Sociological Explanation of Sexual Harassment: A Case Study of the Disabled Women in Mazandaran Province

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Faculty of Sociology, Islamic Azad University, Babol Branch, Mazandaran

Abstract

The study of sexual harassment of disabled women is one of the topics that have so far received little empirical attention. Therefore, the present study has been conducted to investigate the social factors bringing about disabled women’s sexual harassment in Mazandaran province. The theoretical framework of the research was based on the theory of routine activities and the theory of lifestyle. It was mainly aimed at investigating the causal relationship between disabled women's sexual harassment and the variables of suitable targets, the presence of a powerful protector, and lifestyle. The adopted research method was causal and a researcher-made questionnaire was used for data collection and the validity of the theoretical construct was used for determining the validity of the indicators. The research population consisted of all the women and girls with disabilities in Mazandaran province. According to the cultural differences and geographical location of Mazandaran, it was divided into four points namely Sari, Babol, Behshahr, and Noor and a simple cluster random sampling method was used to determine the sample size. A total of 9417 women with disabilities living in these cities were selected as the statistical population. The sample size according to the sampling error at 95% confidence level included 369 people from the statistical population. Since there is always the possibility of some questionnaires having been distorted by the respondents, 400 questionnaires were distributed among the respondents, and after discarding the distorted ones, 343 questionnaires were finally analyzed. On the basis of the research hypotheses, it seems that there is a relationship between disabled women’sverbal sexual harassment and the target vulnerability, the presence of a powerful protector, and their lifestyle. The results of inferential statistics indicated that the lifestyle with a beta value of 0.489 and a positive and direct influence had the greatest effect on the respondents’ verbal sexual harassment The second variable in terms of the influence was the suitable target variable with a beta value of 0.170 and a positive and direct effect on the respondents’ verbal sexual harassment. However, the presence of a powerful protector with a beta value of 0.101 and a significance level of 0.093 did not have a significant effect on the respondents’ verbal sexual harassment. The findings were consistent with the theoretical approaches to routine activities and lifestyle.

Keywords


Aghajani, Nasrollah,(2004) "The Multiplicity Of Violence In Street Harassment", Quarterly Journal of Women's Social Cultural Council, 6(23):160-188. [In Persian]
Alimardani, Mona,(2015) Dissertation "Sociological study of deviant behaviors of students of Mazandaran University: Experimental test of Routine activity theory", Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Mazandaran University: 1-142. [In Persian]
Bennet, Trever,(1998), "Crime and Prevention", in: The Handbook of Crime and Punishment, Edited by Michael Tonry, New York, Oxford University Press.
Bones, P. D.,(2013) "Perceptions of vulnerability: A target characteristics approach to disability, gender, and victimization:". Deviant Behavior,  34(9): 727-750.
Branic, Nicholas,(2014), "Routine Activities Theory", In W.G.Jennings(Ed), Encyclopedia of Crime & Punishment, Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Brown, Stephen E; Esbensen, Finn-Aage: Geis, Gilbert, (2010), Criminology: explaining crime and its context, 7th Edition, , Cincinnati, Ohio: Anderson Publishing.
Chiodo, Debbie, Wolfe, David A, Crooks, Claire, Hughes, Ray, Jaffe, Peter,(2009), “Impact of Sexual Harassment Victimization by Peers on Subsequent Adolescent Victimization and Adjustment: A Longitudinal Study”, Journal of Adolescent Health, 45: 246–252.
Engström, Alexander,(2018), “Associations between Risky Lifestyles and Involvement in Violent Crime during Adolescence”, Victims & Offenders, 13(7): 898-920.
Fairchild Kimberly,(2010), “Context Effects on Women’s Perceptions of Stranger Harassment”, Sexuality & Culture, 14: 191–216.
Felson, Marcos; Clark, Ronald V,(2009), "Opportunity and Delinquency: A Practical Approach to Crime Prevention", translated by Mohsen Kalantari, Somayeh Ghezelbash, Zanjan: Zanjan Knowledge Publishing. [In Persian]
Finkelhor, David, Asdigian, Nancy,(1996), “Risky Factors for Youth Victimization: Beyond a Lifestyle/Routine Activities Theory Approach”, Violence and Victims, 11(1): 3-19.
Fisher, M. H., Moskowitz, A. L., & Hodapp, R. M., (2012), “Vulnerability and experiences related to social victimization among individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities”. Journal of mental health research in intellectual disabilities,  5(1): 32-48.
Gann, Taylor L.,(2018) Dissertation “Disability Status And Victimization:An Examination Of Mediating Factors On Risk”, The  Andrew Young School Of Policy Studies  Of Georgia State University: 1-64.
Gilson, Stephen French; Depoy, Elizabeth; Cramer, Elizabeth P.,(2001) “Linking the Assessment of Self-Reported Functional Capacity With Abuse Experiences of Women With Disabilities’, Violence Against Women, 7(4): 418-443.
Ishaqi, Mohammad,(2003), "Sexual Harassment of Women in a Legal Review", Quarterly Journal of Women's Strategic Studies, , 20: 1-43. [In Persian]
Javan Jafari, Abdolreza; Shahideh, Farhad,(2014), "The Role of Women Victims in Committing Sexual Crimes", Criminal Law Research Quarterly,  2(7): 41-71. [In Persian]
Livingston, Beth A, KC Wagner, Sarah T. Diaz & Angela Lu,(2013), “The Experience of Being Targets of Street Harassment in NYC: Preliminary Findings From  Qualitative Study of a Sample of 223 Voice Who Hollaback!” , The worker institute at Cornell Equality at Work , Cornell University IRL School,:1-6.
Marcum, Catherine D; Richetts, Melissa L; Higgins, George E,(2010), “Assessing Sex Experinces of Online Victimization: An Examination od Adolescent Online Behaviors Usinf Routine Activity Theory”, Journal of Criminal Justice Review, 35: 412-437.
Miller, J. Mitchell(Ed),(2009), "21th Century Criminology A Reference Handbook", USA: SAGE Publications.
Miro, Fernando, (2014), The Encyclopedia of Theoretical Criminology Online: Routine Activity Theory, Edited by J Mitchell Miller, Hoboken, New Jersy: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Mohammad Nassel, Gholamreza,( 2007), "Principles and Foundations of Crime Opportunity Theory", Quarterly Journal of Private Law Studies, Faculty of Law and Political Science,37(3): 293-322. [In Persian]
Noah, Yusuf,(2008), “Experience of Sexual Harassment at Work by Female Employer in Nigerian work Environment.”  International NGO Jornal,  3(7):. 122-127.
Nosek, Margaret A. Hughes, Rosemary B. Swedlund, Nancy Taylor, Heather B. Swank, Paul,(2003), “Self-esteem and women with disabilities”, Social Science & Medicine, 56(8):. 1737-1747.
Olofsson, Niclas; Lindqvist, Kent; Danielsson, Ingela,( 2014), “Higher Risk of Violence Exposure in Men and Women With Physical or Sensory Disabilities: Results From a Public Health Survey”, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 30(10): 1671-1686.
Parish, William L; Das, Aniruddha; Laumann, Edward,(2006), “Sexual Harassment of Women in Urban China”, Archives Sex Behavior, 35(4): 411-425.
Pratt, Travis C.; Turanovic, Jillian J,(2016), “Lifestyle and Routine Activity Theories Revisited: The Importance of "Risk" to the Study of Victimization”, Victims & Offenders, 11 : 335 –354.
Rosewarne, Lauren,(2004),”Visual Terror: Graffiti and Outdoor Advertising as Street Harassment”, Australasian Political Studies Association:1-18.
Sadeghi Fasaei, Soheila; Rajab Larijani Mahsa (2010), "Sociological study of sexual harassment of women in the workplace", Quarterly Journal of Women in Development and Politics (Women's Research), 8(3):111-134. [In Persian]
Siegel, Larry J, (2007), Criminology, Theories, Patterns, And Typologies, 10th  Edition, USA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Sobsey, Dick.,(1994), "Violence and abuse in the lives of people with disabilities: The end of silent acceptance?", Baltimore: Brooks.
Sororian, Mohammad Kamal,(2004) "Violence against women in France and America", Quarterly Journal of Women's Strategic Studies, 6(23):301-323. [In Persian]
Williams, Frank P., McShane, Marie Lynn Dee,(2007), " Theories of Criminology", translated by Hamid Reza Malek Mohammadi, Tehran, Mizan Publishing. [In Persian]
Yasliani, Farzaneh,(2009), Dissertation, Frequency and some factors affecting physical domestic violence against women with disabilities living in Isfahan and Fereidan, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation, Department of Social Work.[ In Persian]
Young, M.E., Nosek, M.A., Howland, C., & C hanpong, G. (1997), “Prevalence of abuse of women with physical disabilities”. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation,78 (12): 34-38.