~ournal zyxwvutsrqp of zyxwvutsrqpon Traumatic Smss. Vol. 15. No. 1. February 2002. pp. zyxwvutsr 69-75 zyxwvuts (0 2002) zyxwvuts Sexual Harassment and PTSD: Is Sexual Harassment Diagnosable Trauma? Claudia Avinal* and William O’hnohue Sexual harassment has become a major social, legal, and mental health problem because zyx of its high prevalence and its negative consequences for victims. These consequences can include decreased productivity, loss of job, decreased income. and impaired psychological and physical well-being. De- spite evidence from empirical studies that victims often exhibit posttraumatic stress disorder zy (PTSD) symptoms, some have argued that sexual harassment does not constitute legitimate trauma. We argue that many forms of sexual harassment meet the diagnostic Criteria A1 and A2 of PTSD. Finally, the DSU-IV trauma criterion is explicated, and its relationship with sexual harassment and its effects are discussed. KEY WORDS: sexual harassment: PTSD; trauma; physical integrity. Sexual harassment has become an increasingly im- portant issue over the past two decades. Over 10,OOO peo- ple made complaints of sexual harassment in 1992, and complaintsby women have nearly more than doubled from 5,603in 1989to 14,420 in 1994 (Andrew zyxwvut & Andrew, 1997; Simon, 1996). Sexual harassment occurs in many differ- ent settings: 5 1 % of family practice female resident physi- cians, 64% of females in the U.S. military, 70% of female office workers,and 88% of femalenurses report having ex- perienced sexual harassment (Dan, Pinsof, & Riggs, 1995; Piotrkowski, 1998; Pryor, 1995; Vukovich, 1996). Despite the prevalence of sexual harassment, there are many unanswered questions. Some of the more press- ing questions regarding harassment include defining it; predicting its effects on victims, harassers, and organiza- tions; investigatingit; preventing it; rehabilitating sexual harassers; and treating its victims (O’Donohue, 1997). While scholars have made attempts to address these ques- tions, Fitzgerald, Gelfand. and Drasgow (1995) have de- scribed the current state of knowledge as rudimentary. For ‘Department of Psychology, University of Nevada. Reno, Nevada. *To whom correspondence should be addressed at Department of Psychology/298, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada 89557; e-mail: cavina@scs.unr.edu. example, although there is literature that explicates both legal definitionsof sexual harassmentthat are general, for- mal and institutional, and psychological definitions that are more idiosyncratic, informal, and personal, it is not clear how these two definitionalstrategies should intersect and influence responses by business, the legal system, and the mental health field (Fitzgerald et al.. 1988; Fitzgerald, Swan, & Magley, 1997).Furthermore,although sexual ha- rassment prevention programs are common, little is known regarding their effectiveness (0’ Donohue, Penix, & Brunswig, 1999). Finally, there are controversies con- cerning the proper use of mental health diagnoses in this area (Frances, First, & Pincus, 1995). Questions include the following: Can sexual harassers meet the criteria for some kind of paraphilia?. and Can victims meet the criteria for trauma-related diagnoses? Definitions of Sexual Harassment Legal zyxwvu and Regulrrtory Definitions The law proscribing sexual harassment derives from Title VII of the CivilRights Act of 1964.Title VII prohibits discrimination “with respect t o . . . terms, conditions, or