Faith Filled Family Magazine November 2016 | Page 94

took place 25 years ago.
The landmark case was so surreal then and continues to be remembered today. The television
program Scandal was a fictionalized drama of the events and
starred Kerry Washington who
played Anita Hill. Speaking out
about such behavior inflicted
on her by her high-profile boss
brought much embarrassment
and ridicule. Yet, Anita says, “I
would do it again.” That takes
courage.
SEXUAL VIOLATION IN THE
BIBLE
Sexual harassment is a violation of a person’s right to their
own body. The concept has
existed for many years, in fact
even long ago. Indeed the statement is true that says “there is
nothing new under the sun” for
unwanted sexual advances took
place even in biblical times. The
reason it was prevalent so long
ago and still is today is for the
same reason we have other violations of mankind such as murder, theft, prostitution, etc. It is
because sin existed since the
fall of man, and with sin came
demonic spirits brought about
by the enemy who seeks to “kill,
steal, and destroy” everyone in
his path.
Perhaps one of the most vivid
accounts of sexual violation took
place in the house of King David. You may recall the king had
been warned that because of his
evil plan to murder Bathsheba’s
husband, that God said “the
sword will never depart” from his
house, (2 Sam. 12:10). So what
we see in Chapter 13, is a manifestation of God’s judgment. One

of David’s sons, Amnon became
infatuated to the point of obsession with his half-sister Tamar.
So much so, until he decided he
had to have her.
In biblical times, it was not considered abnormal to marry a halfsister or half-brother. Abraham
and Sarah were half-brother and
sister. Although forbidden in King
David’s time, the act of marrying
his sister would have been better
than the act he chose instead.
Amnon allowed his passions to
get the better of him and he went
about it the wrong way entirely.
Having taken unwise counsel
from his crafty relative and friend
Jonadab, he arranged for a visit
from Tamar. His intentions were
anything but honorable.
When she arrived, she did as
she was asked to do for her
brother thinking she was helping to make him well. What she
could not have imagined was
the unthinkable was about to
happen to her. She resisted and
pleaded as much as she could,
but to no avail. We read as follows, “But Amnon wouldn’t listen
to her, and since he was stronger than she was, he raped her.
Then suddenly Amnon’s love
turned to hate, and he hated her
even more than he had loved
her. ‘Get out of here!’ He snarled
at her.” (2 Sam 13:14-15).
What happened to the love Amnon had for his sister? Where
did it go? Or was it ever love to
begin with? Maybe it was never
love, but only lust. This is one instance of the extreme of where
sexual harassment can lead to,
when impure, negative and persistent thoughts toward a person
of the opposite sex is left un-

checked.
SEXUAL HARASSMENT DEFINED
According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission:
“It is unlawful to harass a person (an applicant or employee)
because of that person’s sex.
Harassment can include “sexual
harassment” or unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or
physical harassment of a sexual
nature.
The harasser can be the victim’s supervisor, a supervisor
in another area, a co-worker, or
someone who is not an employee of the employer, such as a client or customer.”
The American Association of
University Women (AAUW) is an
organization that was developed
in order to empower and support women in general. It defines
sexual harassment as follows:
“Sexual harassment is a form of
sex discrimination that violates
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of
1964. Very generally, “sexual harassment” describes unwelcome
sexual advances, requests for
sexual favors, or other verbal or
physical conduct of a sexual nature.”
As noted from the incidents
above, sexual harassment takes
on many forms. It may begin with
snide remarks of a sexual nature,
inappropriate comments pertaining to a person’s sex, body parts,
and then the more advanced it
gets, the person may begin to
grope and touch their “object” of