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You wake up from your cosy bed, snuggled in your fluffy blanket. It’s bright and young sun brushing your left cheek. You are a 20-something, employed, youthful mind living alone in this metro city. You brew a cup of coffee and thank modern life for its excellent opportunity and independence. The brief imagery sounds exquisite indeed. Regardless, we all know it’s not all rainbows and sunshine. The top-notch organisation you work in has all the requisites of life, from health insurance, social security, a competitive workplace, etc. But why despite all of the comfort and convenience, 81% of women worldwide have claimed to experience sexual harassment of one kind or another at the workplace? None of us would have a coherent, substantial answer to that question. However, it’s well within our jurisdiction to stop this scourge once and for all.
The revolutionary #MeToo movement in 2017 swept all networking media with an upsurge of stories. Women worldwide narrated their plight of sexual harassment and were heard and supported by millions of people globally. Despite the widespread media attention and massive coverage, the understanding of workplace sexual harassment is still ambiguous. Contrary to the general belief, sexual harassment at work doesn’t affect the victims or a small group of people but the entire management. It involves the workforce and damages the workplace by inducing fear and security risk in fellow workmates.
The employee should boldly and clearly state the policy regulated sexual harassment, highlighting consequences for the breach of a measure in any way. The policy should be vividly defined, leaving no place for ambiguity. State all the necessary details, such as the procedure for filing a complaint, no acceptance of retaliation against the complaining candidate, and accentuating the code that will follow for the non-adherence of any of the regulations. Have a pronounced zero-tolerance policy towards sexual harassment.
Educating your employees on sensitive issues is a significant step towards building a safer work environment. Conduct workshops and training sessions now and then to help employees learn more about the subject and prevent mishaps. Send out a review sheet among employees after every session, fetching their thoughts on the session, suggestions or questions.
A special session should be conducted for senior managers or supervisors to let them better handle the situations of complaints and promote a progressive work arena for other staff.
The laws and policies of sexual harassment should be identical and applicable to every level and every position. Be it a board member or a novice hire; everyone should be subjected to the same regulations in the work handbook.
Monitor the workplace often to take notes of any indecent act or gesture. Ask employees for their input, consult your supervisors and managers periodically, and reform and revise the policies if need be.
Most victims don’t go so far as even reporting the crime for fear of retaliation. Evoke empowerment and support in your staff that help them gather enough courage to confront and seek necessary help. Invest in strengthening your organisation’s legal department that effectively looks into such reports. There should be a direct line of complaints and policies that employees can revoke at times of necessity.
Suffering in silence can fundamentally disturb many aspects of the victim’s life and let the perpetrator go with a clean chit. When a sexual harassment case has been reported, take it seriously and carry out a fast mechanism to address the issue, taking required measures immediately. In a workplace where the anxiety of violation and the sword of fear constantly hang above you, employees are likely to cut short the quality of work if they do not leave the job altogether. Having a safe work environment is every employee’s right, and they better get it sooner than later.