Prime
Create safer work spaces to end sexual harassment
Rehema Z Namukose
What you need to know:
- "Don’t just blame. As a society, we are too quick to blame the victims first - with statements such as ‘what was she thinking meeting him/why was she wearing a short dress?’ This attitude of victim blaming should change."
- Are current structures in your workplace conducive for victims to report cases of sexual harassment? Are human resource teams or key persons in charge skilled enough to handle these cases when they happen? Are they independent of influence from senior leadership to take action against a perpetrator (assuming a perpetuator is the CEO/ED)? Overall, management should be proactive in ensuring that victims are supported psychologically and procedurally in pursuing legal action when they decide to; and it should be accountable and transparent.
A close friend recently confided in me about a challenge she has at work. Her boss has been making sexual advances on her for some time now. He makes inappropriate comments and messages and she has politely asked him to stop, but he won’t.
She feels ‘abused and disgusted’, but she fears reporting the case. I remember my first reaction to her story being ‘Oh Lord, this never ends!’
My friend’s problem represents many women’s experiences in workplaces and elsewhere who are often sexually harassed by men, especially those in senior positions.
These kinds of men exercise false entitlement and control over women’s bodies without a regard that women deserve equal respect and dignity. We have grown up in a society that normalises these incidents in the name of “keeping the peace” or “protecting one’s job/career” and my worst is the “you should be grateful to even have that job”. The unfortunate part is such incidences often go unchallenged and offenders get away with it.
Sexual harassment and assault affects all people regardless of their gender. However, women are affected more than any men. The 2016 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey states that more than one in five girls and women aged 15-49 have experienced sexual violence at some point compared to fewer than one in 10 men. Recently, #metoo, an online solidarity movement against all forms of sexual harassment and assault, was reignited in the USA to shed light on the magnitude of the issue.
The hashtag has since been used globally by especially women, to share personal and often very painful experiences about this problem in the workplace, at home, public spaces, and in places of worship. This movement has, most importantly, given a collective platform and voice to survivors and victims’ to courageously speak out, many seeking legal action against perpetrators.
The movement reveals a major problem society continues to ignore - that women are not safe anywhere and we are not doing enough to address it. Why are we not creating spaces, particularly in workplaces and in media to have extended conversations about #metoo beyond online discussions? Are we pretending that women are not sexually harassed in our communities?
Like my friend, many of us fear sharing stories of sexual harassment because of fear of judgement and shame, backlash, the unknown and losing jobs and/or reputation. Many end up turning to family and friends to share their pain and frustration, but the reality is that this doesn’t solve the problem.
We need to do better to create safer workplaces. For example, we can start by re-examining the existing policies on sexual harassment and organisational culture to protect the vulnerable and marginalised – women, employees in lower positions of power such as cleaners, cooks, volunteers and interns. To enforce these policies and guidelines, management should be intentional about creating safer spaces that prevent this from happening. A starting point is to ensure that all employees understand these policies and guidelines.
Are current structures in your workplace conducive for victims to report cases of sexual harassment? Are human resource teams or key persons in charge skilled enough to handle these cases when they happen? Are they independent of influence from senior leadership to take action against a perpetrator (assuming a perpetuator is the CEO/ED)? Overall, management should be proactive in ensuring that victims are supported psychologically and procedurally in pursuing legal action when they decide to; and it should be accountable and transparent.
We have made commendable progress in the fight to end sexual and other forms of gender-based violence and many women and men have played a critical role. However, we still have one in three women suffering some form of sexual violence once is their lifetime. We need to hold ourselves to high standards.
Above all, we should hold men to higher standards because they are born in a patriarchal society that elevates their status over that of women.
Beyond online campaigns and hashtags, where are men to call out an act of abuse of power when a top male manager sexually harasses a graduate intern in a workplace? When men speak out against such acts or even offer other forms of support, victims could be encouraged to speak out more. Women, especially those in positions of power, should also step up to condemn these acts when they see them happening.
As a society, we are too quick to blame the victims first - with statements such as ‘what was she thinking meeting him/why was she wearing a short dress?’ This attitude of victim blaming should change.
Ms Namukose is a policy and campaigns research and evaluation officer for Oxfam America.
[email protected]
