Perspectives on sexual harassment : a quantitative approach

Abstract

The objective behind this study was to explore sexual harassment in Malta through a quantitative approach in order to discover the frequency, type and location in which sexual harassment takes place. The literature review defined sexual harassment especially in legal terms, as well as evaluated various research studies to assess which gender experiences more sexual harassment and in which age range, which type of sexual harassment is the most commonly experienced as well as, the locations reported. It was noticed that sexual harassment is quite an untouched subject in Malta and needs to be researched more. Additionally, the literature review included an explanation of why sexual harassment is often not reported along with two theories which aim to unravel possible intentions behind sexual harassment. After comparing different research studies and exploring several different results, it was time to gather results from the Maltese population. Results were gathered through an online survey and some surveys being taken physically in one chosen gym. Participants were only asked for their age and gender and no other detail which may identify them, as this survey was anonymous. Findings agree with the literature review in terms that females tend to experience more sexual harassment than men. However, results differed from other research studies in the case of locations. Whereas, the majority of research studies indicated that sexual harassment often takes place in workplaces, findings show that public spaces such as clubs, bars and busses are the most common hot spots for sexual harassment.