Understanding Sexual Harassment and Women’s Issues in Development

These flashcards define key terms and theoretical perspectives regarding sexual harassment and the various approaches to women's development as discussed in Lessons 21 and 22.

Sexual Harassment

An act or a series of acts involving any unwelcome sexual advance, request, or demand for a sexual favor, or other verbal or physical behavior of a sexual nature, committed in a work-related, training, or education-related environment.

Republic Act No. 7877

Also known as the "Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995," it is the governing law in the Philippines for work-, education-, or training-related sexual harassment.

Natural/Biological Theory

A model suggesting that men have stronger sex drives and are biologically motivated to engage in sexual pursuit, meaning harassing behavior is a result of biological urges rather than a desire to be offensive.

Sex Role Spillover Theory

A theory based on the proposition that individuals bring irrelevant gender-based role expectations into the workplace, causing men to perceive women in their gender roles rather than their work roles.

Organizational Theory

A perspective proposing that sexual harassment results from power and authority relations derived from the hierarchical structures of organizations.

Socio-cultural Theory

A perspective examining harassment within the wider social context, asserting it is a logical consequence of existing gender inequality, sexism, and the patriarchal system.

Feminist Theory

A view that links sexual harassment to a sexist ideology of male dominance and male superiority, serving to maintain existing gender stratification.

Civil Service Commission No. 01-0940

The Administrative Disciplinary Rules on Sexual Harassment Cases which governs harassment committed by government employees in the Philippines.

Development

The process in which someone or something grows or changes and becomes more advanced.

Women in Development (WID)

An approach emerging in the 1960s that focuses on improving women's access to resources and their integration into development programs and planning.

Women and Development (WAD)

A Marxist feminist approach from the latter part of the 1970s asserting that women have always been important economic actors, but global inequalities sustain their disadvantage.

Gender and Development (GAD)

A socialist-feminist approach developed in the 1980s that focuses on how gender relations allot specific roles and responsibilities, seeking equal benefit and control for both men and women.

The Welfare Approach

A development strategy used until the early 1970s that addressed women's needs almost entirely within the context of their reproductive roles, such as mother and child health.

The Equity Approach

An approach aimed at eliminating discrimination by re-valuing women's contributions and viewing women as active participants in bringing about change.

The Anti-Poverty Approach

A strategy focusing on women's basic needs and productivity, often using access to income generation and waged employment as a key operational strategy.

The Efficiency Approach

An approach aiming for increased production and economic growth by emphasizing the full use of human resources through gender analysis.

The Empowerment Approach

A strategy aimed at increasing the self-reliance of women through awareness-raising to influence change at policy, legislative, and societal levels.