4 Signs of Subtle Harassment by Female Colleagues

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Women are usually not very supportive of each other, and this trend is usually worse in the workplace. A 2012 article published on Forbes talked about why women were the worst kind of bullies. And if you have been in the workplace for any amount of time, you would likely have come across such women. They are the ones who look at you with an assessing gaze and then murmur a reluctant ‘morning’ in reply to your greeting. They yell and scream at you and can even throw a shoe at you.

 

But even without overt actions like that, there are ways that women sabotage their female colleagues. There are so many ways that women bully other women in the workplace (we really are resourceful). If you are feeling like your boss or colleague might be a bully, but you can’t really put your finger on what she is doing, you are not alone. Here are some signs of subtle harassment:

 

Lying – Some women tend to use lies to control and manipulate other women and to ensure that they never grow in the work place. What they do is that they spread lies about you or tell lies to you about other people.

 

Gossiping – This is a huge favourite among bullying women. They talk about other women and say things that are not flattering with the aim to bring the other woman down or completely destroy her confidence.

 

Subtle Put-Downs – They look for subtle ways to put you down and crush your self-esteem. That is where you get negative feedback about your work, or your suggestions are met with sarcasm. Or during a meeting, she might say something that makes you look foolish.

 

Unnecessarily Critical – Nothing you do is ever good enough and you can never do anything right. She always finds fault and does not hesitate to let you know.

 

 

All these are signs of workplace bullying and harassment and are subtle ways of tearing other women to shred. We have this bad habit of seeing other women as competition to be wiped out. This is not helping any one, and it certainly is not helping us as women. We need to learn how to support and stand up for each other especially in the work place.

 

If you are being bullied or harassed, find someone trustworthy outside your work situation, to talk to.