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THE IMPLICATIONS OF FAITH-LOSS IN THE ENSNAREMENT OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN 

THE WORKPLACE* 

 

Abstract 

Sexual harassment/assault is a traumatic event, which could reduce the well-being and might occasion less or 

increased spiritual roles of the victim. Doubtless, humans are spiritual and often times affiliates/adherents of 

particular faiths.  However, the  philosophy of a higher or lower spiritual inclination, in consequence of sexual 

harassment, might be possible if the victims consider the demands of their faith before or after the occurrence of 

the sexual act; particularly, if the victim was in a position to take an action that could avert or mitigate the 

harassment/assault.  It could also be a case of struggling with the act and the spiritual life, or a situation where 

the faith of such victim is challenged for overt or covert reasons, which culminated in succumbing to the 

harassment.  Therefore, this research examined whether spirituality influences the decision of victims before 

falling prey to sexual harassment or not; which could be termed bold or timid, from the faith perspective.  In 

addressing the issues raised in this study, the doctrinal research methodology was adopted. This involved 

exploring books and journal articles in hardcopy and electronic formats on spirituality, sexual harassment, and 

other cognate fields. The paper endeavoured to substantiate that some sexually harassed victims succumbed to 

sexual harassment or assault not because they were not spiritually inclined, but due to several factors, especially 

lack of faith or doubt in the spirituality.  The Christian religion was predicated upon for the discourse, and the 

Nigeria society used as case study, for the ease of reference. The study made some viable recommendations 

simultaneously with the discussion, to help prevent people from further falling prey to sexual harassment/assault, 

as they leverage on faith to assume responsibility for their individual well-being in the workplace and elsewhere. 

 

Keywords: Ensnarement; Faith; Sexual harassment; Spirituality; Workplace.  

 

1. Introduction 

The unwanted sex-related behaviours in the workplace which is perceived as offensive, intimidating, humiliating, 

hostile, demeaning, frustrating and threatening to the resources and well-being of the recipient is known as sexual 

harassment.1 A traumatic event such as sexual harassment or assault causes reduced well-being, which might 

likely occasion less or increased spiritual roles that help to restore well-being.2 However, this philosophy might 

be possible if the person or victim considers the demands of their faith before the occurrence of the sexual act or 

after. It could also be a case of struggling with the acts and the spiritual life. Of the seventy women sexually 

assaulted, as shown by a survey conducted by Kennedy, et al., sixty showed increased spiritual roles as it enhanced 

their well-being; and those with less spiritual roles significantly portrayed depressed well-being.3 In essence, in 

moments of being downcast, consolation is sought in religion. Sexual harassment can be critical to the spiritual 

life of the person who has been subjected to the abuse.4  

 

Pertinently, there is a significant role in decision-making on the part of the victim when it relates to religion and 

sexual harassment.  The onus is on the victim to say no and to do all that is possible in the circumstance to avert 

succumbing to the harassment. Failure to prevent occurrence of the harassment, as much as lies within the control 

of the would-be victim indicates that the person is either not into any faith or such faith is lukewarm or dicey. This 

analogy relates to the socio-psychology definition of sexual harassment which says that sexual harassment is a 

two-way phenomenon.  That is, a specific unwanted behaviour and the recipient’s reaction to such behaviour.5 In 

essence, the reaction of the victim could either be receptive or resistant and this must be backed up with active 

                                                           
*By Adetutu D. AINA-PELEMO, PhD [First and Corresponding Author], Associate Professor of Law, Department of 

Jurisprudence and International Law, Redeemer’s University, Ede, Osun State, Nigeria, West-Africa. Email: aina-

pelemoa@run.edu.ng or ainaadetutud@gmail.com. Phone Number: +2348038397372 ; and 

*Olaolu S. OPADERE, PhD, Professor of Law, Department of Public Law, Redeemer’s University, Ede, Osun State; on 

technical assistance to Faculty of Law, University of The Gambia, West Africa. Email: laoluopadere@gmail.com. 
1 LF Fitzgerald, and others, ‘Antecedents and Consequences of Sexual Harassment in Organizations: A Test of an Integrated 

Model’ 82 Journal of Applied Psychology 578, (1997); McDonald, Workplace Sexual Harassment 30Years On:  A Review of 

the Literature’ 14, International Journal of Management Reviews 1 (2012); JC Quick, MA McFadyen, ‘Sexual Harassment:  

Have We Made Any Progress?’ 22 Journal   of   Occupational Health Psychology 286, 286 (2016); AD Aina-Pelemo, PA 

Ejembi, Iseoluwa Aina, ‘Review of Literatures on Definition of Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: Underscoring their 

Prescriptive Implication’, 9 Benue States University Law Journal 33, 43 (2020). 
2 James E. Kennedy, Robert C. Davis and Bruce G. Taylor, ‘Changes in Spirituality and Well-Being among Victims of Sexual 

Assault’, 37 Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 322, 322 (1998). 
3 Ibid. 
4 Beth R. Crisp, ‘The Spiritual Implications of Sexual Abuse: Not Just an Issue for Religious Women?’ 20 In Feminist 

Theology, 133, 133 (2012). 
5 JL Berdahl, Harassment based on ‘Sex: Protecting Social Status in the Context of Gender Hierarchy’, 32 Academy of 

Management Review 641, 641 (2007); P  Ejembi,  A  Aina-Pelemo, O  Ejembi and  I  Aina, ‘The Trajectory  of  Nigerian  Law  

Regarding  Sexual  Harassment  in  the  Workplace’, 4 African Journal of Law and Human Rights 1, 5, (2020).  

mailto:aina-pelemoa@run.edu.ng
mailto:aina-pelemoa@run.edu.ng
mailto:ainaadetutud@gmail.com


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steps so as to proof the value of the person’s morals and religious faith. For as long as the victim endures or 

condones the harassment, he/she remains ensnared and/or enslaved, in the literal sense of the words, by the 

predator as well as the psychological effects of the act.  By social perception, sexual harassment may be welcomed 

by the victim,6 and that indicates that it is the victim’s decision about the weird behaviours that matters. However, 

such decision ought to be based on the exercise of victim’s faith and morality; otherwise, such faith becomes the 

reactive measures for rehabilitating victims that have been sexually harassed.  This latter position substantiates 

the position that one of the ways survivors or victims cope with the experience of sexual harassment is the use of 

spirituality.7  The posture of this discourse is that such faith or spirituality is better used for prevention rather than 

reparation, when proactively deployed in sturdy resistance against the vice of sexual harassment.  Workplace is a 

formal and informal place where one learns, develops, creates, acquires or enhances knowledge.8 In the context 

of this discourse, our major concern is that victims who profess faith ought to put their faith/religion in view before 

conceding to any form of sexual harassment at any time; except it was committed unexpectedly and/or forcefully. 

Possibly, if that is done conscientiously, there could be less report of sexually harassed victims and that might 

serve as a way of preventing sexual harassment in the workplace.  

 

Nevertheless, there are situations whereby spirituality is jettisoned by the victims due to factors, like 

unemployment, poverty, peer influence, lack of faith in the spiritual, pessimism, fear of the unknown, etc. This 

research therefore examines the influence of spirituality in the decision reached by victims of sexual harassment 

in the workplace. The difference between this study and previous ones is that, whilst the latter focus mainly on 

recovery of victims from sexual trauma with the aid of spirituality; the former (this study) focuses on the 

possibility that spirituality would influence the decision of victims and avert falling prey to sexual harassment.  

For avoidance of using an unfamiliar religious premise, we have chosen to tilt this discourse to towards 

Christianity, its adherents, and their religious texts; with which these writers are acquainted. The doctrinal 

methodology was adopted by exploring books and a broad range of existing journal articles in hardcopy and 

electronic formats on spirituality and sexual harassment. 

 

2. The Interaction of Morality and Sexual Harassment 

For better understanding of the meaning of harassment, it is essential to have a clear image of what morality 

denotes. Friedman endeavoured to describe morality thus: ‘…I may be bigger than you, I may not use this to take 

advantage of you. The fact that I am rich and you are poor, or that I am strong and you are weak, healthy while 

you are sick, does not entitle me to take advantage of your disadvantage.’9 Essentially, sexual harassment is a 

personal moral predicament and ethical challenge within the workplace, where an expression of positive morality 

is required. Morality means a set of principles about what is right or wrong, good or bad and just or unjust.10 These 

norms, beliefs or traditions of morality are a creation of the society held by a majority of people in the society that 

could either be positive or negative.11  By implication, the fact that an act is accepted or condoned in the society 

does not make it right. In this discourse, divine law is regarded as the set of commands of God that are either 

expressed or implied.12 One then wonders what determines the negativity or positivity if a societal practice bothers 

on divine law. Rumble affirms Austin’s distinction of divine law and positive morality;13 to the effect that positive 

morality of a society is correct in so far as it coincides with divine law and incorrect in so far as it deviates from 

it. Hence, any social behaviour that negates the principles of the divine or religious law is seen as negative 

morality.  In essence, a person who truly practices or understands the true meaning of divine law or faith in a 

religion ought to use his or her intuition and implied commands of God to discourage or prevent any unwanted 

social behaviour personally. Victims of sexual harassment are not totally exonerated from the occurrences, except 

such act is unexpected or done forcibly. In the instance whereby the victim succumbs after several pressures then 

it is a question of faith and/or practice of the divine law. This takes us back to the subject matter that sexual 

harassment can be averted if people of faith are highly sensitive to the divine law. Sexual harassment has to do 

with unrelenting, unwanted and unnecessary sexual advances where the consequences of refusing are potentially 

                                                           
6 Ibid. (note 5) 651; LF Fitzgerald, Who says? Legal and Psychological Constructions of Women's Resistance to Sexual 

Harassment’ in CA Mackinnon, and R B Siegel, Directions in Sexual Harassment Law, 94-110 (eds, Yale University Press, 

2004). 
7 Gregory P. Knapik, Donna S. Martsolf, Claire B. Draucker and Karen D. Strickland, ‘Attributes of Spirituality Described by 

Survivors of Sexual Violence’, 15 In Qualitative Report 644, 644 (2010).  
8 Karen Cacciattolo, ‘Defining Workplace Learning’, 1 European Scientific Journal 243, 243 (2015). 
9 Manis Friedman, The Morality of Weakness: Defining Sexual Harassment. Chabad.org. (Apr, 23, 2005, n.d.), 

https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/3169/jewish/The-Morality-of-Weakness-Defining-Sexual-Harassment.htm 
10 Emima Alistar Hîrlav, The Relation Between Law and Morality, RAIS Conference Proceedings, 358 (April 3-4, 2019).  
11 Isabel Turegano, M. Freeman, P. Mindus, The Legacy of John Austin’s Jurisprudence: Reconstructing   Austin’s   Intuitions: 

Positive Morality and Law, 1 eBook Springer, 291-311 (2013). 
12 Wilfrid E. Rumble, ‘Legal Positivism of John Austin and the Realist Movement in American Jurisprudence’, 66 Cornell 

Law Review 986, 1007 (1981). 
13 Ibid, 1007. 

https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/3169/jewish/The-Morality-of-Weakness-Defining-Sexual-Harassment.htm


AINA-PELEMO & OPADERE: The Implications of Faith-Loss in the Ensnarement of Sexual Harassment in the 

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disadvantageous to the victim.14 The posture of this discourse is that those victims are not totally helpless or taken 

away by fear of the consequences of refusal; but for doubt of the potencies and realities of their faith. Victims’ 

experience of sexual harassment differs, the circumstances have ominously similar characteristics; they typically 

include an all-powerful (usually male, though not excluding female) figure in a position of authority who takes 

advantage of his status and position to subdue others (mainly women but, in some cases, men) to degrading and 

unacceptable behaviour.15  

 

Victims can turn down the offer of sexual harassment from his/her employer by resigning the employment and 

trusting faith for a better one rather than violating the divine law, and self dignity, to fit into societal practice. In 

fact, it is difficult to prove a case of sexual harassment, because it is carried out in such a way that the victim is 

too heavy burdened or afraid to share his or her experience with others, except a very courageous survivor or if 

the harasser harasses a group of people in the same or similar organisation. More so, male harassers see women 

as very secretive and they can rarely share private matters of such with fellow women, thereby aiding its 

occurrence in the organisation. Often times, it is also difficulty to get witnesses and corroboration to establish the 

case in public.16 

 

3. Societal Response to Sexual Harassment 
The Nigerian society is one that readily provides a platform for sexual harassment of females in so many ways; 

such that has led to the trivialisation of sexual harassment when reported by victims. Ige and Adeleke revealed 

that majority of the respondents surveyed that reported been sexually harassed were not taken serious, some were 

laughed at and some people playfully told the victims to desist from arousing the sexual drive of the harassers.17 

This attitude toward victims is not strange due, partly, to the patriarchal structure of the Nigerian society. 

Adebukola and Adebimpe said that the position of women in African societies especially Nigeria is more like a 

support/subordinate and men the decision maker or power dictator.18 This could be corroborated by the traditional 

and religious practice of permitting men to marry more than a woman and perceiving women with several 

husbands as sinners or having committed a taboo.19  Although sexual harassment affects both genders, but the 

negative impact on the female is worse than that of the male in most societies. Women are usually seen as a 

gratifying object to satisfy men’s sexual urge20 and procreators as opposed to being equal with men in terms of 

values advocated by international legal instruments, especially the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms 

of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). 

 

It is reported that women in Nigeria have been structured in such a way that when they are subjected to violence, 

in public or private, specifically the married ones, they are expected to remain silent and endure it all the way.21  

A part of Nigeria’s culture enhances male preference, as most of the cultural rites are performed by males.22 The 

societal perception of women does not only promote sexual abuse against them, but portrays women as less 

important to men. The peak of absurdity is when youths, siblings and parents see sexual harassment or abuse as 

norms for female to face in the workplace. It is observed that some parents assume that sexual harassment is one 

of the fastest ways to grow in employment and it is worth celebrating if you are preferred among your equals or 

colleagues in the society.23  Among the 293 males and 357 females surveyed in a study by Okoro and Obozokhai, 

                                                           
14 Abimbola Patricia Yakubu v Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria & Anor, unreported Suit No. NICN/LA/673/2013, 

2016 (Nigeria). 
15 Aina-Pelemo A. D. & Ejembi P. A., Sexual Harassment and the Law (15, 1st ed., Jos University Press, 2020). 
16 Olamide Abudu, ‘Sexual Harassment in Nigeria: It’s everybody’s problem’. The Guardian (Nov. 22, 2017, 1.25 AM), 

https://guardian.ng/issue/sexual-harassment-in-nigeria-its-everybodys-problem/ 
17 Ige, A.Y. & Adeleke, I. A., Evaluating the role of Culture on Sexual Harassment: the case of Nigerian Organizations (2012). 

http://.www.ilera2012.wharton.upenn.edu/RefereedPapers/IgeAY%20AdelekeIA%20ILERA.pdf  
18 Adebukola Dagunduro, & Adebimpe Adenugba, ‘Failure to meet up to Expectation: Examining Women’s Activist Groups 

in the Post-Colonial Period in Nigeria’, 4 Open Cultural Studies 23, 28-33 (2020). 
19  Aina-Pelemo Adetutu Deborah, Mehanathan M.C. & Kulshrestha Pradeep, ‘Sexual Harassment at Workplace: Judicial 

Impact in Nigeria and India’, 4 Indian Journal of Law & Human Behaviour, 121, 123 (2018). 
20 Gupta, R. Sexual Harassment at Workplace, (7, Haryana, LexisNexis, 2014). 
21 Awosusi A. O. & Ogundana C. F., ‘Culture of Silence and Wave of Sexual Violence in Nigeria’, 1 AASCIT Journal of 

Education, 33, 34 (2015). 
22 Inyang-Etoh, E. C. & Ekanem., A. M., ‘Child-Sex Preference and Factors that Influenced such choices among women in an 

Obstetric Population in Nigeria’, 03 Open Access Library Journal, 1, 2 (2016); Aina-Pelemo, A., &  Saluja,  S.,  ‘Comparative  

Analysis  of  Sex-Selection  in  Nigeria  and India’, 4 International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Studies, 70, 75-

76 (2018). 
23 Imonikhe, J., Aluede, O., & Idogho, P., ‘A Survey of Teachers’ and Students’ Perception of Sexual Harassment in Tertiary 

Institutions of Edo State, Nigeria’, 8 African Research Review 412, 414-415, (2011); Okoro, F. I., & Obozokhai, O. ‘Sexual 

Harassment: The Experience of Out-Of-School Teenagers in Benin City, Nigeria’, 9 African  Journal of Reproductive Health, 

118, 119, 124-25 (2005).  

https://guardian.ng/issue/sexual-harassment-in-nigeria-its-everybodys-problem/
http://.www.ilera2012.wharton.upenn.edu/RefereedPapers/IgeAY%20AdelekeIA%20ILERA.pdf


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231 (71%) respondents perceived sexual harassment as normal to leave with.24 This could be one of the reasons 

religious persons under the pressure of sexual harassment in the workplace could easily concede without due 

recourse to his or her faith.  Apparently, societal and customary factors have been discussed as they fuel sexual 

harassment in the society. Other factors could also make people of faith compromise in the face of sexual 

harassment in the workplace; these factors are fear of the unknown, retaliation, job termination, peer pressure, 

loss of livelihood, power differences, poor economy structure, family pressure and not having any religious faith.  

These factors shall be discussed further, shorty.  The societal, religious, economic and customary attributes boil 

down to the reasons people of faith see religious activities as a reparation channel after succumbing to sexual 

harassment, as opposed to exercising a level of faith in their religious doctrine to prevent the act from happening 

at all.  Several incoherent efforts have been put in place by the government to curb sexual harassment, but it 

remains prevalent25 and that is why this discourse is apt, to address the issue of sexual harassment from the faith 

and victim perspective.  It encourages would-be victims to leverage on faith as a means of strength and resistance, 

rather than cheaply succumb, in expectation of being consoled by faith thereafter. 

 

4. Effect of Faith in Decision-Making 
The human nature is gifted, heavily endowed, and capable of many possibilities.26  One of such possibilities is 

that of spirituality, with a concern for what is unseen and intangible, as opposed to physical or mundane, in other 

words, developing faith in a deity, a perceived higher being, or an object of worship as the case may be.  For 

instance, the Christian faith proposes that all of creation was made by God, and to Him they owe allegiance and 

worship.27  By this it is expected that all decisions made or to be made by an adherent will be influenced by his/her 

faith.  This shall be discussed presently by appraising the interaction of spirituality and sexual relations, faith as a 

window of opportunity, among a few other pertinent concerns. 

 

A) Spirituality and Sexual Relations: It is intrinsic in humans to be both spiritual and sexual.  In this discourse, 

the spiritual relates to ‘deep feelings and beliefs, especially religious beliefs.’28  It could also relate to ‘people’s 

thoughts and beliefs, rather than to their bodies and physical surroundings.’29  On the other hand, sexual describes 

a relationship to ‘the instincts, physiological processes, and activities connected with physical attraction or 

intimate physical contact between individuals.’  The Christian perspective to sexual relations may be qualified as 

stringent, strictly confining liberty for sexual intimacy to the age-old institution of marriage between a man and a 

woman.30  Any sexual relation outside this is forbidden.  With regards to sexual harassment in the workplace as 

touching the spiritual or person faith, this discourse concedes that the victim of such harassment does not have 

control over the action or inaction of the sexual predator, but surely does have control to a reasonable extent over 

acceding to such proposition of harassment.  The culmination of the harassment is usually through a progression, 

the span of which may differ from one case to another. Within the span of the envisaged progression, it is opined 

that the would-be victim has a couple of ‘windows of opportunities’ to make a crucial decision of whether or not 

to succumb to the harassment; particularly because the harassment is being perpetrated in the work environment. 

 

B) The Window of Opportunity: In this discourse, the window of opportunity for a would-be victim of sexual 

harassment in the work environment is that space of time available to such victim to decide whether to succumb 

to the impending harassment or to dare confront it.  From the Christian perspective, such victim is encouraged 

and expected to assume an uncompromising posture of valiantly resisting such harassment for certain reasons, 

some of which includes: 

1. Avoidance of sin: Entrenched in the canonical seventh commandment is the requirement that ‘you shall 

not commit adultery.’31  Adultery describes the voluntary sexual relations between a married person and 

                                                           
24 Ibid., ‘The Experience of Out-Of-School Teenagers in Benin City, Nigeria’, 9 African Journal of Reproductive Health, 118, 

125 (2005). 
25 Aina-Pelemo Adetutu Deborah, Mehanathan M.C. Kulshrestha Pradeep, & Aina, Iseoluwa T., ‘Sexual Harassment in the 

Workplace: Case Study of the Nigerian Legal Sector’, 86 Journal of Law Policy and Globalization, 121, 129 (2019). 
26 Human Nature, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. PLATO.STANFORD.EDU (Mar. 15, 2021, n.d.), 

https://www.plato.stanford.edu/entries/human-nature/  
27 The Epistle of Paul to the Colossian, Chapter 1 Verse16 (Authorized King James Version, International Bible Associations, 

Texas, 1195 (1974).  See also Michael Sweeny & Lesley Chapel, What is Human Nature? –Definition, Theories & Examples. 

STUDY.COM (Feb. 16, 2016, n.d.), https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-human-nature-definition-theories-

examples.html  
28 Spiritual, DICTIONARY.CAMBRIDGE.ORG (n.d.),  https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/spiritual 
29 Ibid. 
30 The Gospel According to St. Mark, Chapter 10 Verse7 (Supra, note 27), 1020; and The Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians, 

Chapter 5 Verse 31 (Supra, note 27), 1190).  See also Opadere, O.S. and Akande L.B., Biblical and Judicial Law: The Search 

for Marital and Societal Stability in Nigeria, in Aderibigbe I.S., Omotoye R.W., and Akande L.B. (eds.) Contextualizing 

Africans and Globalization: Expressions in Socio-political and Religious Contents and Discontents pp.175-188 (Lexington 

Books, USA, 2016).  
31 The Second Book of Moses—Exodus, Chapter 20 Verse 14 (Supra, note 27), 87. 

https://www.plato.stanford.edu/entries/human-nature/
https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-human-nature-definition-theories-examples.html
https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-human-nature-definition-theories-examples.html
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/spiritual


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somebody other than his/her spouse.32  It is important to consider sexual harassment in the context of 

adultery, because married individuals also combat with the menace in the workplace.  Implicitly, it is 

expected of a married Christian to consider sexual harassment as a lure to adultery, which should be 

vehemently resisted.  Similar to this is the admonition to ‘flee fornication.’33  Fornication is described as 

‘sexual intercourse between two consenting adults who are not married to each other.’34  On the whole 

both adultery and fornication address some sexual misnomer which the Christian adherent is required to 

avoid by all means, whether the manifestation is in the form of sexual harassment or any other form, 

because it does harm to and violates the doers own body.35 

 

2. Ownership and Purpose: By the Christian biblical doctrine, chastity conveys an expression of loyalty to 

Jesus Christ and acknowledgment of His ownership of the adherent.  By this the human body, which is 

deemed to have been purchased by God at a price, is regarded as the temple of the Holy Spirit.36  

Implicitly, in bearing this ownership concept in mind lays the pathway to the fulfillment of purpose for 

which a Christian adherent accepted the faith in the first place.37  In essence, where ownership is lost, 

purpose fails. 

 

3. Punishment for Condescending: Christians believe that only individuals with clean hands and pure hearts 

(symbolic of holy and right living) can have access to God.38  Furthermore, it is also believed that those 

who indulge fornication and adultery will be severed from, and have no share in the kingdom of God.39 

 

Therefore, based on the foregoing admonition and instructions, the Christian is expected to take a firm stand 

against sexual harassment in the workplace or anywhere else; whether it qualifies as adultery, fornication, or any 

other vice.  However, from the vantage point of the authors,40 it is certain that some Christians still fall prey to 

sexual predators in the workplace, from which they incurred indelible scars.  It is observed that some of the victims 

succumbed to the harassment by reason of varying negligible factors, despite being people of faith in Christianity.  

Owing to the factors, it is difficult and may even be inappropriate to blame the victim, hence this perspective to 

reinforcing courage in would-be victims for resistance in the face of harassment. 

 
5. Factors Occasioning Succumb 

As earlier mentioned, the observed factors range from threat of losing job, fear, poverty, to ordinate/noble ambition, 

among others.  To some, the factors may not be tenable or weighty enough to warrant succumbing to such vice as sexual 

harassment; but to the victim, it may be a matter of life and death in the desperation for survival; therefore, the factors 

are worth examining. 

1. Fear and threat of losing a job are usually intertwined.  Fear of the consequences of losing a job, voluntarily 

or involuntarily, in the face of sexual harassment in the workplace, it is a real one.  For adherents to the 

Christian belief, fear is unacceptable, as repletely admonished by the scriptures.41  It is particularly admonished 

that mortals should not be feared, as fearing them ensnares the victim of such fear.  Rather, Christians are 

required to put their trust and confidence in God,42 even in such threatening and fearsome situation as foisted 

by sexual harassment in the workplace.  In essence, for people of the Christian faith, fear and threat of losing 

a job are not sufficient factors enough for which to succumb to harassment in the workplace. 

 

2. Poverty, particularly in an emerging economy, is a factor that cannot be denied or glossed over.43  For an 

individual who understands the reality of poverty, seeking to preserve a perceived secure job, or any job 

whatsoever that strives to provide sustenance, may be worth every effort, even if enduring the adversities and 

                                                           
32 Encarta Dictionaries, Microsoft® Encarta® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. 
33 The First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, Chapter 6 Verse 18 (Supra note 27), 1160. 
34 Encarta Dictionaries (Supra note 32). 
35 Supra note 33.  See also Ann F. Pritt, Healing the Spiritual Wounds of Sexual Abuse, THE CHURCH OF JESUS 

CHRIST.ORG (Apr., n.d., 2001, n.d.), https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2001/04/healing-the-spiritual-

wounds-of-sexual-abuse?lang=eng  
36 Supra note 33. 
37 Supra note 27. 
38 The Book of Psalm, Chapter 24 Verses 3-5 (Supra note 27), 608-609. 
39 The First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, Chapter 6 Verse 9-10 (Supra note 27), 1160. 
40 Drawing from his years of experience as a law teacher and Christian counsellor. 
41 The Book of the Prophet Isaiah, Chapter 35 Verse 4 and Chapter 41 Verses 10-13  (Supra note 27), 742 & 748. 
42 The Proverbs, Chapter 29 Verse 25 (Supra note 27), 698. 
43 Based on the data produced by the Nigerian National Bureau of Statistics in 2020, 40% or 83 million Nigerians were said 

to live in poverty.  See Poverty & Equity Brief (Africa Western & Central) Nigeria, WORLD BANK.ORG (Apr. n.d., 2021, 

n.d.) https://www.databank.worldbank.org/data/download/poverty/987B9C90-CB9F-4D93-AE8C 

750588BF00QA/AM2020/Global_POVEQ_NGA.pdf and Nigeria’s Poverty Profile is Grim. It’s Time to Move Beyond 

Handouts, THE CONVERSATION, (Jun. 27, 2021, 10.47 AM). https://www.theconversation.com/nigerias-poverty-profile-

is-grim-its-time-to-move-beyond-handouts-163302 

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2001/04/healing-the-spiritual-wounds-of-sexual-abuse?lang=eng
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2001/04/healing-the-spiritual-wounds-of-sexual-abuse?lang=eng
https://www.databank.worldbank.org/data/download/poverty/987B9C90-CB9F-4D93-AE8C%20750588BF00QA/AM2020/Global_POVEQ_NGA.pdf
https://www.databank.worldbank.org/data/download/poverty/987B9C90-CB9F-4D93-AE8C%20750588BF00QA/AM2020/Global_POVEQ_NGA.pdf
https://www.theconversation.com/nigerias-poverty-profile-is-grim-its-time-to-move-beyond-handouts-163302
https://www.theconversation.com/nigerias-poverty-profile-is-grim-its-time-to-move-beyond-handouts-163302


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scars of sexual harassment in the workplace.  Nevertheless, the Christian belief holds a contrary view to this.  

It is expected that adherents seek to please God first, and make living by His righteous standards a first priority; 

with an assurance that they shall be divinely provided for.44 To this effect, scripture is replete with testimonies 

of such interventions for supernatural provision.45  In other words, the Christian creed is of the view that 

poverty (or any adversity) is not tenable enough to make an adherent succumb to sexual harassment in the 

workplace or elsewhere.46 

 

3. Ordinate/noble ambition is a legitimate factor that may render a would-be victim of sexual harassment in the 

workplace to succumb to a perpetrator of the vice.  It is worth recalling that the Universal Declaration of 

Human Rights reaffirmed commitment to ‘faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the 

human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and 

better standards of life in larger freedom….’47  By the provisions of the Declaration, it is clear that the innate 

rights of all mortals to aspire to ordinate or noble ambitions is upheld and reinforced. Certain privileged 

interactions of the second author with a few individuals who have been victim of sexual harassment in the 

workplace revealed that the desire to preserve an ordinate and noble ambition to excel in their chosen 

professional endeavour, vis-à-vis the opportunity of being in a work establishment that appears a prospective 

springboard to actualizing such ambition if only they endure, occasioned their succumbing to such harassment.  

In the end, they still had to disengage from such abusive establishment, as the only bid to save their faith and 

human dignity.  Christianity, however, does not consider ambition, no matter how ordinate or noble, worth 

making one succumb to sexual harassment.  In fact, it is of the view that for a gain of the whole world it is not 

worth mortgaging ones soul.48  In other words, ordinate/noble ambitions ought to be pursued and built upon 

the timeless virtues of dignity, self-worth, and faith, eschewing the dehumanizing compromise of sexual 

harassment. 

 

6. Faith as ‘Sword’ and ‘Shield’ 

For adherents of the Christianity, faith or spirituality is expected ultimately to be a ‘sword’ and ‘shield’.  Sword in the 

sense that; the conviction or belief of the adherents is meant to confront any and everything that is considered negative 

as well as adverse to the creed of the belief.49  In essence, the faith held by adherent is a sword with which they are 

expected to engage in ‘warfare’ with anything that contradicts the virtues and values of what they believe; and by which 

they are also required to teach such violators to align with their belief.  In the same vein, the faith of a Christian is meant 

for a defense, in the sense that it constitutes a protective hedge around the adherent50 against all negative, compromising, 

and detrimental infiltrations like a lure to sexual harassment and the likes.  In other words, a Christian faced with the 

vice of sexual harassment in the workplace is expected to appropriate the double-edged benefit of his/her faith in 

defending the integrity and nobility of the faith, and to confront the ill, even if it means exercising the extreme option 

of walking away from such toxic work environment, rather than succumb. 

 

7. Conclusion 

This discourse has endeavoured to carefully look at the subject of sexual harassment in the workplace, with particular 

emphasis on the ‘narrow strip’ of its impact on would-be victims who are people of faith; with the Christian faith chosen 

for specific evaluation.  Faith is underscored as a sword and shield for any would-be victim to deploy in the face of the 

vice of sexual harassment, whenever it attempts to manifest.  By this, the responsibility and rein are snatched away from 

the harasser and are now lodged with the supposed harassed.  To a huge extent, many people of faith who have been 

victim of this harassment were said to have been as a result of their loss of faith in the potency of the faith they profess.  

Faith ought not to be resorted to only for reparation after the damage is done; but should be as a first resort, in order to 

avert the incidence of sexual harassment.  As long as the harassment is not rape, then faith can be deployed to 

overcoming the darts of harassment.  In the worst case scenario, by the same faith professed, a would-be victim should 

be bold and courageous enough to walk away from a toxic work environment riddled with the vice of sexual harassment, 

rather than wait, at the risk of bearing the hurt and scars of a lifetime. This article concludes that people of faith would-

be victims of sexual harassment in the workplace are not totally helpless if they are sensitive to faith, except they opt to 

be helpless. The authors therefore recommend that everyone in the workplace should be sensitive to their faith. No one 

is invulnerable to sexual harassment, and faith is one of the significant means of preventing it, rather than a coping 

mechanism after the incident. 

 

                                                           
44 The Gospel of St. Matthew, Chapter 6 Verse 33 (Supra note 27), 975. 
45 The Book of Psalm, Chapter 37 Verse 25 (Supra note 27), 616. 
46 For example, in an interaction on 21 September 2016 between the first author (who herself is a survivor of sexual harassment) 

and a Christian lady who also was victim, the lady said she ought to have relied on her faith for financial assistance rather than 

the man who sexually harassed her. She stated further that as soon as she fell for the antics and the harasser gave her the needed 

money, God provided more than the amount she was in need of through a legitimate (miraculous) means; thereby proving to 

her that he (God) is more than sufficient to provide, if only she had exercised her faith. 
47 Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, ‘Preamble’. 
48 The Gospel of St. Matthew, Chapter 16 Verse 26 (Supra note 27), 988. 
49 The Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, Chapter 10 Verse 3-6 (Supra note 27), 1177. 
50 The Book of Psalm, Chapter 91 Verses 1-3 (Supra note 27), 645. 


