Organizational policies against sexual harassment: do they work?
Is it our quest for true gender equality or do we just want to fill our mouths with nonsense words?
I recently attended a focus group discussion where the main topic was “what is it like to be a woman in the organization you work for”? Having covered various management roles at the organization I previously worked for, I can tell you that regardless of geographic location, sexual harassment in the workplace was a recurring theme, from the sexist comment or joke to unwanted physical contact. , committed by a wide range of male colleagues, from the European co-worker to the African to the Middle Eastern one. While I am open-minded, I am not prepared to receive this type of feedback from people I would simply like to collaborate with professionally. My work environment should be a sanctuary, not a trap.
Simply put, being a woman in the humanitarian setting is no less than being a woman anywhere else in the world, unless you live a remote and lonely life in a remote and lonely place and have no contact with humanity. It means being exposed to all kinds of comments, especially when you are in a position of power.
I think the question should be different: it should be “What can we as an organization do to make you, the employees, feel safe in your workplace?” And indeed, there are quite a few things that can be done.
Recommendation one: Recruitment.
I’m not talking about quotas but about attitude. We have made giant strides in the battle against racism and now we are horrified by racist statements. But what about sexist statements? Would an interviewer hire someone who is openly racist during a job interview? The answer is no. Would you hire someone to make a sexist comment just to make the panel laugh? The answer is yes.
Let’s start by adding a general “gender attitude” question to the HR screening process, and give that question significant weight, and the possibility of outright rejection of the applicant, regardless of the candidate’s qualifications.
There is no difference between a racist joke and a sexist joke, because both are intended to harm an individual based on immutable characteristics or harmful stereotypes. The racist, however, will not be hired, but the sexist will. Because? Because sexual discrimination is endemic in all societies, and we are all victims of it. Therefore, we accept it and integrate it into our daily lives.
Recommendation two: Attitude towards misconduct.
We often talk about a system that encourages women to report sexual harassment, but many women do not report incidents for fear of retaliation, stigmatization, or mistrust. Our work culture continues to operate in a patriarchal society, where the victim is easily blamed rather than the offender: “Of course he made a comment about you, look what you’re wearing!” And many times, the human resources response is to investigate and expose the person making the sexual harassment complaint in a process that is unfair, often involving a confrontation with the perpetrator.
I have been working in the field of response to gender violence for several years, and if I have learned anything, it is that the person who comes to report an incident of gender violence must be believed, in the same way that one trusts a person reporting a robbery or assault. When someone reports a violation of her personal space, you set aside your own judgment and believe that person. You ask the person what they think should be the best way forward and act accordingly. Human resources must act in the best interest of the reporting employee and, in doing so, will actually act in the best interest of the entire organization when the reporting employee feels safe, trustworthy and cared for.
Recommendation three: Adapt a feminist approach within the organization.
Organizations need to focus on implementing policies that value female employees for what they do and how they do it, and not as a display of political correctness.
These policies should take into account the specific needs of women and explain them to male staff in order to involve men in efforts to promote positive masculinity. These policies should not dilute the experience of female employees by segregating them, and should instead acknowledge the unequal power structures for men and women in the workplace.
A true zero-tolerance policy must be enforced, and all employees must be in a position to activate the process to initiate a claim, without fear of ostracism, prosecution, or losing their job. While grievance mechanisms may exist, they are often not used, not because there is no need, but because requesting access to these services is not yet within the culture of the employee or the organization.
Putting complaint mechanisms in place, without the necessary safeguards to ensure that the system is actually used, means that the organization fails to ensure a safe working environment for its employees and perpetuates a culture of ‘checking a box’ in the name of combating discrimination sexuality and the promotion of equality between the sexes.
So for the reader, how would you feel safe in your workplace?
