Power harassment

Short description: Form of harassment

Not to be confused with Abuse of power.

Power harassment is a form of harassment and workplace bullying in which someone in a position of greater power uses that power unjustifiably against a lower-ranking person, typically just for a display of dominance.[1][2] It includes a range of behavior from mild irritation and annoyances to serious abuses which can even involve forced activity beyond the boundaries of the job description. Prohibited in some countries, power harassment is considered a form of illegal discrimination and political and psychological abuse. Types of power harassment include physical or psychological attacks, segregation, excessive or demeaning work assignments, and intrusion upon the victim's personal life.[3]

Power harassment may combine with other forms of bullying and harassment, including sexual harassment, public humiliation, character assassination, robbery, property damage and even assault. In the context of sexual harassment, power harassment is distinguished from contra power harassment, in which the harasser is of lower rank than that of the victim, and peer harassment, in which the victim and harasser are of the same rank.[4] The term "political power harassment" was coined by Ramona Rush in a 1993 paper on sexual harassment in academia.[5] Because it operates to reinforce and justify an existing hierarchy, political power harassment can be difficult to assess.[6]

## Contents

* 1 By country
* 1.1 Japan
* 1.2 South Korea
* 2 See also
* 3 References

## By country

### Japan

Although power harassment is not unique to Japan, it has received significant attention in Japan as a policy and legal problem since the 1990s.[7] A government survey in 2016 found that more than 30% of workers had experienced power harassment in the preceding three years.[8] The Japanese term "power harassment" (パワー・ハラスメント pawa harasumento, often shortened to pawahara) was independently coined by Yasuko Okada of Tokoha Gakuen Junior College in 2002.[9] The Japanese courts have applied the general compensation principle of Article 709 of the Civil Code of Japan to compensate victims of workplace bullying and power harassment.[7]

In 2019, the National Diet adopted the Power Harassment Prevention Act, which amends the Labor Policy Comprehensive Promotion Act to require employers to address power harassment.[8] The 2019 act creates a new Chapter 8 that addresses “remarks and behavior of people taking advantage of their superior positions in the workplace that exceed what is necessary and appropriate for the conduct of business, thereby harming the working environment of employees.”[8][10] The law took effect for large employers on June 1, 2020.[8] It prohibits the retaliatory discharge of employees who complain about power harassment and requires employers to put systems in place for reporting and addressing power harassment.

### South Korea

Main article: Social:Gapjil

The topic of power harassment is known in South Korea as Gapjil, and it has been recently increasingly discussed in Korean society.[11]

## See also

* Abuse of power
* Karoshi
* Rankism
* Workplace bullying
* Custodial rape

## References

1. ↑ Roberts, G. S. (2014). Power Harassment'and the Workplace Environment in Japan: The Evolution of the Concept Amidst Uncertain Times (Doctoral dissertation, Waseda University).
2. ↑ West, Mark D. (11 March 2020). Drunk Japan: Law and Alcohol in Japanese Society. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-007085-4. https://books.google.com/books?id=1Y7UDwAAQBAJ&dq=power+harassment+japan&pg=PA45.
3. ↑ "Power Harassment in the Workplace". Morgan Lewis. 2012-02-28. https://www.morganlewis.com/pubs/ml-tmi_lf_japanpowerharassmentworkplace_28feb12. Retrieved 2020-06-24.
4. ↑ McKinney, Kathleen (1994). "Sexual harassment and college faculty members". Deviant Behavior 15 (2): 177. doi:10.1080/01639625.1994.9967966.
5. ↑ Rush, Ramona R. (2001). "Natural Communications: An Unnatural Act for Mankind?". Critical issues in communication: looking inward for answers. Sage. p. 318. ISBN 9788170369905.
6. ↑ Rush, Ramona R. (1996). "'Being All That We Can Be'". Women Transforming Communications: Global Intersections. Sage. p. 147. ISBN 9780803972674.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Hsiao, Philip (2015). "Power Harassment: The Tort of Workplace Bullying in Japan". Pacific Basin Law Journal 32 (2). https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4wx1206r.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Sayuri Umeda (2020-06-20). "Japan: Law to Prevent "Powa-Hara" (Power Harassment) Takes Effect". http://www.loc.gov/law/foreign-news/article/japan-law-to-prevent-powa-hara-power-harassment-takes-effect/. Retrieved 2020-06-24.
9. ↑ Yasuko Okada (岡田康子) 職場で深刻化する「パワー・ハラスメント」. In TOKYO JINKEN vol. 15. (Published 2002-09-20 by Tokyo Metropolitan Human Rights Promotion Center).
10. ↑ "労働施策の総合的な推進並びに労働者の雇用の安定及び職業生活の充実等に関する法律 [Labor Policy Comprehensive Promotion Act"] (in ja). 第八章 職場における優越的な関係を背景とした言動に起因する問題に関して事業主の講ずべき措置等. https://elaws.e-gov.go.jp/search/elawsSearch/elaws_search/lsg0500/detail?lawId=341AC0000000132. "事業主は、職場において行われる優越的な関係を背景とした言動であつて、業務上必要かつ相当な範囲を超えたものによりその雇用する労働者の就業環境が害されることのないよう、当該労働者からの相談に応じ、適切に対応するために必要な体制の整備その他の雇用管理上必要な措置を講じなければならない"
11. ↑ Bae, Jessie Yeung,Gawon (2022-07-04). "As Korean employees return to the office, so does 'gapjil' workplace harassment" (in en). https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/04/asia/south-korea-gapjil-harassment-survey-intl-hnk/index.html.

* v
* t
* e

Abuse

Types|

* Anti-social behaviour
* Bullying
* Child abuse
* neglect
* sexual
* military
* Cruelty to animals
* Domestic abuse
* Elder abuse
* Gaslighting
* Harassment
* Humiliation
* Incivility
* Institutional abuse
* Intimidation
* Neglect
* Persecution
* Professional abuse
* Proxy abuse
* Psychological abuse
* Physical abuse
* Religious abuse
* Sexual abuse
* Stalking
* Structural abuse
* Verbal abuse
* more...

Related topics|

* Abusive power and control
* Child grooming
* Complex post-traumatic stress disorder
* Dehumanization
* Denial
* Destabilisation
* Exaggeration
* Isolation
* Just-world hypothesis
* Lying
* Manipulation
* Minimisation
* Narcissism
* Psychological projection
* Psychological trauma
* Psychopathy
* Rationalization
* Traumatic bonding
* Victim blaming
* Victim playing
* Victimisation

0.00

(0 votes)

Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power harassment. Read more

|

Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Social:Power_harassment&oldid=4338037"
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template