Sexual Harassment in Nonprofit Organizations: Organizational Dysfunctions or Harasser’s Behavior?

In 2018, the media spotlight fell on several high-profile nonprofit organizations (NPOs) in connection with sexual harassment (SH). Since then, a flood of SH cases has severely impacted the image and reputation of the nonprofit sector. NPOs have been accused of attempting to cover up SH and, in some cases, of leniency toward the harassers. However, these claims have not been rigorously investigated. In this paper, we study the role and behavior of harassers and argue that they may target organizations operating in the nonprofit sector owing to specific conditions that enable them to avoid detection and punishment. We argue that an environment advantageous to those who perpetrate harassment is created by several exogenous (nonorganizational) factors, such as the vulnerability of aid recipients, the lack of legal protection of volunteers, and, in some cases, the cultural tolerance of discrimination against women. From this novel perspective, traditional anti-SH policies that focus on reacting to harassment and supporting the victim are viewed as necessary-but insufficient-approaches to the problem. We therefore propose a series of complementary policies that enable NPOs to adapt their operational environments to curb SH.