Especially in the employment context, sexual harassment often makes the victim feel powerless.  Many victims are even told that there is nothing they can do about the harassment, so they should just be quiet and tolerate it.  In reality, there is much that a sexual harassment victim can do to put a stop to the problem, including informal actions at the workplace and formal steps like filing a lawsuit against the responsible parties.

First Step: Speak Up 

In many sexual harassment cases, especially those involving a hostile work environment, the responsible parties may not realize that their conduct is offensive. If you are a victim of harassment, your first step toward resolving the problem should be to let the offending party know that you find their conduct offensive. In many cases this will resolve the problem, as the offensive conduct will stop out of a genuine concern for everyone's sensibilities, or out of an urge to avoid further workplace tension. If the issue isn't resolved at this stage, you have at least put the harasser on notice that you find his or her conduct offensive.

Follow Your Employer's Procedure

What if the offensive conduct doesn't stop, or the harasser tells you he or she doesn't care what you say?  Some companies have a detailed procedure for handling sexual harassment claims.  If your company has such a procedure, you should follow it to the letter, taking note of any time limits set out in that policy.  For example, many employer policies will designate someone to whom harassment must be reported, so if your company has designated certain staff as being responsible for receiving sexual harassment complaints, that is where you should start.

If your company has no set procedure in place for reporting sexual harassment, you should bring your complaint to your immediate supervisor.  If your supervisor is the individual committing the harassment in question, make your complaint to your supervisor's immediate superior.  It is important, particularly in hostile environment cases, to make sure that your company's management is aware of the harassment.