Sexual Harassment in Security Industry

Paper Summary:

Although admittedly not a problem unique to the securities industry, there are, in fact, a host of reasons for why sexual harassment is more evident in the securities industry than in others. This report explores the reasons that this problem has persistently surfaced in this industry, in particular by examining the legal and ethical environment that surrounds it, and suggests recommendations for dealing with the problem. The writer suggests that paramount in explaining the reasons for male harassment of women in this environment are the following: the use of industry controlled mandatory arbitration for resolving harassment complaints, the overwhelming concentration of men in the industry, and the high stakes/high risk macho nature of making money.

From the Paper:

"Despite strong efforts by brokerage firms and others in the financial services industry to sensitize employees to the issue of sexual harassment, recent headlines suggest that, as a whole, the securities industry efforts have not yet been successful.[1] During the last decade, the media has reported numerous high-profile cases concerning a number of prominent brokerage firms including Kidder Peabody, Goldman Sachs and Smith Barney.[2] Last January, New York attorney general Dermis Vacco held an investigatory hearing into the sexual harassment of women in the industry. During the testimony, women gave graphic details of a locker-room environment fraught with pornography, constant vulgar conversation, and instances of male co-workers exposing themselves, groping women employees, and threatening them with physical violence or discharge if they did not provide sexual favors. One woman testified that men continue to harass women on Wall Street because the industry allows it. "[T]hey know they can ... they are truly above the law."[3]"

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