Sexual harassment of men is often unreported, making it difficult to determine how common it is. Workplace harassment is a primary form, with both men and women as perpetrators. Reported incidents have increased, with men accounting for 16% of cases in 2010, up from 9.1% in 1992.
Determining the commonality of sexual harassment among men can be difficult due to the fact that men are quite unlikely to report sexual harassment. Research has shown that women are more likely to report sexual harassment than men, although in general it seems that women are also subjected to sexual harassment more often than men. Sexual harassment of men occurs with some regularity, perpetrated by both other men and women. However, reported instances of such harassment have increased dramatically over time, and the amount of reported incidents of harassment by men increased dramatically between 1992 and 2009.
Sexual harassment of men refers to acts of harassment in which men are the target. This can occur in a variety of settings, although workplace sexual harassment is one of the primary forms of sexual harassment that men can experience. Both male and female employees may be perpetrators of sexual harassment of men, and while many depictions of harassment show that executives or those in power are the perpetrators, it is equally possible that a colleague commits sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is acts, words and images that are sexual in nature and are used by one person to make another person feel unnecessarily threatened or distressed.
However, determining how common sexual harassment of men is can be quite difficult, as many cases of harassment are never reported. While a great deal of effort was made during the second half of the 20th century to ensure that women felt comfortable reporting sexual harassment, men were often unrepresented as potential victims. This has led to many men feeling ashamed or embarrassed about reporting sexual harassment, even though too many women still feel this way. Since only reported cases of sexual harassment of men can be included in any study of such cases, it can therefore be quite difficult to have an accurate count of incidents.
From those cases of sexual harassment of men that have been reported, however, it would appear that such harassment has become more common or is more commonly reported. In 1992, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recorded just over 10,500 cases of sexual harassment, and men accounted for just 9.1% of those cases. In 2010, the EEOC had just over 11,700 reports of sexual harassment, but sexual harassment of men caused over 16% of those reports. The reason for this increase is difficult to determine, however, as it may represent a higher number of incidents of harassment or a greater willingness to report such incidents, or a combination of both.
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