The Color of Sexual Harassment and the Public/Private Divide

Authors

Janeille Zorina Matthews

Abstract

This article argues that the conception of sexual harassment as simply a gendered harm is inadequate because sexual harassment is not only about gender but also about race, class, sexual orientation and other realities of existence. Sexual harassment is about power and about keeping particular women out of particular economic spheres. Using the Commonwealth Caribbean as an example, this article concludes that an intersectional understanding of sexual harassment, and a more nuanced understanding of the public/private divide, will lead to better workplace harassment legislation. While much of the focus is on the Commonwealth Caribbean, a North American example suggests that minority women in the United States suffer from the current underinclusive conception of sexual harassment as well.

Recommended Citation

Janeille Zorina Matthews, The Color of Sexual Harassment and the Public/Private Divide, 4 Hastings Race & Poverty L.J. 181 (2006).
Available at: https://repository.uclawsf.edu/hastings_race_poverty_law_journal/vol4/iss1/4