Sekuhara, Powahara, Aruhara, Akahara: ‘Hara’ssment Types in Japanese

Pronunciation

Definition

セクハラ (せくはら, sekuhara) is an abbreviation of “セクシャルハラスメント (sexual harassment)“. Compared to the English term, セクハラ is used more commonly and casually to indicate offensive verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. For instance, it can be セクハラ if a man says “Wow, your tits are awesome!” to his female friend. Some women also find it セクハラ when their male colleagues give undesired compliments to their appearance e.g., “I guess you’ve lost your weight.”.

パワハラ (pawahara), アカハラ (akahara), and アルハラ (aruhara)

After the term セクハラ has become prevalent, several Japlish (Japanese-made English) words have been created to indicate different types of harassment. That includes “パワハラ“, “アカハラ“, and “アルハラ“. The first word “パワハラ (pawahara)” stands for “power harassment”, and indicates the general abuse of authority, such as physical or verbal attack at work or school (especially a sports club at school) from one’s supervisor. “アカハラ (akahara)” stands for “academic harassment” and also indicates abuse of authority in academia (e.g. harassment to students from their supervisor). And finally, “アルハラ (aruhara)” stands for “alcohol harassment” and indicates the act of forcing someone to drink.

Example Sentences

Ex1
お前まえ、今いまの発言はつげんはセクハラだろ
I guess what you just said is a sexual harrasment.

Ex2

上司のパワハラのせいで仕事を辞めた

I quit my job due to the パワハラ (abuse of authority) from my boss.

Synonyms: セクシャルハラスメント
Synonyms in English: sexual harassment
Related words and phrases: パワハラ, アカハラ, アルハラ