ACTIONS TAKEN BY VICTIM OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT

6. ACTIONS TAKEN BY VICTIM OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT

There is relatively little material for women, men or organizations on how to deal with social-sexual behaviours at work. Women may find advice on how to avoid sexual harassment or how to deal with sexual jokes helpful, but given the root causes of such behaviours (men, sexualized work environments); such advice should instead be given to male managers of organizations (Burke, 1995). Organizational efforts to reduce sexual harassment, flirting, and sexual joking must come from managers who have the power to change an over-sexualized work environment. These exemplars can set the tone of appropriate language, conduct and appearance. The creation of policy guidelines and their distribution, the dissemination of supportive literature, addressing these issues in management training seminars, and embodying appropriate attitudes and behaviours in the culture of the organization are necessary elements in reducing the negative consequences of subtle and not-so-subtle social-sexual behaviours at work. Policy guidelines must also be implemented and fully supported if they are to be useful in reducing social-sexual behaviours in professional service firms.

People who are offended, humiliated or intimidated by workplace behaviour rarely bring their concerns to the attention of senior staff and managers due to the following reasons: ¾ fear of work-related reprisals; ¾ distrust of management; ¾ not wanting to

be seen as a troublemaker; ¾ wanting to fit in; ¾ mistrust of grievance procedures; ¾ guilt that something they did encouraged the behaviour; ¾ low self esteem; ¾ social conditioning; ¾ differing cultural values about what they think is acceptable behaviour; or ¾ a feeling that harassment is a ‗normal‘ part of workplace culture (and that nothing can be done about it).

In response to the observation that few complaints are lodged, Riger (1991) recently highlighted gender dilemmas in sexual harassment policies and procedures. Riger proposes that the reasons for the lack of use of sexual harassment grievance procedures lie not in the victims but in the procedures themselves. The reasons for the lack of this grievance procedures is because men and women differ in their interpretation of the

definition of harassment, and, given their generally greater power, men‘s ideas about what constitutes harassment are likely to prevail. Attribution theory also suggests that men will be more likely to see sexually harassing behaviours as having a situational

cause; thus, women are seen as provoking the behaviours. In addition, grievance procedures for dealing with sexual harassment are likely to be written in gender-neutral terms to make them applicable to both women and men; however, women and men may have different reactions to the same procedures. Informal sexual harassment procedures try to solve a problem, whereas formal procedures typically attempt to decide on the guilt or innocence of the alleged harasser. Because women typically lack power, using a formal procedure may be seen as risky and they might prefer to use informal procedures. With informal procedures offenders suffer few negative consequences for their actions and victims may have little to gain from complaining. It is obviously possible to develop more effective policies and procedures, but even these will not eliminate sexual harassment. Instead, exclusive efforts at prevention need to be mounted at the individual, situational and organizational level. The most important factor in reducing sexual harassment is an organizational environment which promotes equal opportunities for women (Gutek, 1985).

CONCLUSION This study confirms the predictions of the four-factor model by highlighting the fact that sexual harassment is a complex problem which is influenced by many factors. First, it was found that women workers are sexually harassed regardless of their educational background (and by implication their job status). Second, the sexist attitudes of male co-workers and the existence of an unprofessional environment are

the main contributors to sexual harassment. Third, the study found that the more sexually provocative a woman worker dresses in the workplace, the more likely she would be harassed. The occurrence of sexual harassment in the workplace at all occupational levels incur some form of cost to companies, as the morale and interpersonal relationships among co-workers suffer. This in turn has serious implications on the team spirit and cooperation of employees. In the long-term, aggravated by the departure of competent workers, the competitive advantage of the corporation will ultimately be affected. Furthermore, sexual harassment is an indication of unequal power between male and female workers, implying women's subordinate status in the organization and society in general. In view of the findings of this study, several recommendations could be put forward. Managers of organizations could implement some measures in the workplace to counteract the risk factors of women workers. For example, managers could lay down the rules of expected behavior, enforce the necessary discipline, rearrange the work area to allow women workers to work in full view of their colleagues, and encourage women workers to dress appropriately at the workplace.

A proper system for dealing with sexual harassment cases should be installed at the workplace. The formation of comprehensively structured in-house mechanisms by individual organizations, together with action committees representing a wide spectrum of workers in terms of levels, occupations and sex is imperative if employers are serious in their intention of circumventing the problem of sexual harassment of their female staff in the short-term. In addition, the organization should also spell out clearly the procedure of investigation of the victim and the harasser, the consequent disciplinary action that could be taken, as well as any remedial action for the victim such as counseling for either or both the individuals involved. The details of such a system should be disseminated clearly to the staff. In the long-term, prevention remains an effective way to deal with sexual harassment, such as changing the sexist attitudes and belief system of society in general. This could

be achieved through education to enhance public awareness of sexual harassment among the youths in schools and higher education institutes, as well as the working adults in both public and private organizations. The government, as the largest employer in the country with nearly one million workers, could take a major lead by enforcing clear policies and procedures on sexual harassment. In addition, it should quickly legislate the Code of Practice which was launched more than five years ago, but hitherto remains non- compulsory so that minimum standard practices could be adopted for dealing with the various aspects of sexual harassment, besides providing legal protection for women workers. Trade unions and employee group could form action committees that are gender balanced. Besides working with employers to minimize unwanted behaviors at the workplace, they could take on functions such as receiving complaints and ensuring that these complaints are investigated and addressed. In addition, the role of society at large cannot be overlooked in terms of moral support, as it is vital for those who have been sexually harassed to remove any associated stigma and rebuild their self-esteem.