Harassment and Bullying of Women at Workplace and its Impact on their Performance

Abstract

Workplace Harassment and Bullying is increasingly becoming a subject of interest for proficient, academics, and practitioners across the world since the practice has manifold influences. The practice does not only influence the bullied, but rather has strong detriments for the people and components dependent on the one being bullied since the practice limits the capacity of the individual to live a carefree and happy life. With harassment and bullying being increasingly concentrated towards women, the current research aimed at understanding the role of harassment and bullying on the working women in Pakistan and their performance. The underlying premise is to find if perception and attitude towards bullying is same in Pakistan as it is in the remaining parts of the world or not. A comprehensive analysis conducted under the light of a descriptive analysis and inferential analysis on one hundred and eighty working women found conclusive evidence to suggest that one out of every two women in Pakistan face workplace harassment and bullying. However, rather than maintaining a silence on the subject, they are willing to confront the bully/harasser and report the incident by openly supporting the victim. The inferential analysis found a weak correlation between workplace harassment and bullying as well as level of comfort, performance, and intent to stay. The regression analysis found evidence that an increase in harassment and bullying leads to a decline in performance, a non-existent influence on intent to stay, and a definite influence on level of discomfort.