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“Psychological harassment at work is an issue of domination; one individual who dominates another. The onset of harassment can be explained by the interaction between three types of characteristics: individual characteristics of the ‘harassed’ person, individual characteristics of the ‘harasser,’ and the characteristics of an organization which creates the encounter between these two people. The organization will either foster a relationship of harassment or not.

Within a company structure, relationships are often of the dominate/subordinate type. Hierarchy leads to relationships of power between superiors and subordinates. Women are often a target within organizations; this is not due to their gender, but to their hierarchical position in the company.

The notion of suffering at work most often brings to mind physical suffering. There are still many companies where arduous working conditions remain a reality. Today this suffering is accompanied by psychological suffering due to the mental stress of the job. This stress may be linked to severe time constraints: the need to work fast, respond to clients, managers, suppliers and so on, in a short time frame. Furthermore, new technological tools sometimes weaken the recovery time with professional life easily extending into the home. Marketing has also led us to believe that the customer is king, creating behaviour and demands that increase the psychological burden on the employee who must deal with the said behaviour. Finally, management methods may put employees under a lot of pressure when optimising work time and limiting the necessary recovery time...”

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