose to show resistance when faced with WSH, while 287 identified their boss as their harasser. In addition, respondents’ perceptions of gender equality and their knowledge of national laws on anti-domestic violence were shown to have positive effects on their responses as targets of WSH. Moreover, monthly income, household registration, and type of WSH were found to be associated with targets’ responses in a statistically significant way, whereas their marital status, educational background, and age were not. Furthermore, the study found that the boss as harasser weakened the relationship between women’s perception of gender equality and their active response to WSH incidents. With this study, we advance our understanding of the important role that perceptions of gender equality play in women’s responses as targets of WSH, and we discuss implications for prevention and intervention efforts that encourage targets to actively respond. We advocate promoting education on gender equality, fostering awareness of the laws and regulations relevant to WSH, and cultivating an organizational culture and environment that is hostile toward WSH.

Download Full-text