Ask any women & she will tell you that at some point in her career she has faced sexual harassment at workplace. Handling co-worker’s lewd behaviour can be challenging, however this becomes tougher when offender is your boss/manager. So it is not that difficult to understand why it took so long to speak against Hollywood figure Harvey Weinstein. What can women do/action they can take against their bosses/co-workers if they are faced with sexual harassment at workplace?
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- How to identify it: To correctly adequate sexual harassment, you should first understand what does sexual harassment means. Sexual harassment includes( but not limited to) touching/groping, gestures, jokes, lewd comments that gives rise to hostile work environment. Corporations find themselves in serious problem if they fail to address this issue appropriately. All such unwarranted behaviour is against the company policy & calls for strict action. A lot of women fail to report incidents because “ he never touched me”, “ It was just a joke”, “ it happened only once” or “ we weren’t at work” even if they felt offended. It further accelerates the problem when the offender is your boss/manager or in a position of power. The fear of termination is another reason why women keep quiet.
- Speak up: Let offender know that his behaviour is unacceptable /making you uncomfortable. Some women feel that if they keep quiet/ignore it, then it won’t happen again. If you do not want to be asked out or given pet names, speak out loud & clear. You have the right to feel safe even if it makes someone unhappy. Women face lot of issues which accelerating in their career & the last thing they want is to face such unacceptable acts by a person at powerful position who can spoil their career just by sending an email/message.
- Be aware of your company policy: A lot of companies have specific sexual harassment policies in place that address protocol on who needs to informed of such acts & what steps needs to be taken to correct the situation. The policy may suggest that such events to be reported to your superior &/or Human Resource Department. Holding a senior leadership/executive position does not exempt him from punishment of any sexual misconduct he might have done. You should maintain documentation of violation supporting your claim. Its more better to have witnesses. Sexual misconduct can also take place at offsite event. Such offenses which takes places at activities scheduled after normal working hours are still ground for sexual harassment if activities were company related. Social media activity can also be used in support of misconduct
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