Sexual Harassment at the workplace
The word “harass” includes quite a broad spectrum of action; distress, badger, trouble, vex, plunge, torment, irritate, heckle, beset, worry, afflict, depress, sadden, annoy and disturb. In a workplace, sexual harassment becomes a form of sexual discrimination, which is contrary to the principles of equal rights for men and women.
On late, there has been much emphasis on the problem of sexual harassment at the workplace, so mush so, the Minister of Human Resource has introduced the Code of Practice to Prevent and Eradicate Sexual Harassment at the “workplace”, which includes a guideline to be followed in combating the problem of sexual harassment. The Code provides practical guide to employees, workers, trade unions and other interested parties on how to contain, and if possible, totally eradicate this social problem.
What constitutes Sexual Harassment ?
Sexual harassment may take many forms, some of which may be subtle while others may be more explicit, but all of which are bound to cause much embarrassment to the victim. The following may be considered as typical examples;
- Unsolicited compliments regarding a person’s figure, dressing, make-up, style of movement, way of talking, etc
- Sexually tainted jokes, rumours, comments, news items, etc. made in the presence of a person of the opposite sex
- Physically molesting female staff by touching parts of their bodies
- Persistently trying to strike up a conversation, even after the other person has indicated that he/she is not keen to do so.
- Verbal advances and suggestions of a lewd and sexual nature.
- Unwarranted telephone calls, especially if such calls are made to the person’s office or home at unearthly hours
- Repeatedly or persistently inviting a person for lunch/ dinner, dates, or for a drink or ride
- Sending love letters or posting love notes on the Internet
- Sending or showing pornographic materials to another person in order to embarrass him/her
- Instructing a subordinate employee to stay back alone, after normal working hours, on the pretext of having urgent work to be done.
Remedial Measures
An individual victim has every right to protect herself from any form of harassment. However, in dealing with cases of sexual harassment at the workplace, there are many factors the victim has to consider;- one’s reputation, the family, opinion among colleagues, social relationship, and also the job itself. Any adverse publicity is bound to bring irreparable psychological damage to the victim. Therefore, great care and caution should be taken in finding solution to the problem.
If the harasser is a colleague, the following steps may be taken by the victim:-
- tell him at the very first instance that you are not amused with his behaviour and warn him not to repeat it; but keep your cool
- avoid losing control of your emotions or temper and do not throw tantrums
- should he repeat his action, give him a second and final warning in a plain and straightforward manner
- do not show him that you are afraid of or intimidated by him in any way
- if you know others who are also victims of this particular harasser, get them together and give him a tongue-lashing, outside office hours.
- if his actions persist, take up the matter with your boss or report him to his boss
- if the problem still persists, make a written complaint to the Personnel Manager and at the same time refer the matter to the union, if you are a union member.
- if as a last resort, the matter is reported to the police, they can take action against the harasser- PENAL CODE- SECTION 509
If the harasser is your own boss or a senior member of the management staff, the situation may be a bit more complicated and the whole matter has to be dealt with delicately and diplomatically. However, the preventive actions to be taken are more or less the same as stated above.
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Filed Under: Employment Act 1955 • Industrial Relations
