It could be a dirty joke, a caress on the arm, an unwelcome hug or a compliment on your appearance; but we all have a line where behaviour crosses into sexual harassment.
Following accusations against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, the issue of sexual harassment has been cast into the spotlight recently.
The issue was further highlighted by the massive global #MeToo social media movement, which saw tens of thousands of women from across the world share their sexual harassment and abuse stories on Twitter under the hashtag. Included in those numbers were South African women.
Harassment stories included a boss labelling a female employee “my type of woman” and another being told to “suck it up” when she went to see a lawyer to report it.
Daily Dispatch readers, who responded to an online poll on the issue, said sexual harassment was rife and happened everywhere.
Lusanda Msele said sexual harassment was experienced by women on a daily basis and Qawekazi Verwoed said it was not limited to the workplace.
“How about in general? When in a taxi, when you’re just walking in the street, when in a queue at the grocery store, at the gym, it’s everywhere. The only time men feel what violation is and understand the words ‘sexual harassment’ is when another man starts harassing them in a sexual manner,” Verwoed said.
Kerry Oosthuysen, legal officer from the Commission of Gender Equality, defined sexual harassment as unwanted conduct of a sexual nature which differed from behaviour which is welcome and mutual.
According to Oosthuysen, sexual attention becomes sexual harassment if the behaviour is persistent, the recipient has made it clear that the behaviour is considered offensive and the perpetrator knows that their behaviour is unacceptable.
It can be physical, verbal and non-verbal.
“Sexual harassment is clouded in secrecy, shame, skewed power relations and fear of reprisal. It is on the aforementioned basis that sexual harassment remains largely unreported,” she said.
“The skewed gender nature of society firmly entrenches the misbelief that men cannot be sexually harassed. This is an untruth so men are even less likely to report sexual harassment. It is further compounded by employers who educate their employees about the sexual harassment policy by concretising the belief that only women can be subjected to sexual harassment.”
When confronted by sexual harassment, East London-based labour lawyer Jonathan Goldberg said employees needed to raise the alarm at senior management level as a matter of urgency.
According to Goldberg, companies can be held liable if they failed to take decisive action with regards to sexual harassment.
“If that does not work I would refer the matter under unfair labour practice in terms of the Labour Relations Action to the CCMA,” he explained.
“Secondly, the general guideline in respect of a manager in regard to sexual harassment is to decisively investigate the matter and get to the bottom of it and take quick action to stop it and to take the necessary disciplinary action against the perpetrator.” — zisandan@dispatch.co.za
Sexual harassment not limited to workplace
Following accusations against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, the issue of sexual harassment has been cast into the spotlight recently.
The issue was further highlighted by the massive global #MeToo social media movement, which saw tens of thousands of women from across the world share their sexual harassment and abuse stories on Twitter under the hashtag. Included in those numbers were South African women.
Harassment stories included a boss labelling a female employee “my type of woman” and another being told to “suck it up” when she went to see a lawyer to report it.
Daily Dispatch readers, who responded to an online poll on the issue, said sexual harassment was rife and happened everywhere.
Lusanda Msele said sexual harassment was experienced by women on a daily basis and Qawekazi Verwoed said it was not limited to the workplace.
“How about in general? When in a taxi, when you’re just walking in the street, when in a queue at the grocery store, at the gym, it’s everywhere. The only time men feel what violation is and understand the words ‘sexual harassment’ is when another man starts harassing them in a sexual manner,” Verwoed said.
Kerry Oosthuysen, legal officer from the Commission of Gender Equality, defined sexual harassment as unwanted conduct of a sexual nature which differed from behaviour which is welcome and mutual.
According to Oosthuysen, sexual attention becomes sexual harassment if the behaviour is persistent, the recipient has made it clear that the behaviour is considered offensive and the perpetrator knows that their behaviour is unacceptable.
It can be physical, verbal and non-verbal.
“Sexual harassment is clouded in secrecy, shame, skewed power relations and fear of reprisal. It is on the aforementioned basis that sexual harassment remains largely unreported,” she said.
“The skewed gender nature of society firmly entrenches the misbelief that men cannot be sexually harassed. This is an untruth so men are even less likely to report sexual harassment. It is further compounded by employers who educate their employees about the sexual harassment policy by concretising the belief that only women can be subjected to sexual harassment.”
When confronted by sexual harassment, East London-based labour lawyer Jonathan Goldberg said employees needed to raise the alarm at senior management level as a matter of urgency.
According to Goldberg, companies can be held liable if they failed to take decisive action with regards to sexual harassment.
“If that does not work I would refer the matter under unfair labour practice in terms of the Labour Relations Action to the CCMA,” he explained.
“Secondly, the general guideline in respect of a manager in regard to sexual harassment is to decisively investigate the matter and get to the bottom of it and take quick action to stop it and to take the necessary disciplinary action against the perpetrator.” — zisandan@dispatch.co.za
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