WHY DIDNT SHE JUST REPORT HIM - THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND LEGAL IMPLICATIONS OF WOMENS RESPONSES TO SEXUAL HARASSMENT

The last few years have seen an increasing awareness of sexual harassm ent as an important social problem with serious implications for indiv iduals and organizations alike, leading to increased attempts to under stand how victims respond to this stressful and sometimes traumatic ex perience. The present article reviews the behavioral science research on responses to sexual harassment, including their links to outcomes a nd consequences. We then present an alternative to the frequently invo ked assertiveness paradigm, derived from the cognitive-behavioral stre ss and coping framework. We examine our paradigm in the context of leg al proceedings that, in effect, hold the victim responsible for respon ding appropriately; explore the more general implications of placing t he burden of nonconsent on the victim; and conclude with a discussion of this research for an emerging legal theory of sexual harassment.